Picture this…it’s the weekend!
You rush to the living room with your favorite bowl of cereal to watch your morning cartoons.
Do you remember how that felt?
How about going outside to play with your friends, racing bikes, hopscotch, double- dutch, tag, you name it?
Do you remember that?
Okay what about when you would get rewarded by going to Chuck E. Cheese?
Do you remember how it felt when playing was one of the most important things to you?
When did you begin to forget that?
Take a moment and think about that…I’ll wait!
I recently had the opportunity to visit the Museum of Ice Cream in San Francisco. I had heard about this exhibit since last year, seeing multiple celebrities post pictures with life size gummy bears and swinging on bananas. I thought to myself, “I don’t know where this is located, but I have got to be there”. It was super hard to get tickets, as every time I looked the event was sold out. Until one day something magical happened and they extended the exhibit to include more dates. I quickly purchased tickets and at this point I was filled with joy.
You see, we all have an inner kid that still really likes to play. That inner kid often gets forgotten about because of all of the responsibilities that come with #adulting. One thing I like to do is keep my imagination and kid-like energy alive, because it is good for my soul and makes me feel forever young. In all honesty, I had no clue what I was about to get myself into, I just knew I was going to have some BOMB dot COM pictures when it was all said and done. What I didn’t know was I was in for so much more. Below I will share with you what visiting the Museum of Ice Cream reminded me:
- Never forget what it feels like to play.
- It’s okay to get excited about “child-like” activities.
- Don’t loose your imagination.
- Don’t make excuses for why you can’t play.
Let me explain! While I was at the Museum of Ice Cream I allowed myself to let free because, I never want to forget what it feels like to play. It is not as if we no longer play as young adults, but we surely don’t play enough. I am sure some of you still play video games, have a game night, go to the basketball courts, etc. Can you remember the last time you had a pillow fight, blew bubbles, put together legos, swung on a swing, played dress up, tag, etc? I am sure you don’t do those things on the regular because, you never feel like you have enough time. Better yet some of these things probably sound silly to do at your age. You may work a job, go to college, be in grad school, have a side business, have children, you name it. You are trying to build, I get it, but we often forget that we don’t have to be serious or “act like an adult” 24/7.
It is okay to get excited about doing “child like” activities no matter what age you are. Of course, I was super excited to consume all of the free treats along the way that went with each theme. I definitely felt like a kid in a candy shop or the kid that got too hyped and ate too many sweets leading to a stomachache by the end…YOLO!
Now if you haven’t visited this exhibit, I must warn you there are a few spoilers coming up.
You good? I still got your attention? Okay, here we go!
There was a room, one of my favorite rooms with the gummy bears, where you really had to tap into your imagination and make animal sounds in order to enter the room. I thought to myself “okay now ya’ll had my attention when you wanted me to name my favorite animal, but now you want me to make animal sounds extremely loud too..ummm how about no”. To push past the awkwardness I shyly engaged because, I was destined to take that epic picture you see above with my favorite life sized candy. You see sometimes playing requires us to tap into our imagination and return to doing things that we once easily did as a child. As we grow older not only do we forget how to play, but we also tend to loose our imagination. We forget our original dreams sometimes. We forget to imagine the best version of ourselves. We stop daydreaming. Everything becomes focused on being “back to reality”. You have to promise yourself to never stop having an imagination because, it is a gift that once brought you so much joy and can serve a purpose today.
Now let’s fast forward a little to the sprinkle poll, yes THE SPRINKLE POOL!!! I had already made up my mind that I wasn’t getting in because I didn’t feel like taking off my shoes. The employee wasted no time busting me out and stating that the shoes I had on weren’t even tied and to stop making excuses. I reluctantly was convinced to get into the pool. The moment I got in and sunk a few inches, pure joy came over me. I looked all around, laughed, and figured, “hey why not”! I took plenty of pictures, had sprinkles thrown on me, played with the beach ball, and even danced a little. It was the initial “leap” into the pool that I took that caught me by surprise. Sometimes the things we are most reluctant to do can be the best experiences for us. Sure I could have watched from the sidelines, but there is nothing like getting in on the action. Don’t miss out on getting in on the action due to making excuses. That goes for every area in your life!
I hope this post inspired you to go out and Live Lovely by choosing an activity that causes you to simply play. I would like to hear how it goes. I know you’re probably wondering, “okay, so where are the REST of the epic pictures?”. Don’t worry I wasn’t going to leave ya’ll hanging.
Below are a few more photos from my visit, enjoy!
If you would like to see additional photos visit my Instagram account here.
You didn’t think I would put them all on the blog and not leave some special ones for the IG did you?! Follow my account while you are there to see other ways that I am #livinlovely. I can’t motivate you all to have a Always Live Lovely mindset and live this lifestyle as young adults, if I don’t show you how I do so myself. You feel me?
Link to the Museum of Ice Cream Exhibit here.
Always Live Lovely,
Chetina
Written: June 25, 2018
***DISCLAIMER***
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