Activity/Challenge – Finding Your Inner Kid
Posted By jace_donaldson on September 21, 2009
I read an article tonight that inspired me & gave me pause. It dealt with the radical notion that children should be bored – from this boredom stems great creativity and innovation. It made me think of my own adult life, and how schedules, email reminders, and errands have taken much of the natural joi de vivre out of living. We can still attain that, but most of it must be manufactured – which is fine, as long as we’re doing it. Here’s a link to the article:
http://www.parentaltech.com/2008/06/technology-vacation.html
As adults, we are overly preoccupied with work, schedules, family life, (for some) school, house cleaning, etc., and far too easily distracted with television or horribly wonderful inventions like Facebook & MySpace in the event we do get bored.
It’s no secret that letting loose is good for the soul and the mind. So, I hereby challenge all you readers out there to an activity that will hopefully help you find your inner kid.
(I know tomorrow’s Monday, but roll with me on this.)
Turn off the TV. Shut down the computer. Leave your cell phone on the table. Take a bowl (any will do) and go outside. Not right outside the door – really outside. Go for a walk around your apartment complex, neighborhood, or yard. Look for interesting, weirdly shaped/colored/textured rocks & leaves. Seriously, stop to take 30 minutes (or 15, whatever) to really look at little things in your own little environment like rocks and leaves. Find ones with cool colors, weird shapes, odd textures…turn off the virtual reality, and defer for a quiet moment t othe wonder of nature all around us.
Bring the bowl back when you have plenty – no rules here, how many ever you like is fine. Take a moment to look through them again, all together. You can toss them back out, or give them to your kids to make a project with some glue, or save the leaves for homemade cards (seriously, I did this for a friend’s birthday once – it took maybe 20 minutes to do and meant more than any Hallmark).
I remember doing this type of stuff as a kid, when I didn’t have to dream it up as an activity – it was just a neat thing to do. I often find myself at odds with time wasted on the computer or sitting in front of the TV. Bored? Nothing on TV? Turn it off. Nobody commenting your latest status update? Log out.
The point here is, this costs nothing. It requires nothing more than what most of us used to naturally do. So, if you’re up for something out of the norm – DO THIS! And take/post a pic on the church’s Facebook Wall, or email them to oakcliffuu@gmail.com when you’re done and I’ll post them here! Let’s say, by next weekend.
I’m going to do this tomorrow, since I took the day off. Happy Monday, & happier trails!
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