On Playfulness

vulnerable reflections on remembering playfulness in adulthood.

"To play is to affirm the self as a process, as open, as unfinished, as dynamic, as being-in-conversation.” Bayo Akomolafe

Saying I overthought how to begin this essay is an understatement, I have deleted the first sentence at least 10 times. Then, to get myself out of this funk, I began to dance, or rather to imagine I was dancing, and playing with my face in the mirror. I got less serious, and I let child Vi help.

It’s been a few serious days, and I have been blatantly ignoring a very clear message that was delivered to me at the beginning of the year: Keep that childlike wonder, it is your strength.

The person who woke me up to this realisation is my dear friend Tarn (and the chocolate mushrooms we took), who became my faithful companion for 7