
Picture four adults in their fifties walking down the middle of the street in a quiet residential neighborhood. They're holding serious conversations...and they're blowing bubbles. Like little kids. Oh, yes, and there's a dog, and fireflies, and cicadas singing. The pose you see above was after our walk. I just had to catch this image on camera to prove that adults really can have simple, uncomplicated fun. No television necessary, no movies, not even a book. We can enjoy one of childhood's pleasures.
One of my friends met me for a walk one day--I may have mentioned it on a blog a few weeks ago. She knew I was feeling stressed and disturbed, and she wanted to cheer me up. So she stopped at a store on her way to meet me, and picked up a couple of bubble tubes. It cheered us up then, so when we got together with our husbands last week, I brought more bubble tubes to see how the guys would respond. Have you ever watched little boys out playing in the sunshine...or even wading through puddles in the rain? Adorable. Our husbands fully invested themselves in this effort to lighten daily worries and have fun.
One day I was out hiking by myself, and I asked God, "If you were walking beside me in human form, what would you tell me?"
I waited for thirty minutes and two miles for the answer, but it was worth the wait. The answer was, "Take time to play."
So every day, I take time to play. Yes, I know I've harped on this subject a lot, but it's for a good reason. Sometimes, the older we get, the more we forget about simple childhood pleasures. One of my favorite things to do as a child was to make up stories. Well, now that I do that for a living, it's no longer such a simple pleasure, it's a job. So I have to find other things, simpler things, to lighten my daily burden. I watch the cats wrestle, or I walk in the rain, or I blow bubbles.
I challenge you to find a bubble tube at your local store, go outside, forget about what the neighbors might think, and wave the bubble wand in the wind. Watch those glowing orbs float up and away, and imagine your burdens are floating off with them. Get out there and have some fun!
Labels: simple pleasures, summertime fun