Ever Just Need a Play Day?
Last week I hit a wall. Ever been there? I don’t like when I get there, but it happens. Creating is what I love to do, and it just seemed like enough of that wasn’t happening. I love what I do as an artist and having an art business, but sometimes the business side gets hard and time consuming, as other things in life do for us all. And then there is the housework, laundry, cooking-all the mundane things in life that seem to never end. All of a sudden last Thursday I decided I was taking Friday off to do nothing but play. That’s right, just play. I gave myself the right to just get up and have a play day all day-no housework, no working on the business-a full day off to just play.
What does having a play day mean for me? You know it involves creating! It meant I pulled out art supplies I had been given at Christmas by my family. Art supplies I had asked for and had not taken the time to just pull them out and play with them. No specific painting project in mind, just keeping it simple and enjoying the moment was the plan. I was like a kid who just got a new coloring book and a new box of colors! I proceeded to pull out lots of different surfaces to try with these new supplies. And I just started trying out these wax pastels, watercolor pencils, Pan Pastels, and, of course, my colored pencils on these different kinds of surfaces. I started finding combinations of supplies producing results I didn’t know was possible! I was having so much fun trying out these new things. Time just flew by! I started writing notes on all of my surfaces of what combinations I had tried and what worked and what didn’t. I suddenly started feeling inspired with different techniques I could try in the future. But not that day, just play and have fun. I truly ended that day so fulfilled.
My question now is why don’t we give ourselves permission to just play sometimes? One thing is for sure, “the list” with all of the “to dos” will always be there. That is a reality, but self-care is also a reality. It needs to happen for all of us. This one day made me know the importance to carve out time just to play. I am determined to schedule that time in from now on. I am the only one who can make it happen.
I hope this may challenge you to take some time for yourself and just play, whatever that means for you. Give yourself a break from the things in life weighing you down. They aren’t bad things, but you just get tired and need a break. Love yourself enough to give you a break. Make your family aware of your decision and protect that time. Go do whatever would feel like is playing to you, become childlike for a day! I don’t think you will be disappointed and you will be surprised at how coming back to life in general doesn’t look so mundane anymore. I found I was much more productive this week. I carved out time to work on my current project, worked on things in the business, did the laundry and other housework, and cooked. The difference was taking the time last week to take care of me. I’ve known this before, but I forgot, and I have to remember, self-care is important.
I hope this inspires you to plan a play day for yourself! I would love to hear your story, so if this challenged you and you planned a day for you, let me know how it went!
Just a reminder, if you haven’t subscribed to my YouTube Channel, please do so at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2-F1MIojoRl0mepsKit_LQ . I’ve added a few more videos in the last few weeks that are pretty fun to watch.
Also, I invite you to join me live at 10:00 CST each Tuesday on my Instagram page @kimkeysart. If you can’t join me live, you can catch it later on Instagram and I usually share the link on my Facebook page. So, if you can’t catch the live you can always watch the replay. I’ve also been posting some IGTV and Reels videos on Instagram working on my current art work. It’s been fun doing those and I hope you will go watch them!
That’s all, and remember to set aside some to play!
