The World Is Your Playground · by Alexandra Francis

It’s 7 am; you climb out of bed, take a shower, brush your teeth, get dressed, make some coffee, head out the door for another day. It’s Monday!

Is your world your playground?

Everyone has their own meaning and their own perception of life. To some it is the thrill of exploring a new landscape, smelling the wild flowers on a spring day in Provence, feeling the pulse of life in another culture. Life has the meaning we give it. As Jean-Paul Sartre said:

“Life is nothing until it is lived, but it is yours to make sense of; the value of life is nothing other than the sense you choose”.

I think every person here has a definite purpose, each is unique and valuable. A humanist would say we each make our own meaning by the way we live. Your playground is what you make it.

What does yours look like today?

All through our years of formal schooling we learn a great deal about the world around us. Much like our old-fashioned playgrounds that were discovered in our youth, are you still building tree houses? Exploring nature? Taking on adventurous trips and appreciating the amazing things around us? There is a kind of natural exploration we have and need to go after. Is it too inconvenient to leave… this comfortable situation?

How many of your current activities, choices, including your career choice, have been influenced by conscious choice? Have you become stuck in your safe, structured, boring playground? Playgrounds defined by others, limited places that lack the passion of life, the joy of being. Just like children we need a chance for solitude and the sense of wonder that nature offers us. The freedom to run, shout and get messy. Unstructured playgrounds allow children to develop their own styles of play, enhances their creativity and let their imagination run free.

We are the greatest explorers on this earth and we have the world as our playground. The best way to break the cycle in your mind is to rediscover without putting any labels what the world means to you. Let’s leave our restricted playgrounds of comfort and go into the wilderness of our intuitions. I believe it to be our birthright as children of this world to reclaim the magic of life and let it express through us.

Each person has his or her own path in life, and meandering off the well-worn road is what makes you unique. Life is about everything we are born to do in order to show ourselves to the world and make that difference the world needs. Today it’s Monday, I got up lazily excited to begin another day. I put a blank piece of paper up on the piano and went for it. I am writing my song.