Keep it Playful!

Back in August I had a branding photoshoot to go with my new website. It was my first time doing that and one of the most important things about branding photos is to show your personality. 

My dear colleague, Cynthia Vaughn, who happens to also be the Associate Editor for Independent Voices of the NATS Inter Nos newsletter, kindly asked me to share one of my branding photos for their fall publication and explain what it says about The Fit Singer.

She had seen my photos when I shared them with the other voice teachers in the Speakeasy Cooperative and suggested one in particular where i’m hanging from a tree.​

photo credit: The Light Refinery

Encouraging play

What does this photo say about The Fit Singer?

That I encourage singers to be free to be themselves and to feel comfortable taking chances, so that they can develop into strong, healthy, confident and vibrant performers, with a lot of fun along the way. It also speaks to my love of being outdoors and that a sense of play is important to me in promoting creativity, health and stress-resiliency.

That started me thinking about how we incorporate play in our lives. 

As singers we still have a good sense of play. It’s part of the job. We make silly sounds, we try to unlock our creativity in sound and movement, we play pretend in the characters we portray through song or on the stage. 

Unfortunately, because it’s part of the “job”, it can lose some of its spontaneity with the pressure to give the best performance possible.

That’s where play in other areas of our lives can be important. Especially now during the pandemic where singing is not business as usual.
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Reduce stress through play

Research has shown that playful adults are better able to handle change and stress.

So important right now!

Look at how children play. There is a lot of carefree attitude in it. They play whole-heartedly. Playing tag, skipping down the street or just running for the joy of it. 

We need a bit more of that in our lives and reclaim our joy. Yes, even amid this tumultuous year, we can find joy!!!

Playful adults have the ability to transform everyday situations, even stressful ones, into something entertaining. Play can speed up learning, improve productivity and increase job satisfaction. Playing together can enhance bonding and communication.

A study in the journal Personality and Individual Differences identified four types of playful adults: 

• those who outwardly enjoy fooling around with friends, colleagues, relatives and acquaintances 
• those who are generally lighthearted and not preoccupied by the future consequences of their behavior
• those who play with thoughts and ideas
• those who are whimsical, exhibiting interest in strange and unusual things and are amused by small, everyday observations.

Find your Joy!

So try to game-ify everyday chores, make a playful challenge of a task. 

Pull out a board game.

Join an adult soccer league or take a painting class.

Walk along curbs or do a cartwheel in the park.

Fully engage in play with your kids, play a game of dodgeball or tag, have a dance party or climb a tree!

WHATEVER you enjoy and find pleasurable! 

The key is to be engaging in play everyday.

Play helps us stay young at heart. Physical play can also keep our bodies younger and more mobile as we age.

If you feel that you aren’t a naturally playful person, the good news is that it can be learned. So take a chance, try out different things.

Play for your creativity, health and stress-resiliency. And you may rediscover the JOY of being YOU!

The world might be a better place if we all just took some more time to play.

If you’re looking for me you’ll probably find me walking a curb in my neighbourhood, or just hanging around - from a tree.

What are some ways you like to play? Let me know in the comments.


References:
​https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/why-its-good-for-grown-ups-to-go-play/2017/05/19/99810292-fd1f-11e6-8ebe-6e0dbe4f2bca_story.html
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