Play

I think of CrossFit classes as adult recess. You throw around heavy things, swing on bars, and give out sweaty high fives to middle age teachers. It’s our daily release from the pressures of being an adult. You can even take your shirt off.

I’m fortunate to make a living from a career that lets me think like a child. To look at things in fresh ways. To combine things in unexpected ways that definitely shouldn’t be combined. To simply things in a way a 5-year-old can explain.

I didn’t realize it until recently, but I’ve been building play into my life as much as possible. I start almost every project with the same file format. Client_Play_v1. This is my time to play with ideas. It’s my time to explore concepts in a secret document no one will ever see. I can try things. I can fail. I can hopefully put down something that makes it into v2. I keep playing and v3, v4….v19ing until it’s something ready to share with others.

Play can be an incredible source of stress relief, but also a tool we can harness for pushing ideas and ourselves.