Ep 120 Cultivating Playfulness

 “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” ~ Albert Einstein

In the art of living a full and beautiful, meaningful life, there is an element we don’t talk about nearly enough, or put appropriate value on, or even attribute to personal growth, and dare I say, “Success”.  And that is, the art of “Playfulness”.

We see it in the natural world all around us — puppies and kittens, calves and goat kids, otters, beavers, dolphins, and children on the playground at recess, running and jumping, skipping and laughing — carefree and jubilant.

I hear it every morning; our dogs begin each day with a stretch and a shake of their bodies, collars jingling, sending fur flying in the morning sunlight. They then begin mouthing each other’s necks and ears and muzzles, growling, barking playfully, whining and making the strangest guttural grunts and groans; expressions of happy play.

The horses in the pasture will suddenly transition from gently nuzzling each other’s withers and manes to nodding and bobbing their heads, raising their tails, shaking their manes, and rearing up as if on the battlefield, bearing a fully armored knight in combat, then finally breaking into a wild gallop, charging around the field, hooves thundering, sending clumps of grass, mud, rocks and dust flying everywhere.  It is truly a wondrous sight to behold!

Here in the Rockies I have seen full-grown Elk and Moose splashing and jumping in puddles and lakes in the most carefree and playful manor you could ever imagine.

Melissa can rarely sit on the couch to write or journal, without out Pippin, our orange tabby, wanting to snuggle and snatch and grasp her pen as it moves across the page.  The urge to play is just too strong.

Yesterday, while helping our daughter set up her new six-foot high cat tower for her kitten Zooey, we witnessed a hilarious and expressive display of playfulness.  No sooner had the parts been taken out of the box and the first of four levels partially assembled, when she went absolutely bonkers, scrambling up, over, in and around every corner and level she could find, only to be distracted by the dancing reflection on the wall and ceiling created by a cell phone being used to capture her antics on camera.

But playfulness isn’t only for kittens and puppies and children.

I am so blessed and grateful to be surrounded by friends and family who understand the value and importance of light-hearted playfulness.  Both of my grandfathers, my Dad, Uncles and Aunt, my wife, and numerous friends all have shared a loving spirit of playfulness as a serious part of life.  Synonyms for playfulness could include friskiness, high-spirited, and good-natured.

I have a writer friend who, at least once a week, will reach out and send me an amusing and witty, playful text just for fun, as a way of staying in touch and making my day.  He will say things like –

“My kids said they want a cat for Christmas… generally I fix a turkey, but whatever makes them happy.”

Or this one –

“My dog ate a bunch of Scrabble squares. We had to take him to the vet. They said they think he will be okay, but no word yet.”

But back to Nature…

I think one of the most fascinating displays of playfulness I have ever witnessed in the wild was on a mountaintop.

A hiking buddy and I had just summitted Lily Mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park. Standing at 9,786 feet above sea level, we could feel a steady wind picking up. Looking west we gazed at a magnificent panorama of some of the other, higher peaks in the park, including Taylor, Otis, and Hallett Peak. Suddenly, the dark shadow of a very large bird soared effortlessly, not far overhead, breaking the intermittent song of the wind.  He literally just zoomed us, only a few yards over our heads. It was a Raven, broad-winged and black. Then, there appeared more of them hundreds of feet out, almost at ey