There are SO many words that 2024 could have been. Organize, calm, systems, spiritual are a few of the top contenders. These are all GREAT themes, and there’s a solid chance they may make it as a theme for a future year. But when I sat down and truly meditated on what I wanted the focus of this upcoming year to be, the question that kept floating into my mind was: what word/theme will add the most value to my life? And this year, my friends, that word is PLAY.
Why PLAY for 2024?
My primary focus in life during this chapter is being a stay-at-home-mama to my three little ones. Such a blessing, yes, but I’d be lying if there weren’t days that the overall vibe I was feeling was that of annoyance. Annoyed that I was repeating “time to brush our teeth” 27 times with no forward motion to the bathroom, annoyed that the house would get a deep clean only to have the kiddos come in and leave a tornado of items (and muddy boots) before I could even enjoy the calm, annoyed that I would spend a good chunk of time and money preparing an organic and healthy meal only to have everyone request toast with cream cheese.
I knew I didn’t want to enter a new year feeling annoyed, but the question was, how do I navigate my days and not let this stuff bother me? I needed a mindset shift, a new way to approach these thousands of little daily interactions so I could behave in a way that would allow me to feel differently. And for me, that shift is to play.
Will play help my kids to listen better, will it keep the house tidier, and will it help mealtime be consistently smooth? The jury is still out on that one, friends. BUT I do truly feel that if I’m intentional with PLAY, it will help ME to feel in a more jolly mood—which I’ll definitely take over annoyed;-)
Here’s 5 ways I plan to PLAY in 2024.
Play music. You know when you’re in a bit of a funk and a song comes on and you jump up and down and yell “that’s my jam!”? It’s SUCH a joyous feeling. So I got to thinking—why not have these joyous musical times on the regular? Whenever I’m slipping into a mood of annoyance, I’m going to try my hardest to put on a Joy Jam (i.e. one of the many songs that instantly puts me in a playful mood—cue the dance party!)
Play games. Candy Land and chess, yes. But also incorporating rounds of I Spy With My Little Eye while on a long bus commute, or Simon Says when we’re trying to get ready for the day. Bringing this atmosphere of play to these moments will overpower the annoyance, me hopes!
When my kids say, “Mama, please can you play with me?”—stop what I’m doing and PLAY. The days are long but the years are short. I’d rather them have memories of a playful mama than a tidy house (…my husband may or may not agree?!;-)
Create a playbook! When I got my birth chart read last year, one of the things that stood out to me as a huge truth is that I tend to be REALLY interested in just a few things—and don’t pay too much mind to everything else out there. While I can appreciate this about myself, I also want to approach life and learning with a more playful attitude—hence creating a playbook this year. The playbook will be a collection of one new thing I learned, did, or created each day…that otherwise before I didn’t know about, hadn’t experienced, or didn’t exist. I’m not exactly sure what this will end up looking like (maybe just a journal filled with random trivia and doodles?!) but I am confident that it will give me a more playful approach to things I wouldn’t otherwise take interest in. Always good to stretch ourselves, right?
Incorporate more play with Hygge Yoga! Holistic Health is a serious matter, sure, but there’s also room to incorporate a bit of playfulness with it. I’m still noodling on how exactly to do this, but first up on the docket will be teaching goat yoga self-care retreats for mamas at a beautiful farm in Connecticut (it doesn’t get much more playful than goat yoga, right?!)
Let me know what your 2024 word of the year is in the comments below!
Wishing you all a beautiful start to 2024, my friends! Sending light and love!
Jess (Your Ayurvedic Health Counselor, Making Holistic Health Cozy, Not Clinical)