Category: Goals

I have a nine year old son who loves to read. Before bed, we’ll often grab a classic tale to read together. As I’m writing this, we’re deep into Treasure Island, enjoying the harrowing tale of a young boy named Jim Hawkins who winds up aboard a ship of marauding pirates. Jim has to use his wits to outsmart the mutinous crew as he seeks to right wrongs and avoid certain death. 

My son and I find ourselves drawn to the underdog hero, cheering his valiant escapades. We’re left wondering whether we could muster the courage to outwit the unscrupulous Long John Silver, whether we would put ourselves at risk to aid dying friends, and if we would be willing to undertake an arduous journey that would eventually lead to untold treasure.

We close the book after reading a few chapters at a time and find ourselves back in reality. I’ve somehow ended up in an uncomfortable sitting position, my back aching and my arm numb from holding the bo ...

Our ability to manage logistics can often be overlooked when we think of our mental health. But logistics (planning, doing regular, boring life tasks like cleaning, paying the bills, etc) are an important factor for our stress and anxiety levels. For many people, trying to plan or white-knuckle their way out of frustration with managing their day-to-day life doesn't work. 

Maybe this is familiar:

Your kitchen is wildly messy → tired and overwhelmed, you decide not to do it now → you feel a teeeeensy bit better, because you’ve decided not to deal with the thing. → your kitchen is worse now, and because of that, your feeling of overwhelm has also gotten worse. Now, more than ever, you really (really, really) don’t want to clean the kitchen, because it would take a solid 2 hours to clean it properly. At some point, you will likely reach a point where you will end up cleaning things, or someone else you live with may. And t ...

You are sitting on a bench at your local playground. It’s sunny (despite Michigan’s temperamental weather). Your gaze begins to wander and settles on children climbing. They are climbing everywhere. It’s amazing, actually, how many things children can climb on. You further notice how they run, walk, slide down slides, play tag, squeal with delight on swings. Toddlers trundle off in a big, new-to-them world. They seem to take up space with ease; it’s their world, we’re just living in it. They are so sure that they belong wherever they go. Do you have this scene? For me, this imagined space invites lots of emotions: joy, wonder, delight, curiosity, and sadness. Yes, sadness. Because I, as an adult, have a harder time feeling so present and excited and happy and confident of belonging. I have more awareness and more to my story as to why these emotions make sense for me.

What is play, and why does it make sense for all humans of ...