Once upon a time, I, Tabitha MacDonald, thought play was a luxury I couldn't afford as a single mom and entrepreneur. But what I've learned about the boundless benefits of weaving creativity and play into life's tapestry has changed everything. Embarking on an intimate exploration of how the arts revive our intuition and logical minds, this episode is a heartfelt call to those who feel they've lost touch with their playful side. I recount my own transformation and share how simple acts of whimsy—from painting to dance—have made me not only a more joyful person but a more effective one. You'll come away with practical advice on how to sprinkle playfulness into the mundane and why your future self will thank you for it.
In our conversation, we dare to question the self-limiting beliefs about creativity and play that often go unchallenged. It's time to brush off the dust from those old stories that have held us back and discover how play can be a powerful tool in self-development. As we explore the enchanting world of crochet, coloring, and cooking, we also unveil the Soma tribe, a community dedicated to helping each other carve out their envisioned paths. Tune in to find out how rekindling childhood joys can unlock a more fulfilling and effective way of being, and get ready to transform the way you approach both your personal growth and daily productivity.
About Tabitha Tabitha MacDonald is an intuitive transformation coach dedicated to helping people overcome their pain as fast as possible so that they can have the love, freedom and purpose they truly desire.
Once upon a time, I, Tabitha MacDonald, thought play was a luxury I couldn't afford as a single mom and entrepreneur. But what I've learned about the boundless benefits of weaving creativity and play into life's tapestry has changed everything. Embarking on an intimate exploration of how the arts revive our intuition and logical minds, this episode is a heartfelt call to those who feel they've lost touch with their playful side. I recount my own transformation and share how simple acts of whimsy—from painting to dance—have made me not only a more joyful person but a more effective one. You'll come away with practical advice on how to sprinkle playfulness into the mundane and why your future self will thank you for it.
In our conversation, we dare to question the self-limiting beliefs about creativity and play that often go unchallenged. It's time to brush off the dust from those old stories that have held us back and discover how play can be a powerful tool in self-development. As we explore the enchanting world of crochet, coloring, and cooking, we also unveil the Soma tribe, a community dedicated to helping each other carve out their envisioned paths. Tune in to find out how rekindling childhood joys can unlock a more fulfilling and effective way of being, and get ready to transform the way you approach both your personal growth and daily productivity.
About Tabitha Tabitha MacDonald is an intuitive transformation coach dedicated to helping people overcome their pain as fast as possible so that they can have the love, freedom and purpose they truly desire.
Welcome to the Mindful Love Podcast. My name is Tabitha McDonald. I am an intuitive and transformation coach and this week I am going over 12 gifts that you can give your future self, and today I want to talk about the gift of creativity and play. I remember the first time I heard this concept I was reading one of Brene Brown's books. I think it was the power of vulnerability but I could be wrong and it was the pillars of living a wholehearted life. And she mentioned in there the importance and value in creativity and play, and at the time I didn't have time for that. Right. It was like, oh my gosh, I was a single mom. I had a wellness center, I think I had nine therapists working for me at the time and I had two kids and bills and a mortgage and the pressures of modern-day living as a single mom. And I thought like, who has time for creativity and play? I can't even wash the dishes. Oh my gosh, who has time for that? And it was interesting because looking back, I can see how, how do I take in more time for creativity and play? I probably would have found more time. Our inner child, the part of us that lives in fantasy and creativity needs to play in order to tap into our intuition. And when we use our intuition and our imagination, not only do we live more beautiful and joyful lives, but we are more efficient and more effective with our more mundane tasks, because we give that logical part of our brain a break and the right side of our brain gets to take over and flourishes. And that's where life becomes more magical. And we learn that through creativity and play. So, interestingly enough, over the last several years, when I've really, you know, delved deep into my own healing journey, creativity and play were a huge part of it, and I think that that really means something different to everybody and it's going to be important for you to figure out what that means to you, because it's it's your journey and you get to figure out what you like doing.
Speaker 1:
I started by mimicking other people. I would say, okay, what do they find fun and what do they do for play? And sometimes that looks like going out and hiking in the woods or splashing and playing in a river, and sometimes they felt ridiculous doing it and sometimes I was like, oh yeah, this fits, this fits me. Sometimes I like to take a blank canvas and just start painting my emotions and I'll think about, like, if I had a color that expressed the sadness or trauma I was going through at the time, what would that look like? And I would just take a paintbrush and start stroking a canvas and all of a sudden I had painted out all of these traumatic memories and things that I was trying to process through. That felt too, too enormous for my logical brain to handle, and so I started using things like music.
