30 Days of Joy: Playing Like a Kid

Note: This article is the next step in my challenge to find joy in something — anything — every day for 30 days. Today’s entry is part 11.

I hate when things are over.

Last night was my final improv comedy class. This Saturday night, we’ll do our final performance, at which point we’ll “graduate.”

Today is a year to the day from when I first walked into the theater for the start of Level 1. It’s been a long, life-changing journey worthy of in-depth inspection and introspection.

But I’m not ready to do that right now.

Right now, all I want to do is reflect on a brief moment from last night.

At the beginning of each class, we do warm-up exercises to loosen up, just like you’d do before a physical workout. They’re simple, silly games that help you get out of the mindset of being a productive, socially acceptable adult so you can play like a kid.

Normally during these exercises I’m super tense and just trying to survive. (A mentality that unfortunately follows me through the rest of class, as well.)

But yesterday, somehow, I was able to relax and fully engage.

Maybe it was a year’s worth of training finally kicking in, or maybe it was the recognition that this would be the last time I did this with these people in this setting as part of this experience.

But at some point, as I was channeling my inner child while laughing hysterically, it hit me that, for once, I was experiencing something I wished I’d had the nerve to open myself up to all along:

Fun.

*****

This originally appeared on 100 Naked Words.