The Unexpected Power of Playfulness

Lightness, Play, and Its Role in Your Reset

My favourite people are playful in some way, and it’s a compliment I seem to get a lot.

Having come out of a difficult winter with Spring lightness shifting the energy in London, I’ve been enjoying leaning back into this mode. And it’s prompted me to think about why playfulness is so captivating.

(Image source: Pinterest).

Why Playfulness Matters

Playful people have this magic ability to bring you into the present moment. They make ordinary moments memorable, and suddenly, the mundane becomes an adventure. It’s like they’ve cracked the code on how to make life a little bit more joyful.

Despite living what I’d call an interesting life - traveling, juggling side hustles, volunteering, socialising, creating - daily life can still feel pretty mundane. Let’s be real. There’s the weekly supermarket shop, life admin, commuting, and waiting rooms. Sometimes it feels like we’re just moving from one task to the next.

But when you choose to see the world through a playful lens, those everyday moments transform. A long car ride becomes an adventure. Waiting for a train turns into a chance to laugh, walking through supermarket aisles becomes an opportunity for fits of laughter.

It’s not just about tolerating life’s ordinary bits - it’s about actively turning them into something magical.

What Playfulness Means for Your Reset

Playfulness is deceptively powerful. On the surface, it seems light and unserious, but underneath, it’s signalling something deeper:

1. Playfulness = Safety
   When you're playful, it usually means you feel safe—physically, emotionally, and psychologically. You’re not in survival mode. Your guard is down, and you’re open to connection, curiosity, and growth. It’s like a sign that your nervous system is regulated.

   That's why I think the meeting of masculine and feminine energy is so powerful. The healthy masculine creates the frame, leads with quiet confidence, and holds space - and then the feminine energy is relaxed, soft, in flow and playful.

2. Play = Presence
   Play pulls you into the moment. You’re not stuck in past regrets or future worries. That lightness? It’s often your truest self surfacing.

3. It’s a Signal of Integration
   When you're playful, it can mean you’ve processed something difficult and are now integrating it. It’s like your soul exhaling after holding its breath. The heaviness lifts, making space for lightness again. It’s when you can start making jokes about a difficult period.

4. Creative Power
   Play is inherently generative. Ideas flow. Connections form naturally. There’s no pressure to be perfect—just to explore. That makes it fertile ground for breakthroughs and innovation.

5. It Disarms Ego
   Play doesn’t take itself too seriously. It invites humility and joy, creating space for deeper connections with others—and yourself.

Why Noticing Playfulness Matters

You can’t force play. You can’t fake it.
It shows up when you’ve started to loosen your grip on what you can’t control. You’re not just surviving anymore—you’re living.

Playfulness can't really happen if you're in fight or flight mode, worried about the future and ruminating on the past. And it can't happen if you're worried about how it will be received.

It happens when you feel sure that you can tease someone, say something silly, or a bit off beat, relax completely into yourself and engage in a witty exchange knowing that it will be received and maybe lobbed back to you. You don’t have to over-explain.

It’s a sign of growth, not regression.

It’s a sign of coming back to your inner child.

It means you’ve processed something deep enough that your spirit feels light again.

🌱 Playfulness in Life

In Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act: A Way of Being, he writes, “When we approach our creative practice with playfulness, we are willing to make mistakes, to explore without the need for perfection.” This mindset applies to life too. It’s about giving yourself permission to be curious, to improvise, and to respond instead of overthinking.

Mistakes can be plot twists.

Relationships can be co-created rather than controlled.

Imagine living the way Rubin suggests creating:

• Approaching each day with a sense of wonder rather than routine.

• Embracing imperfections as natural, even beautiful.

• Setting playful boundaries that spark new ways of thinking instead of boxing you in.

In life, like in art, it’s easy to get trapped in perfectionism or fear of mistakes. Rubin’s message reminds us that when we let go of rigid expectations, we create space for spontaneity—and that’s where the magic happens.

🌀 Examples of Bringing This to Life:

• Relationships: Instead of expecting every conversation to be deep or serious, what if you allowed for silliness, for inside jokes, for playful disagreements?

• Work: Treat your next project like a creative experiment rather than a mission to prove yourself. Set quirky challenges—like finding the most unconventional solution—just to see where it takes you.

• Creativity: Make bad art on purpose. Lower the bar. Make something silly, ugly, or “wrong.” It frees you from perfectionism and unlocks flow. Switch mediums. If you write, draw. If you code, collage. Let your brain wander into new territory.

• Daily Routine: Add little disruptions to the mundane. Try a new route on your walk, cook without a recipe, or invent a game while doing chores. These small acts of playfulness make the ordinary feel less predictable and more alive.

An Invitation to Play

When was the last time you felt playful? Who were you with? What were you doing? What might that moment be telling you about where you are right now?

Next time you’re stuck—in creativity, work, or just life—ask yourself: What would happen if I approached this with playfulness? What if, instead of trying to “get it right,” I just saw what happened if I played with the possibilities?

It’s not about being childish—it’s about trusting that even if you don’t know the next step, you can still find your way through with curiosity and a bit of laughter.

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Playfulness is a rebellion in a world obsessed with control. It’s a choice to let life feel lighter.

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Reset Readings

The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin

Tiny Experiments: How To Live Freely in a Goal Obsessed World by Anne-Laure Le Cunff

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Continuing the conversation

What helps you to connect to your childlike playfulness?