I don't know about you, but this has been my most playful year yet. Usually summer is where I get my daily dose of play, especially at festivals. Rolling around in mud, dressing up like a fairy, hugging unicorns and dancing until I faint. Wearing my wedding gown all around town, ordering cake for breakfast, having serious meetings about how to build an entire city out of chocolate. Life is one big play!
There has not been one day this January where I haven't played board games, danced like a maniac, laughed so hard I thought I wasn't going to make it out alive. Then I flew to Vancouver where my friend Funergy introduced me to puppetry. Last Sunday, we were on a mission. We would brighten up the rainy day by playing with sock puppets in a cafe, entertaining all passersby.
I had never done anything like this before and wasn't sure about the reactions. Maybe people would be weirded out by two grown ups (right!) playing with puppets. Maybe it would be awkward at first. It was an experiment. My inner child got excited and before we even sat down, we were dancing around with our hands in the air, bringing happy looking socks to life.
The reactions were amazing! Old ladies walking up to the window to cheer, smiles appearing on the face of every person that passed by, lots of thumbs up, men taking their hats off, laughter, selfies and then... People coming in to thank us, to tell us we made their day, to join us in the fun and play with the puppets. A snowball effect of joy! Wow! Four hours flew by and before I knew it, my face was stuck in a smile so big I thought I would never go back to being able to perform a straight face. Which is already a challenge for me.
And I was right! No day has been the same ever since. A walk on the beach turned into a puppet photoshoot and a sleepy Tuesday morning got all exciting when Funergy taught me how to make my very own sock puppet. There is no way back now! Making people smile has become a daily goal. Which makes me smile. It's contagious. If everyone would have a puppet to play with and get over the first silly very adult feeling of embarrassment, and just play like the big children we are, the world would be a happier, more colourful place. Power to the puppets!