Adults at Play

 

Adults at Play

 

            Recently, I saw the movie “The Sandlot.” I had watched this movie before, and one scene is always a highlight for me. It is the scene when the boys finally get over the fence. They followed “The beast” to a pit filled with baseballs so many it was hard to count all of them.

            Sanchez says, “Now we can play forever.”

            Isn’t that the secret…playing forever?

            I was reminded of my time as a pre-school teacher’s aide. One of my favorite commands after I tied a shoe or wiped a nose was “Go play.” They knew what that meant. Also, how could I forget children pulling me to play along? How could I not?

            “Mr. Jason, play with me!!”

            A wise man once said, “Play is the work of a child.”

Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, we fill that time for play with other needs. Play becomes something we do not use so much. Have you ever wondered, where has all the time gone?

            One adult in my life who has mastered the art of “playing as an adult.” is my dad. He is an excellent example of a person in their seventies playing. He plays pickle ball and golf on a very regular basis. Every now and again he has a beer and smokes a cigar. Occasionally, when the mindset hits, he shares a bottle of tasty chianti with my mom, my aunt, and myself. Maybe drinking red wine with the ones you love represents adults at play.

            My nephews have barely entered adulthood, but they are still youthful. However, their free time is being sucked up with work and school studies. They are skilled musicians. One is studying music composition in college. The other has a time-consuming day job, but he is still a rockstar in my mind. We listen to music or we play an instrument, music is a reminder of staying young, by listening to the very tunes that motivated us to start and end a day. For me music sometimes inspires me to dance or sing along.

            It may be obvious that writing is my “adult play.” It has been said that dreaming has no boundaries. I feel the same way about writing by tackling or tagging an idea and wrestling it down to my laptop. Thinking creatively is downright fun. It keeps my mind sharp like an adolescent. I am putting dreams on a page.

            Some adults who have found their way as a child are my downstairs neighbor who rides his bike about everyday especially when it is sunny. Erwin McManus is a pastor of a church in Los Angelos. Whenever he speaks, you can see the excitement in his expression and hear it in his voice. Watching movies is fantastic way to get lost outside of life. Sometimes you must wrestle time to have free moments like these.

            As hectic as life gets, I do my best to find time to be playful. It helps to have regular friends. It is important to melt the stone of adulthood and have an enjoyable time, although how time is temporary. Spend a few hours weekly with others, finding joy in the simple things that are childlike. Heck, some adults nowadays even still play with toys. Free time is a valuable part of life. That is where the best stuff comes out.