I have been hearing a lot lately about not being serious 24/7. This is something I can struggle with in my life, especially right now, during this pandemic. I am so grateful for my kiddos who help me to remember to have fun. Playing and not being serious helps me remember to have fun in my life. It’s a reminder that life isn’t just work at the office, work from home, clean the house, help the kids, spend time with your spouse, etc. I love taking some moments and coloring with my kiddos, riding my bike (that I’ve had since I was 12—yeah, I am still a shorty!) with them, or playing cars on the living room floor, or chasing the kids around in the yard playing Tag. It is a way for me to be able to play too.
However, during this time, being something other than serious can be difficult, ya know, because there aren’t as many places to go and do fun things. We can’t necessarily hang out whenever, wherever, we want to right now. We can also get stuck in work mode because we are working from home, or we are helping kids with figuring out what to do about the upcoming school year, or we are trying to keep our home clean because the house is being lived in 24/7…..there are lots and lots of reasons to not play right now. This is something I have seen even among my colleagues where being in quarantine is exhausting because we can become stuck in work mode. There is a difference for most of us right now trying to find some of that balance in whatever way we can.
It is important for us to attempt to find some balance between the two; work and play. I keep thinking about the proverb, “all work and no play” (Howell, 1659). Which also makes me think about a podcast I heard recently by Rick Warren (2020) where he talked about how more breaks, not longer, breaks help us during the day. We here in the US want to take an hour-long break for lunch, and that’s it, but our creativity and productivity actually increase if we do several 5 to 10 minute breaks throughout the day rather than one long break. This makes sense for us right now, if we are struggling to play because we are working from home and we aren’t taking those coffee breaks with colleagues, or chatting about other things when we stop into someone’s office to ask a question, and our house is in the background with dishes calling our name. We aren’t having downtime when we drive home too to release work tension. This can lead us to feeling those bored/unproductive/lazy/dull/”I just don’t wanna” feelings
What would it be like for us to find some time to play, even if it is at home with our kids, our spouses, ourselves? Find some time to do those things that you love. The things that fill you up and give you the energy to get back to it when it is time to be productive, whether that’s at home, from home, or after work. I love unwinding by walking around our neighborhood, coloring, praying, meditating, playing video games, or playing bored games with my family to name a few things. What are some ways you enjoy not being so serious 24/7?
Reference:
Howell, James. (1659). Proverbs in English, Italian, French and Spanish (1659). Retrieved from: https://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/random-idiom.php?c=767
Warren, Pastor Rick. (2020). A Faith that Leads to Emotional Health: Part 3. Retrieved from: https://pastorrick.com/listen-online/a-faith-that-leads-to-emotional-health-part-3/.