Speaker 1:
I started using things like dancing around my house in a very silly way and allowing myself to be silly and ridiculous, which isn't something that I'm usually really good at, because I'm afraid of being embarrassed and so I started doing it alone or taking time to play an instrument and be bad at it and just hit the keys like I did when I was little, pretending like I was a concerto or something. And allowing myself time and space to play actually improved the functionality of my logical brain, because it really gives that part of your brain, the problem solving part of your brain, a break, and so it can go out and have a coffee break while you're playing, and then you come back and all of a sudden it works better. It just works better. It's like hitting turning off your iPhone when none of your apps work and for some reason, when you turn it back on, it just works better. I look at creativity and play like that. So here are some suggestions that I used when I was learning how to be more playful and hopefully some of them help you.
Speaker 1:
You could try doing a paint night. I love paint nights because they tell you exactly what to do. And if you're not somebody who's naturally very creative or you have forgotten that you are naturally creative, then doing a paint night is great because you have somebody who's guiding you through the whole thing and then when you end the thing and your painting looks nothing like the instructors, you can celebrate your own unique characterization of the project, look for a way to celebrate it and just celebrate the fact that you showed up and you did something that makes you uncomfortable. And there's other things, like going to a salsa class. One of my friends would drag me along to her salsa club and I loved it because it's one of those places where there's still a masculine leading the feminine, and it's not necessarily men or women, it's just there's a lead and then there's a follow. And since I felt like I was in a place where I was constantly leading. It was so nice to have this practice of surrendering and also being playful with it and I'm not a great dancer, but it was also one of those moments where I learned to embrace what I wasn't good at and be okay with it and just be playful and not have high expectations of me not stepping on people's feet or falling over. So that's another way that you can play.
Speaker 1:
Go to a dance class. I love partner dancing because you also learn how to move your energy with someone else's, how to surrender to someone else's lead and how to just take a break from being the one in charge all of the time. I loved doing line dancing because there was structure and there were steps, but I was still playing and being creative. I loved Zumba because it's in a fitness center and I can go and really connect with my body and be playful at the same time. And it's really interesting with that one because I would hear the judgment in my head the whole time and I'm like you're supposed to be playing right now and you're being really mean to yourself because you can't follow the steps. Like, just do the best that you can and remember that you're here to learn how to play and so body movement stuff.
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I love playing at amusement parks Like for me, play is going to Disneyland and forgetting that I'm an adult and running from ride to ride and if I'm not near Disneyland, I love going to Silverwood in Idaho or any amusement park that reminds me to let go, that life is a total roller coaster and you should just lean in and breathe into it. I absolutely love being at amusement parks. That's my ideal way to play, absolutely, and I love trying all the rides and even the little kid ones or the big kid ones, and I love staying until it closes and I'm exhausted Like I was when I was little, like I scream in hand and I'm just like a mess. But I don't care if someone wants to stay until the park closes so I can see all of the lights go up. I love playing on the beach, just being there and watching the waves and eliminating all of the responsibilities from my mind and just being present at the beach and just watching people and flying a kite. I love playing with let's see games.
Speaker 1:
Games are a great way to play. It allows you to just tap into your imagination and your creativity, like Monopoly or Clue or any of the games. Oh my gosh, there's so many games out there and if you find a good group of people to play games with, you can laugh and there's joy in it and connection. You can host a murder mystery party where everyone shows up in a character and we're playing. Because I need more practice with play, signed up for an improv class starting in January oh my gosh, that's next Monday and I'm going to learn how to intentionally play even more. And it's just something that I need constant practice with because I forget. It's just 20 years of parenting and being responsible has sometimes just taxed my natural ability to just play all of the time, and so I schedule it now. So now I'm going to learn how to do improv. I have no idea what that looks like, but I'm going to go with an open heart and an open mind. Play really nurtures our innovation and that's the creative part of our brain that has solutions to what we think are problems, and usually it's more innovative than what our logical mind can come up with. And I love tapping into that part of my brain because it comes up with a ton of solutions in a way that like my past self or my logical brain can't access. So I really find that to be really valuable.
Speaker 1:
Play also helps us unlock our self-expression and authenticity. It's like we get to act out or color our thoughts, emotions, our aspirations, our dreams. It's just this wonderful way for us to explore our identity and our values and our beliefs. Creative endeavors will pretty much unveil layers of authenticity and help you embrace your unique voice, your uniqueness, what is you? It also helps you rekindle that sense of joy and curiosity. When we are in a state of joy, it helps to extinguish the anxiety. And when we can be in curiosity, that's us letting go of the need to know and being open to receive information from the universe or from our higher self or whatever is your higher power that you believe in. And in that state of curiosity and awe and wonder, we let go of the control and the outcome and we just become open to receive.
Speaker 1:
And since I started learning how to do that, my life has become way more magical and beautiful and I meet the most interesting people and I have way more fascinating experiences than anything that I would have dreamt up in my logical brain. For example, I follow my intuition a lot when it comes to business and living a life that I love, and I will sometimes get these intuitive hits like, oh, you need to be at this conference at this time and do this thing, and it doesn't make sense to me in my logical brain, but my best decisions don't always come from my logical brain, and so I'll go to the event and I'll just have this nudge to leave at a very specific time and pack up and go, and then I'll meet the one person I was meant to meet at that event, who became a really good client, who is with me and will be with me for a long time. And so it's really amazing when you can tap into your intuition, and I do believe that play and being playful is a direct link into that intuitive part of your mind, because we were just really coming at life from a place of joy and authenticity and letting go of the control and the fear that blocks intuition and that blocks our ability to really have a joyful expression of life. And so I want to challenge you all to give yourself the gift of play. Allow yourself time to be spontaneous, like I really love that.
Speaker 1:
I spent a good year of my life in spontaneity and it was a true gift for me when I was doing the healing work that I needed to do, because it really helped me see my higher purpose and to put a lot of my pain and my struggles into the container of purpose. And the play is where I learned to lean in and have faith, because I just kept hearing just surrender and have faith and we need you to play. And the more I played, the faster I healed. And it was just a really interesting experience because if you had known me before, that was not me at all and I was not somebody who prioritized play. I would go camping with my kids and I would be the one working the whole time and I was like, why am I doing this? This isn't play, this is like this is just work, but without the like convenience of a dishwasher. And so I really had to learn how, what play meant to me and what play wasn't for me.
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Like, I love going to the movies and if I really need to feel inspired, I will go see a live movie, like in the theater, because I love being there. There's no distractions, my phone's off, I can just be fully present with the movie and enjoy the storyline. I also really like movie theater popcorn. So there's that too. And then I really love going and seeing live music, but not concerts. I like live music in small venues that are more intimate or outdoor venues. I don't like big concerts.
Speaker 1:
I love going to not necessarily a museum to admire art, but I love the simple art that maybe is in a hidden place, like I was down in Ashland for my birthday and they had like these pubs and had these beautiful art, this beautiful artwork in them in the most, I guess, unsuspecting place, and I found that like little hidden gem of art way more inspiring than if I was in a place where I expected it. So that's how I tap into creativity and play. I also do things like crochet or use those coloring books that help you meditate. I love doodling. I love cooking when I'm in the mood and I have time to do it, just things like that where I'll just play music and I get out of my head and I just allow myself to be in the music and lose my brain for a moment and let go of the to-do list and the need to be learning something and just allow my brain to enjoy a break and a reset. So those are some of the things that I do.
Speaker 1:
I hope that maybe you can start looking at ways that you can start adding more play and creativity into your life, and I promise you it's worth it. And sometimes you just have to schedule it in and it might be like okay, on Mondays at 8 pm I'm gonna draw on this coloring book for 15 minutes, because apparently it's good for me and sometimes you don't have to really know or trust that it's gonna work, but over time you'll see the benefit of it. And if the coloring book thing isn't your thing, then find something else. Think of something that you love to do when you were a kid that you don't let yourself do anymore. Maybe it's just twirl about. I see women walking around with hula hoops all the time. I'm pretty sure it's a fitness thing, but they're having fun right, they're playing, they're finding ways to add play into their fitness routine. It could be anything. So that's up to you.
Speaker 1:
I would just maybe sit back and ask yourself if I was allowed to play, if I was allowed to tap into my creativity, what would I choose to explore that I have not allowed myself the gift or time to explore? And it might not be the thing that you thought it should be. Just really ask yourself and connect in with your heart and say what would that thing be? And then say, if I was allowed to play, if I was allowed to be creative, if I allowed myself to do those things, what would be something that I wanna try? And I'm gonna put it on the calendar and I'm just gonna try it for 21 days or three months and see if it's something that I really enjoy. But I'm gonna keep trying it until I figure out is it something that I don't like or is it creating a lot of pain for me because I don't think I'm allowed to play?
Speaker 1:
And questions are really important when you're going through your self-development journey, because it's not necessarily that you're not creative or you're not playful. It's probably that somebody at some point told you you weren't or that you weren't allowed to be. And that's really what we wanna get to. Is, if I don't feel like I'm allowed to play, if I don't think I'm creative, is there a reason? Is there a story that I'm telling myself? Was I not allowed to play or to have creativity when I was young?
Speaker 1:
Did someone tell me that my painting was ugly, so I decided I wasn't a creative person. Did someone tell me I wasn't allowed to play and that I needed to get my head out of the clouds and I just needed to go back to work? Did somebody say that to me at some point? And I decided that my only worth was what I produced? So just start asking yourself some of those questions when you start looking at why don't I play and why am I so resistant to allowing play.
Speaker 1:
I hope you enjoyed today's episode and I really do hope that you try to do some of these exercises and explore the gift of creativity and play in your own life. My name is Tabitha McDonald and, if you're interested in learning more with me or during my tribe, I have Soma tribe, which is my monthly membership, which is launching this January. So January 8th, and I am very excited to be doing deep dives into all areas of your life to help you create a vision for your life and also an action plan to bring it to reality. Have a wonderful day.