Creative Flow Through Play

What is your relationship with Play?

Are you BFF’s? 

Does play and adventure emerge in who you are and everything you do? Perhaps play an annoying companion you avoid because there are too many other important things to spend time with? Maybe you are somewhere in the middle.

Regardless of what your relationship with play looks like at the moment, play plays an important role in creating, dreaming, and learning —all key elements for artists and entrepreneurs. 

With play comes a sense of delight and wonder, a restoration of well-being, hope, and possibilities. 

Play can seem frivolous to onlookers; it’s not. Play is a life hack. 

As artists and creative entrepreneurs, we are constantly developing and executing new skills, adapting to new technology, and new climates to our creative flow. These skills could be learning new software, adjusting to the process changes on social media, learning a new creative technique, or even learning how to file taxes. 

When we develop new skills, new mental pathways have to be formed. Depending on the skill, hand-eye coordination needs to be developed, along with memory, and muscle memory.

What we expect of ourselves in these moments of skills learning impacts our ability to learn. When we are excited to grow our knowledge base we learn more quickly. If we become resentful or overwhelmed, we restrict our capacity to contain the new knowledge. 

According to research by Dr. Karyn Purvis, scientists have discovered that it takes approximately 400 repetitions to create a new synapse in the brain unless it is done in play, in which case it only takes 10 to 20 repetitions. 

When computer technology shifted in the mid 90’s Microsoft created Solitaire to teach new computer users to drag and drop cards into the right location using a mouse, so they could then use that skill to move files into folders. Minesweeper was designed to help computer users use mouse clicks.

Learning through play provides benefits to both children and adults. The rise of game-based learning to gain educational and professional skills has contributed to rapid growth in the gaming industry. 

Besides the joy of getting lost in a game or fun adventure, how do we leverage play to benefit our creative work? 

For me, there are two answers. The first is something I’ve borrowed from Julia Cameron. In her book The Artist Way, Cameron talks about the importance of artists filling our creative wells by taking ourselves on artist dates. This means engaging in activities that fill us up with life and beauty. These activities may or may not directly connect with our specific areas of creativity, but they deposit internal fuel that we can use to cultivate our creative flow. 

One big way I play and fill my creative well is in my vegetable garden. I love heirloom produce. The flavors of vegetables and fruit fresh from the garden outshine store-bought any day. I enjoy the benefits of the sun, the fresh air, and my hands in the soil. I find companionship in the myriad of bees, toads, anoles, skinks, and spiny lizards, all of whom help tend to my garden, too. It’s a much slower pace in the garden. Things take time. Because of the time, a sense of value and respect for the harvest is cultivated. 

Although I don’t share my garden time with many humans, I am able to joyfully share it’s bounty. I learn many lessons about life and creativity in the garden. My soul is also filled and soothed in this space. 

The second way I leverage play is in joyful collaboration with others. When I surround myself with other creators who have mastered the skills I need, and they are willing to impart and encourage my growth and development, I receive the benefit of quality times with friends, moving my projects forward, mastering new skills, and having fun in the process. These collaborations enable each of us to work hard and play hard. 

If we are not careful, our artist life can be isolating. However, when surrounded by other talented and kind-hearted creatives, we can experience joy and increase our creative output. 

All in all, play can be a beneficial companion to our creativity.  Play provides a life hack for learning, fuels our creativity, and brings joy through shared experiences with friends and quiet artist dates. 

How are you inviting play into your life and creativity?