Day 21! This Officially marks the last day of our third week of playing?! If you have come this far - super congrats to you. You have been consciously playing enough for this to become an ingrained 5-10minute daily habit (or longer!) in your overall wellness routines. Do you feel any different from when you started?
For the past 24hrs we played around with CONNECTION and the various forms that that can take. Did you CONNECT to any bridges that made playing feel easier? Did you find a person, or a place, or a thing that served as your quick-line in direct connection to having some fun?
I spent a few hours this afternoon with one of my closest friends playing in a sweet outer space playground- a game called ASTRONEERS (you can find it on Steam!) that intersects multiple play types. My collector shines in this game through the gathering of resources and materials necessary for the creation of new elements and technology on an alien planet. My artist-creator-engineer gets to work out how everything goes together, and what should be created in order to work towards the larger game themes. I have to admit that my artist-observer-explorer intersection LOVES this world and will frequently leave the mission to go and oogle the insanely beautiful graphic landscapes that the developers have made central to the game experience. I honestly could sit at the top of some of the planetary mountains and watch the way the moons and environment change with time of day for hours on end (and... I totally have.)
In playing in this game today I am reflecting on a few things around CONNECTing.
Finding environments to CONNECT with friends in virtual space is a super cool "we live in the future" sort of feeling, that I sometimes take for granted.
CONNECTING multiple play types in one environment at once helps me access that "deep play" feeling faster, and I ultimately end up feeling more satisfied with less time playing
Virtual space can be stubborn and have literal CONNECTION issues, that can feel jarring to deeply playing. Don't let that stop you!
CONNECTING to people, spaces, and activities that I love makes me feel alive and VIBRANT
With this one, I specifically set a "play cap" on how long I would hang in this game. I find that I need to set playing limits for myself, and ensure a variety of activities in my day in order for me to really feel at my best. This is what helps me feel like I am at my most alive - most VIBRANT - state where I am maintaining all of the benefits from truly playing, without sacrificing the hard work and other tasks that I am concurrently focused on in my days. This playing cap acts as a lifeline for me against getting sucked in for hours and hours where I can tip my balance from play, into distraction, where I end up leaving that liminal place not feeling so great mentally, physically, or emotionally. VIBRANCY is what I am after, after all.
Color Me Multi
Anyone who knows me IRL will attest to how well this play prompt really fits my personality. Vibrancy is in fact, one of my five core values in life. To me this means embodying a deep level of passion and commitment in everything that I do, showing up as my most alive and most VIBRANT self and seeking out experiences and people who hold this quality as well. I love finding the vibrancy of friends in storyteller, joker, competitor personalities when these are the three types I feel are lesser in my own signature. I love to share my own vibrant ideas in artist-creator, explorer, kinesthetic space. I am always looking for the VIBRANCY of a moment where my play signature intersects with another persons and we find that magical moment of having the kind of fun that deepens a friendship and builds trust, understanding, and new forms of cooperation. To me, the most VIBRANT play environment is one in which people of varying types can find intersection and collaborative ways to play.
In another direction, consider whether or not you have any VIBRANT memories of playing. What did you like to do as a kid? What is the most vibrant example you have of "peak optimal play experience" and what are you doing here? Thinking backwards through your play history at VIBRANT memories can help clue you in to things you can seek out as an adult. Overall, just go with your gut in asking the question - "What feels most vibrant and fun to me today?"
For the next 24hrs, have fun with all of the ways you can find VIBRANT play filled experience! Tag me @eastonsmith on IG so I can follow along in your playing :) See you tomorrow for the beginning of week 4!
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