Inviting Play

Some days (well, maybe most days) I dislike the month of April in the Maritimes. There is more light and the birds are singing, but the weather – don’t get me started. Then there are days like today, when my cat and I can hang out on the deck in the sunshine, there is laundry on the line and I’m typing away outdoors.

On those days where I swear never to leave the house until it is really spring, I think about what do I need right now? I need to feel a sense of lightness in my body and in my mind. This sense of lightness feels to me like play, or playfulness.

What brings you a sense of play? of lightness? Is it dancing, or music, or reading?

Lately I’ve been enjoying learning to spin. I especially love blending fibres to spin. I get to play with colours and different fibres (wool, angora, silk) and arrange them on my blending board. Then I roll them up (called a rolag) and it’s ready to spin. The result is usually a nice surprise, as I don’t know how the fibres will emerge. Mostly I enjoy the process of selecting the fibres and placing them on the blending board.

Blending fibres on my Ashford Blending Board.
Blending fibres on my blending board is one of the ways I play

On those not so wonderful April days I alternate writing proposals, preparing for upcoming talks and workshops with breaks to blend fibres.

How are you inviting a sense of play into your life and work? If you are interested in reading more about cultivating a sense of play, you will want to take a look at my previous blog post Playing Full On .

This is a rolag, made by blending fibres (wool, angora, silk) on my Ashford blending board. Now I'm ready to spin!
This is a rolag from my blending board. Now I’m ready to spin!
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