The Importance of Play
I just got back from a day where we did a 4 hour single lap of the Dee from the seal launch down to Mile End Mill. Half of the day wasn't even spent kayaking. We spent the lap doing backwards launches down the slide, tailieing and of course surfing, but also jumping in off Serpents, swimming and just general arsing around. And it was some of the most fun I've ever had.
I think most of the people who read this will know exactly what I'm talking about when I say how important I think play is to incorporate into our daily lives. Because most of us are the sort of people who regularly partake in play, after all, we spend our free time in bright colourful plastic tubs navigating our way down nature's waterslides. It's one of the reasons that riverplay is one of my very favourite "styles" of kayaking,
But sometimes it's easy for that feeling to get lost. We can get caught up in our drive to progress, our perceived failures, making our goal posts, and then shifting them forward. Ironically, I am often guilty of that within what we call riverplay. Setting myself a challenge which I then get annoyed at myself when I can't do it or "flake out of" because I'm scared (damn that top of graveyard rockspin), getting annoyed because I'm having an off day and can't stay on that wave/get decently vertical on that eddy line. I've also been feeling frustrated because I didn't push myself onto more grade 4's this last winter, which was one of my goals at the start of the season (though the annoying lack of water during our winter is certainly partly to blame). Even though I've made progress in many other areas and both personally and in my paddling, and I am proud of what I have accomplished, those things still niggle.
Days like today remind me of a massive part of what it's all about, having goals and meeting them is amazingly rewarding, pushing ourselves to achieve things we wouldn't have dreamed about a year ago, improving our paddling, styling that line, and moving onwards and upwards. All of these things can be incredibly important and personally rewarding, and are huge parts of why we do what we do. But the biggest reason, for myself at least, is because it's fun! Joy for the sake of joy. And not just my own, but seeing the smiles and happiness of those sharing that moment with me. It makes my soul soar.
And we don't have to keep that to the river, whenever you see the opportunity to play, take it! Be silly, roll down that grassy hill, balance your way across the top of that wall, slide down the slide at the park, get dissaproving looks off "boring people", Life is short but we can make it full. And don't forget to take in that "class joy".