Play, Intuition and a Full-Out Life

Dear Reader,

How often do you play in your life? How often are you able to set your goals, obligations, plans, errands and rational brain activity aside, and just play? If you do play, how often do you play full-out?

I ask because… play is one of the best ways to free up your intuition. Alan Watts referred to life as a game to be played, and he was clear that when he used the word game, he meant it in the best sense of the word. Far from trivializing life, approaching it as a game means that whatever activity you do, you do it fully, in a completely present way. You understand that you are a player, with choice as to how you play.

Play frees your intuition by circumventing your intellect. Play allows bigger, bolder ideas and dreams into your head. Play allows you to be spontaneous, flexible and focused in a non-rational way. Play connects you with your spirit. Play is freedom.

Are you willing to be silly, at least once in a while? Are you willing to do something for no apparent reason, other than because it’s fun? If not…. don’t be harsh with yourself, but you might want ask why you are so unwilling. Some great questions to consider are: Am I getting a little too serious about life? Am I afraid of how I will be viewed by others? Do I associate “play” with “loss of control” and does that idea scare me?

Play has many appearances. You do not need to dress up like a clown or own a rubber chicken to do it – although you can do both! Play, at its best, can invoke an inner smile, a curiosity about life, a wonderment about what is happening now – and what will happen next.

Now.  Assuming you do play in your life – do you play full-out? If you dance in your living room, do you shift your weight from right to left a few times, say “That’s enough,” and go on to something else?  Or do you crank up the music and dance your best moves? If you’re in an office building waiting for an elevator, do you ever guess which elevator will come next? Do you ever try to guess who’s calling when the phone rings? There are so many ways to make life a game, in the highest, best, most beautiful sense of the word – a game to be played full-out, with joy, passion, and respect for your fellow players.

I honor your loving heart,

John