Five Minute Friday: Play

My DH winning me an oinking pig on our anniversary trip 2017.

Play. In Grit, Angela Duckworth basically tells us that our most passionate work should feel a little bit like play. We get into a flow of sorts when we’re really into researching something, learning something new, or living out our most desirable life’s work.

To me, writing feels like playing. It is where I can try words out on a page and change the order around or rewrite something if I don’t like it. I am not gifted musically, but my son is showing signs of promise at the Bassoon. (Google it if you don’t know what it looks like. I affectionately call it the rocket launcher due to its size.) Playing an instrument is play for him. He tries out different speeds to the music, changes a few notes here and there, or just picks up the instrument and plays.

I’ve watched newborns of any species at play and there is a joyous curiosity as a kitten bounces a ball of yarn on the pads of their feet or a chubby baby bats at a mobile swinging colorfully above their head. It isn’t work that propels them, albeit it is work and their are learning and strengthening muscles and cognitive development, it is the act of wanting to see what happens if they bat it. If there is a reaction.

Five Minute Friday is a free write for five minutes on the word of the week. The rules are no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation.