The Importance of Play

"Play is about venturing into the unknown with a sense of adventure and a little bit of direction."

Cheryl Arkison

While no one would deny that value of play in our children, too often we lose this sense of adventure as we age. There are more rules, more expectations, more structure to our lives. If we're lucky we have a hobby or we exercise and this is where we think we are playing. More often than not, however, those things are dictated my must-do more than want-to. 

Enter play.

Play makes us human. Using our imagination is what defines us as humans, in a way. In quilting we engage our imagination every time we pick fabrics or work without a pattern.

When we play we build our skills. We don't have to go back to sorting shapes into a bin, but playing with new quilt techniques definitely works.

In a world such as ours is in 2021 play is the ultimate stress relief. If quilting has been hard for you, approach it with the openness that play provides to see what happens.

Without play, we are stagnant. Engaging our imagination, skills, and comfort through play will ultimately help us grow. Our brains don't stop when we turn 30, so let's keep playing to keep them going.