Play! Use an old Childhood Tactic To Stimulate Creativity

Tag, you’re it! Remember how those words got you excited? I do, I would race across the grassy field of my elementary school, chasing down the culprit who elected me as his/her tagger. Thinking more on it, the word that rings the most in my head is joy, pure joy. Even if I was breathing harder and stopping to catch my breath, my smile appeared even bigger. Sometimes I can come across that same feeling again when I think of a really cool idea to explore, or discover a new artist, etc. Sometimes I want to go back to that mindset, to go back in living in a single moment. Because if you think about it, that’s exactly what you were doing that moment that you were tagged, all you could think of was racing as fast as you can to tag back your opponent. Nothing else mattered, and it was only after when you were done playing, that you thought about what your next step was. 

I have heard that animators from various film studios often work in an environment where it is encouraged for them to play. It can be within the moments of playing a video game, or even a game of basketball that an animator can discover a facial expression or something that was said to inspire their next character or film idea. 

Now of course we are not all animators or are lucky enough to work in an environment where you can play video games. However this is not an excuse to not go out and play. As we get older certain games like tag aren’t played as much, in place of it we have well the Wii or Xbox.  Which aren’t bad, if they are played in a healthy matter, I’m a fan of Mario cart myself, but there is something about moving physically, out and about, that can help bring clarity to the mind. And clarity can be a keep ingredient in thinking creatively. Here is my impromptu idea for the week: Go out and play! No seriously go out and play a childhood game, take it way back to hide and seek, tag, kick ball, red rover, etc. I could go on forever.  Try to implement an idea for a creative project you want to work on before you start playing.  Don’t think of it while you’re playing only after you’re done. See if it helps to inspire your next great project.  

“We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”
- George Bernard Shaw