Play Is Your Responsiblity
Lyrics from Pure Imagination from the Soundtrack of Willie Wonka
Come with me and you'll be
In a world of pure imagination
Take a look and you'll see
Into your imagination
We'll begin with a spin
Traveling in the world of my creation
What we'll see will defy
Explanation
If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Want to change the world?
There's nothing to it
There is no life I know
To compare with pure imagination
Living there, you'll be free
If you truly wish to be
My 8 year old son was recently in a production of Willy Wonka and in order to learn the lyrics he played this song rather consistently on our Alexa. I have never liked this song and frankly I was always drawn away from it to due to the haunting memory of the Oompa Loompas. This time around I allowed myself to feel the discomfort and began to hear a message in it that I truly align with. This song is an ode to the value of play.
During a recent session with a client the words “play is your responsilbity” appeared in my mind. This often happens to me, with clients I am feeling particularly in flow with. I recognized the words as truth, realizing I was once again channeling something from some unknown place. Trusting in these messages and verbalizing them to the client is where I’m at right now. Wherever they are coming from seems to have the best interest of the client in mind :).
This particular client is an overly responsible woman who will easily take on far more than her body or psyche can handle. Like many women, it’s become habitual and “normal” to do this. Fun and play are fluff and will certainly not get her ahead or bring her dreams any closer to her. At least that is the thought process that she holds and which most of us find ourselves stuck in.
Whatever sent that message to me understood that “responsibility” was a word that she would cling to. The next time we met, she had been to a concert, been dancing, taken a walk around the city, found herself stopping to lie on the grass at parks, watched some new comedy shows on Netflix, and had plans added to her list for the week coming up. She did her homework, she took responsibility. and she was glowing.
On a daily basis I watch my children engage in play. Inevitably, while I am feverishly staring into my computer screen and “accomplishing” one of them will interrupt and plead: “Mom please play spies with us.” “No babes, I’m working right now and I need to get this done.” I kiss their heads and then gently shew them away with the directive: “go play.” As they run off disappointed, I sigh and think phew, nowI can sit at my computer and stress about getting ahead, thank you very much.
To an untrained eye my children’s play is frivolous, insignificant, and nonsensical. It’s make believe. However, when I really take a deeper look into their process I see that, It’s the allowance of all the parts of ourselves to come out and explore. Playing is in fact a BRAVE act.! You have to give up the social mask to do it properly. It calls for being ridiculous. It calls for stepping into the world of pure imagination. It calls for the courage to be perceived as foolish.
Why would I want to risk that?! you might ask? Why would I want to look foolish and be laughed at and judged?
Well because many of you are expressing that you want the social and emotional climate of our country to be different. If you really want that, then you have to get comfortable being judged and if you really want to contribute you have to find the part of you that is an artist and a creator, not a judgmental destroyer of ideas, hopes, and dreams. Your own, and others.
The truth is if you decide to embody fun and play people will judge you, but gosh, they’re judging you anyway. People who sit back and laugh risk nothing and are generally bottom feeders who suck the life out of us. We to quickly make assessments of each other without much thought into their validity.
Will these people be at your funeral? Will they hold your hand when you are suffering? Will they ever know what really lights you up? Will they ever really care? If the answer is no, then I’d like you to take that as your signal to give the “FU” to them and to experience the gleaming from the inside out that happens when we embody play with ourselves and others.
My children become anything they want, they go anywhere they want when they play. There’s no fear of judgement or looking foolish. Together they collaborate in creating a unique world where many potentials exist. Yes, it is make believe. It is “just their imaginations.” However, isn’t that supposed to be the seat of where all amazing ideas and solutions derive from? I hear people mouth those words all the time. Perhaps you’re one of them. Rationally many of us know this, but to actually live it, to actually go beyond just mouthing the words, seems to be the stuck point.
Sure you can keep your nose to the grind stone and barely look up. You can also make sure that no one ever perceives you as silly or foolish. I’m not saying you won’t make a contribution if you do this. You just won’t be happy and you will not experience the connectedness of yourself to your mission.
I need this message as much as you do. It’s time for us to collectively take responsibility. We each have a critical contribution to make in our society. Play and fun are the doorway into the soul and the creator within. Or whatever you want to call it, god, the universe…. Something that pulls us towards love, goodness, and unity.
So being the “responsible” women you are, go and have fun!
Oh and for inspiration listen to the version of Pure Imagination by Kathleen. I promise it’s a completely different experience than the original!