Today it’s just about fun! I’ve just come off a couple of weeks of working hard at weaving or weaving related stuff. I’ve learned how to make videos and upload them, (check out my video tutorials here https://www.therogueweaver.com/video-tutorials-1 ), I’ve learned how to connect my posts and products to Pinterest, (you can follow my board: The Rogue Weaver), and I’ve finished some challenging projects. I like a challenge so none of it felt like “work” but it took a lot planning, research, organization and focus. Oh, and discipline. Lots of discipline. So this week I wanted to play.

I’ve been thinking about the word play this week. Children play. They “just” play. They aren’t thinking “oh, I need to learn gross motor skills so I’m going to climb a tree”. No, they just climb that tree. It’s there, it’s fun, they can, so they do. They get the exercise, learn the skills, grow and develop, all without ever needing to set goals or schedule “learning sessions.” They have fun learning and it’s not a chore. I think that is pretty awesome!

I’m not very good at playing. I’m not sure I ever was. I think too much: why am I doing this? What else should I be doing? What if it doesn’t work out? What is the purpose? I can turn play into work too: what did I learn? what will I do different next time? what did I do wrong? I’m so good at turning play into work I can even turn other people’s play into work: like the time my homeschooled daughter had a fascination with the human heart and I turned it into an essay writing lesson. In retrospect, she would have had much more enjoyment and learned far more if I had just let her read for fun.

So play becomes work when we impose expectations. I put no expectations on my weaving this week. This week I picked some beautiful Noro yarn and just wove. I planned to plain weave but the yarn told me honey comb. I listened. So beautiful! (I did write a pattern, you can find it here: https://www.therogueweaver.com/new-products/noro-scarf ) Then I put on some cotton slub to try some pick up patterns. I hadn’t used it before, I didn’t know what would happen. If I was trying to produce something to sell, this would not have been a fun project! This slub did not make a good warp! It continually broke. Again and again and again. I don’t know if it was because it was old cotton or if slub just doesn’t make good warp. I’ll try again with new cotton another time. I had fun though. I did 4 little cloths and I love them! Each one has a different pattern and they are sooo soft. Soft enough for baby wash cloths! In my house they are going to be paper towel replacements.

I did learn, but that was a side effect of playing.

Play is important. I’m going to cultivate an attitude of play. I think we all should. Of course there are many things we should do, and some we must do. I know that, and I know that sometimes life is so busy we don’t have time to think about playing. But we should. Play brings joy. And joy fills us and over flows from us. It makes us more tolerant, more accepting, more open to new thoughts and ideas, more aware of when something is wrong and more bold to step forward. So play with your kids with no thought of teaching them, splash in the puddle just because it’s there, climb the tree because you can. Play with no expectations.