Play? Yeah, Not so Much

This week's play was an experiment. I was hoping to take something I enjoy about as much as a tooth extraction, and make it less heinous by incorporating playfulness in surroundings I enjoy. And that thing is...exercise. Talk about something I dislike, and rarely do! I recognize that for the sake of my health it's something I need to try to include in my life on a regular basis, so why not take a highly non-preferred activity and spice it up by incorporating playful elements?

So I decided to go biking. I have had my bike here for almost three years now, and have yet to use it. But the beautiful weather this week beckoned. I figured that cycling in the warm sunshine, with the cool breeze in my face, and trees and flowers just beginning to bud, would be a great way to get some exercise while being out in nature, something I like to do so much that I put it on Eclectica (my super-player)'s resume. So off I went, on an exploratory short ride. Here is what I learned:

• I am proud that I can still ride a two wheeler, despite not having been on a bike for 3+ years.
• I am extraordinarily out of shape, which made the ride more of a challenge than I expected, and less relaxing.
• It would have been more fun to walk, because I would have been able to take in more of my surroundings. I was so focused on not falling, not going so fast I couldn't stop, not hitting someone nor getting hit, that I wasn't able to really enjoy the scenery.

So did this activity end up being play? No, not exactly. While I did freely choose this activity, it lacked some of the important elements of play, like fun and flow. Did it help that I was out in nature? Sure, it was better than being in a gym. But here's the lesson: while we can make many things more fun by incorporating playfulness into our activities, some things just really end up being pretty much, well, work. And again, the intersections of work and play are a spectrum, not a dichotomy, and everyone's spectrum is different. I have friends who LOVE riding bikes, one of whom actually rode hers all the way across the U.S.! But for me, it's still really just exercise (read: work) with a play veneer over it.

What happened to the child who used to run around outside, ride her purple banana seat bike all over the place, and dance on the living room table? When did she morph into a primarily sedentary adult? I mean, I wasn't a totally uber active child. I spent a fair amount of time with my head in books, but I wasn't the total lump I feel like I've become. Was it when I became "too old" to be an exhuberant wild child, or was it when I moved a number of times and had a hard time finding a peer group to hang out with, or did my interests just change? All I know is, that at this point in my life, I want that active part of me back; actually I want more than I may have ever had.  Part of Eclectica embodies my fantasy of being physically fit so that I can go and dance for hours, or be adventurous out in nature, without it being a painful slog for me. I need her amazing insta-health regeneration. But since that doesn't really exist, what I really need is the discipline to do the hard work of exercising to get healthy enough to engage in the playful times I wish for. And maybe some day I'll get there. But for now, it's Eclectica who'll be salsa dancing the night away, or climbing a mountain.