#11 Play

Tonight I was reminded of how important it is to remain a bit of a kid at times. Sure, we have to be responsible about it, but we ought to try to actively try to pursue things that our childhood selves may have found inspirational. Let me explain. 

Over the years, every time I heard about inspiration, I thought of deep hope, shining through darkness like an ever-piercing light, brightening a dark night. I also thought of boring, “adult” stuff like museums and old churches. I don’t think that’s wrong, but I think there’s more to inspiration than that. I think that inspiration is anything that really gets you out of bed, makes you smile, makes you want to live your life a little more than simply getting by. 

This all comes from seeing the new Sonic the Hedgehog movie. In case you missed it, I wrote a review on it. I praised it quite highly, not only for being pretty fun overall, but for being a quality adaptation of a video game franchise. The day leading up to it felt pretty high-and-dry, and I was feeling reeeaallly skimp on motivation. Weird part was that it was just a few days before Christmas. 

So there I was-really struggling to make the most of my day off. “Here I am, at the pinnacle of the human experience: the weekend, and I’m miserable.” The words were hard to swallow, but it’s a pretty great way to describe where I was at. I mean, I was well above the rest: I had Fridays off! Three-day weekends every week! And it still managed to bring me down. How strange is that? 

But it’s things like this-reviewing movies, collecting old video games, and taking the time to have interests and hobbies, that make life a little more bearable. Getting excited about things that aren’t necessarily related to your survival can ultimately bring your heart a warmth that is unmatched by anything else. 

But this can be really tough to cultivate. I write about it now, but there have definitely been times where I have lost my inspiration. Some of those times have even been while I was doing those kid-ish things, no less! It’s a tricky thing because it takes some attentive care to nurture. You can’t just go through the motions. You have to continue to find new ways to mean it. 

But I have also found predictable patterns start to form as you get to know your inspirations. For example, my first video game was Super Mario Bros. It formed the basis for the types of games that have really stuck with me over the years. I evolved into other platformers like Donkey Kong, Kirby, Frogger, and yes-I even dabbled in some Sonic the Hedgehog (though, now I’m probably going to grab a few more of those. Might even approach the line of superfan. We’ll see.) 

So yeah, it can be tricky to stay inspired amidst the terrible colds of life. But doing so will warm you back up for the next winter’s storm. And I have found that the colder the winter, the warmer that bonfire of inspiration feels. Life still hurts, but there are effective ways to cope out there. We need but take a little time to fan those flames to keep ourselves warm. 

I pray that you can find that inspiration. That child-like interest that warms you up when it’s cold out. Take some time to reflect-what was it that you really liked doing as a kid? Start there and don’t stop until you have found something that really lights you up inside. Then chase it to the ends of the earth!

Until Next Time

May Peace be your Guide.