How to Harness the Power of Play
This creativity lesson is on one of my favourite subjects; PLAY!
You might be wondering what Play has to do with creativity and why I talk about it so much, and the answer is, a lot!
Play is the tool that unlocks our creativity, which means our ability to play impacts our ability to create. One supports and strengthens the other. The more freely you’re able to play, the more freely you’re able to create.
Play is like a primer for our creativity, it makes the whole process smoother and last a whole lot longer.
Just because we’re familiar with the word Play, doesn’t always mean we understand the concept. We usually think of Play as being an activity, an action, something we do, or at least, something children do, and of course, it is an action, but Play is also an approach. And when Play becomes an approach, it has the power to radically transform the creative process.
By harnessing the power of Play, either, by doing a playful act, or, by approaching ANY act, playfully, you begin to feed and fuel your creativity.
Let’s start by thinking about Play as an activity, as this will inform how you begin using it as an approach for your creative work.
Think about how children play, or better yet, think about how used to play when you were a child, and then, think about what happens during that process of play.
When children play, this is what happens…
They are uninhibited
They are present
They live in the moment (and not in their head)
They are invested
They are free
They have no fear of failure
They experiment
They explore
They are curious
They take risks
They don’t judge themselves
They are open to whatever happens next
They accept whatever happens next and then, they build on it
They trust in their Play
They make up their own rules
They don’t subscribe to a right way or a wrong way, only their way
They Play for Play’s sake, purely for the experience of Playing
Their choices are based purely on what will bring them the most joy and the most fun
And they never focus on the end whilst they’re still playing in the glorious, magical middle
This is what happens when children play. It’s also what happens when adults play too, it’s just most of the time, as adults, we’ve forgotten how to do it. This is what Play does to you and for you without you even noticing.
So, how do you use Play as an approach to your creative work?
Simple. You Play. It’s only when you Play that you remind yourself how to do it, and most importantly, what it feels like. You need to practice the act of playing and then bring all those feelings it creates, very intentionally to your creative work. When you are able to do this, your creative approach turns your creative work back into an act of play. And then it feeds itself in the most magical, playful and creative of ways.
One final thought in favour of Play; cast your mind back to the last time you felt in a state of flow with your creative work. What do you notice?
Being in a deep state of Play and being in a deep state of Flow is pretty much the exact same thing. So, when we begin approaching our creative work more playfully, we are likely to achieve a far greater sense of flow. And isn’t that the elixir we’re all after?
I invite you to become a Player in your own life, in your own story and in your creative work, granting yourself the permission to play and see how your creativity starts to flow.
““To stimulate creativity one must develop childlike inclination for play”
- Albert Einstein”