So I was spending some down time at the mall a week or two ago, just walking through and people watching, and I noticed something quite interesting. I saw the usual hustle and bustle of the mall crowds, people getting to the stores they knew they wanted to go to or browsing with friends in the stores that intrigued them. People getting from point A to point B and noticing the space around them but focusing on the "task" at hand. Most were in pairs or groups and stuck very close together, some almost to the point of creating a perimeter for their group against any who would want to "invade" their space. Their awareness only stretching as far out as who might be in their way or what stores were nearby.
And then I began to notice the kids. Some running ahead of their parents, unaware of any concept of personal boundaries, much to the consternation of their parents trying to keep them close. Some playing tag with their siblings but always keeping an eye on where their parents or guardians were. Some were lagging behind their parents, struck in their own small way by the grandeur of the world around them. Some found the variations in the tile colors on the floor and began the game most of us know of only staying on one color because the other color tiles had become "lava".
It struck me that these kids had no predetermined "task" that they had to complete for themselves. They were free to expand their awareness outward to the point they began to explore the potential of the environment around them to see what fun they could have. The wide open space of this corner of the mall was not a place of danger where someone could snatch them up. It was a place of opportunity, separated from the crowded throngs of adult bodies. The pillars no longer only served the purpose of holding the roof up, but they were now also cover from the impending hands of little sister chasing them that could transfer that dangerous title of being "it".
TIP FOR THE DAY: Explore the potential of your immediate environment!
Take a few minutes today and just look at your immediate environment. Set aside the tasks at hand and what this place is usually used for. Force yourself to think outside of the box and imagine what this environment could be used for to have fun. Whether you are in an office and it could possibly be used for a mega game of Man Hunt, or a Starbucks and you could imagine filming an episode of Glee full of musical numbers with people standing on the tables, think of what this space COULD be.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER TO PLAY!
