A Shift Towards Play
Late Sunday afternoon, I was walking through midtown. The sun was out, trees were lush and green, the temperature was cooling after a hot day (but still warm enough for shorts and sandals.) The streets were full of joggers, people walking their dogs, friends gathering. There was a kind of buzz in the air.
I found myself noticing a shift—not just in the season, but in my own energy. As much as I love the quiet, cozy, foggy days of winter (no one loves a lazy day of reading or watching tv more than me), something about the return of sunshine brings a different kind of aliveness. It felt playful and light.
It made me want to be out in the world. Moving, exploring, playing.
Lately, I’ve been asking my clients—and myself—a simple question: What does play look like for you? Not in a performative way, but in the sense of: What brings you a feeling of vitality or aliveness in your day-to-day life?
For me, recently, it’s looked like:
Saturday mornings at Soil Born Farms with my kids—coffee in hand, kids playing in the dirt or feeding the chickens
Seeing live music with friends
Riding my bike just for the sake of it
Enjoying hobbies with friends
Thursday mornings at Her Elevated
Pottery at The SEED
A sewing class at SEWcial
Slow walks around my neighborhood, picking flowers, visiting with neighbors
Turning on the hose in the backyard and letting my kids run wild
And I’m noticing I’m craving even more:
Dance
Music
Cooking
Less structure. More expression and silliness.
Play, especially in adulthood, can feel easy to overlook—or even indulgent. But often, it’s where we reconnect with ourselves. It’s where we soften, where we feel more present, where joy has a little more room to come through.
So I’ll leave you with this:
What brings you a sense of vitality, play, and fun right now?
~ Hannah Collentine-Cole, LCSW
Individual and Couples Therapy in Midtown Sacramento
