Breathe it in.
Let it out.
Thanks for being here today.
We are gonna have some fun.
Today we're talking about.
.
.
How to have more fun and childlike wonder.
But first a disclaimer,
Listening every day may result in elevated moods,
Unreasonable levels of hope,
Suspiciously good energy,
And the sudden urge to continue pursuing the life you're dreaming about.
Dreams may come true,
Identities may shift,
And all complaints and excuses may begin to evaporate,
Listener discretion is advised.
I am.
Excited to get into today's topic and I feel like it's something I need to talk about right now because My,
My kid was kind of driving me a little crazy today and I did not feel like I had Childlike wonder.
So we're going to drop into.
Childlike wonder and infuse ourselves with this as we go into our weekend.
And I wanted to start.
With a poem.
And I was inspired by this poem because A,
I love Mary Oliver.
And I truly believe.
That she lived.
A life of awe,
And wonder.
And she was continually curious about.
Possibility.
And she would notice details.
And walk through life slow enough.
To see them.
So.
The poem is about.
Bringing the fun back?
Into what we are supposed to be doing.
Even if you're driving to work right now.
If you're.
.
.
Whatever you're doing.
My question to you.
Is how can you make it more fun?
How can you see the beauty?
How can you bring yourself back into being a kid again?
The poem is called Decorated Time.
Today.
My practice was not.
Productive.
I didn't start with a warm-up.
I didn't do long tones or scales or begin with a slow simple melody.
I hap-hars-it.
I hap-hars-it hard.
I haphazardly leapt into a binder of old repertoire.
And started playing a little performance for myself.
I listened to the ringing singing in my sound and yearned for flow.
I played Bach,
Varasi,
Hindemith,
Mbaza.
My fingers jumped on the keys like leapfrogs,
And air soared from my lungs like a gust of wind.
Eloquently twinkling through wind chimes,
The music flowed out like a cascading waterfall.
My ears fluttered.
My heart dance.
I decorated time.
With my sound.
And it was productive.
So to me that POM.
Is all about taking the,
Be more productive,
I'm a human doing,
I have to get my responsibilities checked off.
And maybe.
.
.
Taking our time with it.
Infusing it with a little bit more fun.
Allow your heart and your soul.
To guide you.
And on the flip side.
Maybe putting to side what we should be doing.
And just playing a little bit more.
There's a play researcher named Stuart Brown.
And he says that the opposite of play is not work,
It's depression.
So,
To me that means it's imperative.
To make play a daily non-negotiable.
It was critical for our development as children and we weren't playing for a particular outcome.
Simply using our imaginations.
Our creativity and we'd build new worlds and talk to imaginary friends.
I remember doing that.
Plain,
Foursquare,
And then as we grew up and we had the,
You know,
To do's and the busyness of life.
Demanded more of our time and we started to like narrow our vision into this little box.
Seriousness.
And crossing the T's and dotting the I's and making sure everything is in order.
But what if,
What if,
What if?
We shook it off and let it go.
And brought ourselves back.
To being kids.
So my question,
If you're inspired,
To share in the chat.
What is something that you could bring?
Into the weekend.
That would infuse that childlike wonder.
Something that maybe you did when you were a child.
I jotted a few things down that I thought I would like.
Hike.
Nature always grounds me,
Makes me feel alive.
Biking,
Swimming.
Doing crafts,
Painting.
Going to an amusement park?
Canoeing,
Camping,
Lego,
There's this really cool place called Activate that my kids and I go to.
It's like a video game on in a room.
I don't know if anyone's been there.
It's hard to explain,
But that is so fun.
Picking berries?
Walking barefoot in the grass,
Doing chalk on the sidewalk.
Making beaded jewelry?
Surprise your best friend with like a friendship bracelet?
Painting rock?
And placing them around your neighborhood with little encouraging words?
And what if that was something that was a non-negotiable every day?
Once a day.
Dance.
Dance once a day.
I've been rehearsing for the Singing with the Stars event that I'm doing.
A charity event in my hometown here.
My partner,
My Co-singer?
He came over the other day and we were rehearsing.
You know,
We're getting to know each other,
Don't know each other that well,
But you're so in the moment.
When you're rehearsing a song that you don't really know that well and you're trying to harmonize with someone who's kind of a stranger.
You're in the moment,
But it was fun!
Burda dancing plane dress up with your 5 year old.
That's the great thing about having kids is.
.
.
You can continually.
.
.
Play with them through the ages.
Last night,
I mean,
Almost daily I'm outside playing basketball with my 11-year-old.
I used to play basketball in high school,
So definitely brings me back into feeling more like a kid except when I call him out on fouling me or traveling.
He's like,
No,
Mom,
That was not a travel.
I didn't foul you.
But then if I do it to him.
You followed me,
You can't do that.
Okay.
Little bugger.
But as we go into this weekend's.
Let's try to have more fun.
With our lives.
In our days and the moments.
So,
If you're driving,
Keep your eyes wide open and your hands on the steering wheel.
But,
Uh.
.
.
If you want to close your eyes,
You can.
But whatever you're doing.
Take a deep breath in.
And let it go.
You can make a sound as you exhale.
You can make a crazy sound as you exhale.
Ah.
And allow yourself to be here.
Letting go of anything that you're holding onto.
Create space in your mind and your heart.
Not judging any thoughts that come in,
But just letting them go softly.
And begin to imagine yourself.
As a child.
Maybe you're five years old.
You're standing in a field.
Blowing bubbles.
How does it feel?
To be.
Back in.
Your childlike self blowing bubbles in a field.
Before.
Any responsibilities or busyness.
What did you enjoy doing as a child?
And picture yourself doing that now.
Maybe you're in that field still or you're somewhere else.
Carefree.
In the moment.
So presents.
Carry this inner child with you.
As you go through your day.
And be curious.
Curious about possibility.
Allow your brain.
To go further.
Imagine more.
Bring in more color.
Into your day.
Into your weekend,
Whatever that looks like.
What does it look like to be more?
Alive,
More joyful.
More vibrant.
I believe that child within is still there.
Available to us if we just.
.
.
Connect.
So if your eyes were closed,
Slowly open.
Ends.
Let's allow ourselves to play.
Let's allow ourselves.
To laugh.
To bring that sense of wonder.
Stuart Brown says that.
Stepping out of a normal routine.
Finding novelty?
Being open to serendipity.
Enjoying the unexpected?
Embracing a little risk.
And finding pleasure in the heightened vividness of life.
These are all qualities of a state of play.
So thank you for being here.
Dylan sending you love.
I had a rough morning too.
So,
You know.
When I have rough moments.
The one thing I remember is that it's just like waves and it'll change.
And when my child is being difficult,
I allow and accept.
And just know that it's going to pass.
We're going to get through it.
I try not to be So rigid.
In the moment of the frustration,
I'm like,
No,
Just.
You don't want to put more fuel on the fire.
If there's a fire,
You don't want to add more.
So you just be the still.
Whatever the problem or situation is.
So,
I love you guys.
Okay,
Muah,
Bye.
