1/100 || First day of my #100DaysofPlayfulBeing and I decided to take advantage of the April snowfall! My initial response when I woke up this morning was one of disappointment, because I am ready for spring and warmer weather. But, in thinking about being playful, I instead decided to see it as one of the last opportunities to actually have fun with the snow! It made me think about how as adults we can automatically go to the negative of something – this is going to kill the flowers; this will be terrible to drive through today; I am tired of wearing a puffy coat. But, when I was 8 years old, if I woke up to a beautiful snowfall, my initial thought would have been – “How fun…I cannot wait to play in it!”
I cannot remember the last time I built a snow(wo)man! I found that as I was headed outside to start playing, I was full of worry. What would people think of a grown woman, all by herself, building a snow(wo)man?! But I found that while I got into it, I quickly let go of any of those feelings because I was so engrossed in the process of making it. I found myself laughing to myself and then starting to look around for any loose materials that I might be able to add to my creation.
When I was about 1/2 way through building her, I little girl who was probably around 6 years old came walking by after sledding on the nearby hill. I had been watching how much fun she was having and then quickly learned that she and her mother had build a snowman about 50 feet from mine. She had all sorts of questions, and we got to talking about her techniques. She decided that mine was a girl, since she had hair. Then she went and made a snow angel, followed by shouting to me, “Ok, we are going to go home now & have hot chocolate & warm up!” Never once did I feel judged by her – I was just a fellow snowman maker on a snowy April day.
The biggest thing that came out of this playful experience was the importance of being observant. Be observant of your feelings. Be observant of how to turn a negative into a positive. Be observant of how you can use what is around you for good. Be observant of others having fun. Be observant of children – they have so much to teach us!
Wow, what a gift to experience this moment on your first day of the project! And all the lessons you’re pulling from it already… I’m excited to see how it unfolds for you! 🙂
I know! It was a nice little gift to get that snowfall and get the chance to play in it!! Thanks 🙂