Creativity Jijiji

Day Two: The Gift of Play

• Chris Mchale • Episode 26

Share episode

The world gets softer when we remember how to play. Day two of our Audio Advent Calendar unwraps a gift adults often misplace: the light, curious state that melts pressure and lets imagination breathe. We share the small rituals that turn tightness into ease, from short walks to scrappy tennis rallies to the humble magic of a jigsaw puzzle. Along the way, Buddy—our senior dog and unlikely coach—reminds us that joy isn’t a phase; it’s a practice.

We explore why play is not childish but catalytic. Perfectionism narrows your choices, while play widens them. Think of athletes who move better when they remember it’s a game, or artists who find a new color by embracing a happy mistake. When work gets too heavy, play resets the nervous system and opens the door to flow. You don’t have to vanish for a weekend retreat; five minutes of playful presence can unstick a paragraph, unlock a melody, or soften a hard conversation.

We also get practical about how to use play as a creative tool. If the page stalls, put the pen down and bounce a ball. If the meeting grinds, shift the energy with a quick reset that invites laughter. Treat your collaborator as a playmate, not an opponent. That mindset turns performance into presence and effort into momentum. Our simple challenge: do one thing today purely for the fun of it, no metrics attached. Toss a ball with your dog, color outside the lines, or rally a few shots without keeping score.

If the ideas here help, tap follow, share this with someone stuck in their head, and leave a quick review. Your note helps more curious minds find a little lightness—and maybe their best work—through the gift of play.

Thanks for listening to our Audio Advent Calendar.

Thanks for listening.


Patty:

Welcome to Creativity Gigi, the audio advent calendar.

Chris:

This is uh Chris and Patty. Patty, and we're talking to you today about our audio advent calendar, which is we're gonna do 24 in a row, and this is day two.

Patty:

Yes, so each day we unwrap one of the gifts we were born with, the ones we forget as we grow. Today we're opening a gift that adults unguilty, often misplaced somewhere along the way. Play. The world feels much softer when we remember it.

Chris:

When we remember to play, you know, and I'm not talking about I don't know. I'm not talking about sports, and I'm not talking about uh building blocks, you know, play isn't childish. But uh it isn't something to leave behind in any part of your life. We're gonna talk about our dog Buddy as we go along. And Buddy is a play maestro. Um, even though he's a senior dog, he still wants to play. He knows the importance of it. He knows the importance of uh just being playful. So whether you're young or old, you always need to play, always.

Patty:

And I'm gonna throw in you can play with sports and you can play with blacks. Just have the spirit of play. Like have fun with it.

Chris:

Right. Uh you know, even um you're right, you're right. Even professional sports, like I watch a lot of baseball. And uh I think the players that do well are the ones that realize it's a game. You know, it's a game. It's a game. If it gets too serious, they get too tight, they make mistakes. But if they the one, you know, there are two players go out there and they enjoy themselves. You can tell by the way they're enjoying themselves and the way that they play. You can also look at the way a child plays with blocks or crayons. Look, they're not performing. I've looked this is a personal beef. But when a guy catches a football and he starts like pounding his chest and spiking the ball, I've never personally liked that stuff, but you know, because to me it's it's more fun, you know. It's not even about competition, you know. It's it's really just about playing for yourself, you know, uh, and just enjoying it. And you're your the person playing opposite you is is your playmate. That's the way I've always felt about it.

Patty:

I I don't know, that gets into uncharted territory, but I think think um or charted territory requires a deep discussion. But you know, play, you know, back to play. If we get too serious about something, you have a problem, and then it's like, oh god, we get so serious. But if we could take a step back and remember, wow, let me look at this in a different light. Let me bring some play into this, let me bring some levity. Um, just take a walk, go out and play, do something you love. You know, what do you love to do that's an act of play?

Chris:

Right. Uh play, this is, you know, on creativity, it's really about talking about creativity and how to promote your creativity. And uh when I think about play, when you play, it sort of removes pressure a little bit, like you're having fun, and that loosens you up and that invites uh, you know, imagination. You know, like your your imagination starts get going. So if you're sitting down writing a book and you're kind of stuck, like, uh, you know, probably go out and play uh some tennis with a friend. It'll probably help you more than anything else.

Patty:

When you play, it brings in a new energy, you know, it's looser. You can make a mess, you can surprise yourself, you can laugh, you can get silly. I mean, we all, I think, in a lot of society, I know I have been up against this. We're like, don't make a mistake, don't make a mistake, you know, and sometimes we make a mistake. Have you ever gone to a concert and you know you see a musician, Chris and I have deep discussions about this. He, you know, he heard a mistake, you know, but um in the but I'm a fan and I just love it. You know, it's like, what? I you missed a note, so what? You know, and if you roll with it, it's okay. Sometimes I think we get so um embedded in perfection. Hey, and there's nothing wrong with, you know, master, you know, somebody at their their art. But, you know, there's that spirit of like, hey, you know, mistakes happen. So when we loosen up and we allow ourselves some freedom to just play, it just could be such a dynamic shifter.

Chris:

Yeah, I think play, uh, in terms of what we're talking about on this uh audio advent calendar, it's like play will open the door to your best work, to your truest work. I mean, I I've never been a believer in writer's block, to be honest with you. I've never in my whole life had any writer's block. And my basic technique is simply like if I don't feel like writing or I hit a point where I can't write. Even in the days when I used to work on a deadline, as a deadline writer, you know, the best move uh in the middle of that process when you hit a block was to, you know, put your pen down and go for a walk or, you know, bounce a ball or you know, toss a baseball with a friend. That it just loosens it up.

Patty:

Um you're one of the most disciplined playful creatives I know. You you are you are just um creativity is your jam.

Chris:

Creativity is my jam. So today's gift is we open up the little audio allen uh audio advent calendar. Today's gift is play. All right, and the invitation of this gift is this do one thing today for the fun of it, and nothing more. Just do one thing for the fun of it, you know, toss a ball with your dog or you know, play a little tennis rally with your uh your wife or you know, break out a jigsaw puzzle and just work on a jigsaw puzzle for a while. Anything that will engage your playful mind. So do one thing today just for the fun of it and nothing more.

Patty:

Thanks for joining us today. Let a little joy slip in. You'd be surprised what it softens, and you never know. Those angels, the angels, often show up when you're laughing. We'll see you tomorrow. Follow the song lines and please subscribe to our podcast so you can travel with us for every day of this audio advent.

Chris:

Yeah, and visit us at studio gg.io and subscribe to our newsletter, and you know, subscribe to this podcast, and we'll talk to you tomorrow for day three of our audio advent calendar.

Contributor

Chris Mchale

Host