Play and Creativity
Play is our natural state; it’s the highest form of complex learning and development. You can see this by observing kids and most young animals. By the time we’re adults though, most of us have unlearned how to play. Disconnecting from this natural state of play happens for many reasons but the main ones are: conditioning, ego, programming and competitiveness. Making an intention to actively incorporate aspects of play back into your life will bring lightness and creativity along with it.
Creativity is also our natural state, and this is true even if you don’t consider yourself a creative person. Like play, creativity is rooted in our capacity for openness, attention and availability to what’s unfolding in each moment. It is also linked to our ability to ride the wave of unfolding using some form of expression.
This is a roadmap I’ve been using to re-ignite and cultivate my sense of creativity and play each day:
Make the intention to be more playful and creative in your experience. Assume the identity of a learner. This means that if you want to be a learner, you need to be willing to fail. A lot. This is a key aspect of developing creativity and play .
Embrace the suck. Not being good at something is an opportunity to practice both learning, play and expanding our creative muscles.
Pick some activity at any level. The activity or movement can be done by yourself (through free movement or dance), with an object (like a ball) or with another person (or even animal). It could be something you do a lot, or a new activity or movement that you’re curious about. If it’s something you’ve done a lot, it’s helpful to try to take a different route, a change in how you do the activity so you maintain a fresh perspective. The ‘beginner’s mind’ or Shoshin as it is known in Zen Buddhism. The key point here is honing your sense of curiosity and exploring it.
Establish helpful boundaries to accentuate the playful activity. This could be as simple as a set amount of time, spatial parameters and any other ‘rules’ that keep it playful.
While engaging in the new or familiar activity, keep challenging your sense of “the edge”. This could mean the edge of curiosity, of risk, of interest, of pleasure… these are all signposts that you’re keeping it playful and you’re expanding into a creatively alive space. At the same time, keep surrendering your sense of ego, competitiveness, the need to get it right, or to win… these are all guidelines that you’re losing the sense of play, diminishing learning and closing your creative capacity.