Indulging My Inner Child

Playing is the one of the best survival tools we have

Today I did a thing.

I subscribed to Disney+.

Let’s be clear about this. My grandchildren live over 300 miles away and will not be visiting me in the near future. No — I did not subscribe to Disney+ for them.

It is all about me.

For a mere $6.99/month I’m going to binge on All. The. Things. Disney. All the movies I loved as a kid. All the new movies I saw with my granddaughters. And all the movies I missed in the never-never land times when I had teenagers and no good excuse to be in a movie theater watching a Disney movie.

We started this afternoon because Disney+ also has All. The. Things. Star Wars. And since we completed Star Trek last week — we needed a new sci-fi adventure series to amuse us.

I had forgotten Harrison Ford was EVER that young. OH MY!

And then — there are the coloring books. I have several.

I have to tell you all — this is the very best thing in the world for winding down at the end of the day. It. Is. Meditative. Without the pressure of actually meditating.

Because who needs more pressure, right?

I am making beautiful pictures. I am seeing something transform — right before my eyes. Plain white paper with black lines is being turned into rainbows of ALL thirty-seven colors in my colored pencil palette.

Just because I can.

Let’s not forget about games. Not the video brand. But REAL games. Those are also getting dusted off. I have a crystal chess set and Scrabble. And cards.

And a captive audience in my also-isolating-housemate. I don’t think she knows how to play chess — but she’s about to learn.

Or maybe we’ll just focus on sharpening our poker skills. She has a shit ton of buttons that would make for some awesome ‘chips’.

If you have a deck of cards — the sky is the limit for the fun you can conjure.

These are the lessons you learn when you live long enough.

And survive enough.

When you have survived 100% of all the shit that has come for you in Your Life — you understand what it means to let go. Because how and when you have come out the other side has rarely been all your own doing.

We have learned to let it be.

Right now the scared inner child in all of us needs to be reassured. She needs to be seen. She needs us to acknowledge her and play with her. Amazingly, when we do — she is the force who helps us realize what a complete miracle Life is.

Under any circumstance.

She has the eyes which see the wonders of our world with joy and awe. The beauty and the innocence. The trust and the faith.

Find your inner child. Then — go play.

Namaste.