No. 54 | The Importance of Play [Living in the Present]
As someone who loves their solitude, but also craves time with loved ones in familiar places, but also wants to visit new places and get up to wild adventures, but is also happy being a little couch potato and not leaving the van for days on end, but also loves movement and the way it feels, but also wants to invest all their spare time into growing their remote business, but also wants to take advantage of the freedom and flexibility they are privileged to have at a young age and not lose their free time to just work……
It's hard to not feel hypocritical, conflicted, confused, fulfilled, grateful, lost, certain, blessed, drained, motivated, uncertain, and everything in between…everywhere… all at once.
From wanting to stay settled in one place and live slowly, to wanting to travel far places and not feel like you’re missing out on life and experiences. It’s hard to not feel like you’re in a perpetual state of ‘hanging in the balance’ of what you want, what you think you should do, knowing the difference between these, and knowing which one applies to each idea that pops into your head.
I’ve never felt more certain in my life choices, and joy for what I’ve done with my life. I’ve also never felt more confused by what I want most; not just next – but now.
When you envision so much for your life and what you want to experience, and are someone who makes those experiences happen, it’s easy to get hung up on trying to decide on “what’s next,” and to get stuck on these thoughts of the “next thing.” You worry you’ll run out of time to do everything you want to do, that you focus too much of your energy on planning for the next thing to ensure you keep working through your experiences list, that you forget to appreciate the fact that the moment you’re presently in, is everything past you worked so hard to get. That “next experience” you worked so hard for, is here. You’re in it.
Don’t forget to enjoy it and appreciate it for what it is.
Something that’s been on my mind and something I’ve made note of on multiple occasions this past week, has been the importance of play.
Like meditation, ‘Play’ forces us to be in the present moment. Whether it’s playing in hobbies like pottery or music, or playing games with loved ones, or playing in the ocean after work – Play takes our flighty, sensitive, precious attention, and directs it onto this thing that’s in front of us, a thing that brings us joy and connection. Something that is tangible and now.
Something that isn’t asking for us to exist in the ‘what if’s’ of the future, or the ‘I should have’s’ of the past – but rather existing in the gift of the present.
It’s easy to get hung up on the past or caught up in the future; but if we’re always living in a state outside of the present, we’ll never really live our lives. This isn’t to say we should stop thinking about our pasts and futures – it’s important to reflect on our pasts so we grow as individuals, and to think about the future so that our present self can take steps to help us achieve those future goals; but it IS important that we make more time for play in our day-to-day lives.
Stay passionate and curious.
Hunter💛
Some questions I’d like to leave you with (feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!):
When was the last time you truly felt present and joyful? What were you doing?
What are some simple ways you reconnect with yourself when life feels overwhelming?
What does ‘Play’ mean to you?
