Child-Like Play Creates A Bohemian Snow Day

By Jill Allison Bryan

"When life hands you lemons make lemonade," the saying goes. The first week of February life handed us school-closing snow and ice that kept many here in Dallas/Ft. Worth homebound with kids that were soon bouncing off the walls.

What did we make with all that snow & ice? According to Facebook posts, on the first snow day my friends made snow chicks in bikinis, (photo by Ashley Thames Brown) snow ice-cream and even snow-ritas. (The love of all things Tex-Mex runs deep down here y'all!) In other words, we made the best of it. We consumed mass quantities of hot chocolate and marshmallows, made fires, played games and watched old movies.

Then came the second snow day…and we did it all again.

Next came day three. Insert *@*#*&&%%!!!* expletive of your choice. By the fourth phone call from school confirming that once again they would be closed due to inclement weather it was time to put on my get-really-creative-and-think-outside-the-box hat. Thus "Boho Snow Day" was born.

I had several creative projects that I wanted to get to for a group class that I'm teaching here in Dallas called, "Welcome To Your Creative Oasis", for a group teleclass I'm participating in with Jill Badonsky — "Blissfully Imperfect — Liberating Creative Joy" and for my Creative Oasis Day Trippers group.

My daughter loves role-playing, so I figured if I offered to turn our dining room into a Soho-esque artist loft and us into bohemian artist-types (complete with the proper boho-chic fashions) I'd have a good chance of getting her to hang out and do some fun creative stuff with me for an hour or two and give video-chatting on her computer a rest.

It worked! The proof is in the photos. We had a blast dressing up, hanging scarves and shawls around the room (it helps that I have a slight Stevie Nicks fascination), lighting candles and playing with creative projects. We wrote in our journals. We made Artist Trading Cards.

We listened to music. (The New Bohemians, of course!) And I got at least few things accomplished that I wanted to without locking myself in my office and leaving Riley Anna to her own devices.

Our Boho Snow Day was as fun for me as it was for her, and it was an excellent reminder that when we add an element of child-like play to anything we do — it becomes more joyful. Sounds simple…makes sense…but we can all use the reminder.

As Bea Silly, Muse of Play, Laughter and Dance says, "Fun is an elixir of spontaneous ideas. Solutions that seemed so elusive earlier appear effortlessly in the midst of play. To engage in the kind of play that stimulates ideas, mortals need to take themselves less seriously and make room for making things up, kidding, and goofing off." (Quoted from "The Nine Modern Day Muses and a Bodyguard" by Jill Badonsky.)

Can you imagine how child-like play might open you up to the creative process? Why not fetch your feather boa out of the mothballs (or if you don't own one — go buy one for heaven's sake — everyone needs a feather boa!) and throw it dramatically around your neck then dive into five minutes of creative play. Write in your journal as if you're a movie star from the days of the silver screen…create a collage like your Lady Gaga designing your next crazy costume…plan a menu for a dinner party for the rock stars you're inviting over next weekend (and if you don't know any rock stars…have your neighbors over to enjoy it instead.)

Turns out that childlike play was the perfect antidote for a snow-bound family with a touch of cabin fever! •

© 2011 Jill Allison Bryan. All rights reserved.

Jill Allison Bryan helps people to experience the joy and fulfillment that creativity can bring to their lives with Creative Oasis Coaching. More »

3/4/11