Be A Baby
The importance of play
As a child, my entire focus seemed to be on school because the only thing my relatives talked to me about was getting good grades. It was my sole purpose. I was 2 or 3 years old and still remember sitting on a ceramic-looking bowl learning to potty AND learning the multiplication table with my grandpa.
If you grew up in Asia or in a migrant family, you may have experienced something similar. A whole childhood devoted to studying all day and pressure to grow up fast with little to no time for play. For Asian millennials and even for today’s kids, I see that this conditioning of achieving and chasing academic or work milestones started when we were young.
Where is play in our lives? Where and when do we get to be a child that gets to have fun, learn to laugh, learn to feel joy, learn to explore our interests, learn to discover, learn to create, and learn to be curious about more things than just what’s in the textbooks?
For me, it wasn’t until I was an adult around the age of 30 that I reconnected with my inner child and discovered the importance of play, something that I had missed when I was young. Sure I painted, sure I played piano, sure I danced, but I did so competitively chasing goals, and achievements, and wanting to get it perfect. This mentality meant that I wasn’t doing it for pure enjoyment.
When I learned to play for real, it shifted my life and my mood. I learned to have fun for no real purpose other than for pleasure and experience wonder. I started to feel joy come back into my being. I opened up my curiosity to explore and discover things beyond what was in books and at work. I opened up my imagination so that I could see a life that was possible which felt happier and more spacious. I let go of the need to succeed and became a baby where I would walk, fall, crawl, get up, fall, crawl, walk.
If you resonate with this, please know that you can start to incorporate more play into your life today. Making the change that you desire requires you to start taking actions and start changing your beliefs and mindset. I want you to know that as an adult it is possible to bring more play back into your life and to reconnect with your inner child in an uplifting way. It is not too late, in fact, it is never too late to start doing the things that light you up.
Play is vital to our well-being and integral to our self-love. We are in a period of great change where we need to introduce more play into our routine, into the foundations of our culture, into our conversations, into our children’s lives. Play is the bedrock from which joy, curiosity, creativity, and innovation springs forth.
In conversations with some of you, I hear you say you’re not feeling connected to work in a meaningful way and question why you are expected to work such long hours. You want to do more meaningful and fun things but you don’t know what you’re passionate about. You don’t know how to get started.
It starts with you being a baby learning something new and taking your first steps to start to explore an unknown and unfamiliar way of being where play takes a higher priority in your life. You get to become an explorer. You get to play with no sense of urgency or a sense of what “success” is. You get to be curious about what lights you up. You get to awaken play inside of you. There is no right or wrong way to play. You just do it!
And best of all, I’m giving you the opportunity to explore play in community. Because the theme of my 1st community call in May is: Be A Baby – The Importance of Play.
Join me on Friday, May 24th: 6PM PST, 9PM EST (United States) / Saturday, May 25th: 11AM AEST (Australia), 9AM (China) as we explore this theme together.
Zoom Registration Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0odOmhpjwqEtEmEr3wF6bidT9tVSy5HZcC
I am a heart-centered coach who supports Asian millennials to deepen self-love and bridge intergenerational and cultural gaps, leaving them feeling more joyfully connected to themselves, to family, and to community, as well as empowered to live in greater alignment with their personal values and needs. To learn more about me or enquire about having me as your coach and space holder, please reach out via the contact form on my website at: https://alaliwei.com/
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I am a heart-centered coach who supports Asian millennials to deepen self-love and bridge intergenerational & cultural gaps, leaving them feeling more joyfully connected to themselves, to family, and to community, as well as empowered to live in greater alignment with their personal values and needs. Book a coaching series with me through my website: alaliwei.com
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