P is for Play: Why Adults Need to Play More (And How to Start)

We made it to P in the GLIMPSE Method — and this one is pure joy. In this episode, Megan explores why play isn’t just for kids and why most adults are living with a serious play deficit. From childhood memories of Stratego and neighborhood night games to backpacking on the Superior Hiking Trail (with a bear bag mishap you’ll want to hear), Megan makes the case that play is actually the antidote to perfectionism, fear of failure, and overthinking.
In this episode:
•Why play is how we learn best — and why we stop doing it
•Megan’s favorite childhood play memories and what they reveal about joy
•How adult play can look like camping, hiking, art classes, pickleball, or even a YouTube sound bath
•Why saying yes to new experiences breaks you out of your comfort zone box
•How breathwork and the Glimpse Collective community can be a form of play and exploration
Play isn’t about being good at something. It’s about trying, adjusting, and trying again — just like you did as a kid.
Challenge for this week: Think back to what you loved to do as a child. What would it feel like to bring even a little of that back?
👉 Join Megan in the Glimpse Collective on Skool — link below!

https://www.skool.com/glimpse-collective-8427/about

https://www.skool.com/glimpse-collective-8427/about

To set up a session- megsuz@gmail.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey there, it's Megan from the Glimpse Method coming to talk to you about the P and Glimpse. We went over grounding, love, inspire, manifest, and now we're at play. I am feeling extra energized today because I am about a week into my cold plunges. Um, I had to give them up for winter because I live in Minnesota, and um actually my plunge was frozen. I keep it outside. Um, it was like a giant iceberg for uh the whole winter, and then as March was winding down, I was like, oh my god, I am not gonna get into this plunge until July, the way it's going. So anyway, I um went to Arizona to visit my parents, and Nate lovingly chiseled and melted and got my plunge ready for me. So it has been a little bit of a um gradual process getting back into the five-minute plunge for me. Um today it was um I prefer about 50 degrees. Um, today it was about 47 degrees. Um, I did stay in for five minutes, which was kind of my goal. Um, and it felt really good. Um, my feet and my hands are the things that get very, very cold. But um, yeah, I was very uh I was just like on the deck getting ready to go in and thinking, oh, I do not want to do this. But once I did it, it was amazing and it gave me all kinds of energy and boosted my mood, and um that was great. So I want to talk about play. Um so play is the one thing that well, not the one thing, but I feel like play is you know, you think of play, you think of kids, of course. And that's how that's how we learn when we're kids is through play. And um the best way to learn is you know to do things, try things, try all different things, have things go wrong, have things go right, all of that stuff. So um play is naturally free from judgment, and I feel as though as adults we have a play deficit and we need to get back into play. Now I will say with this whole pickleball movement, I feel like people I mean, I've never played it, but um, you know, I've I figure that's kind of a way adults are getting back into play, and that is great. Um, so I just wanted to to go back and um and I encourage you guys too to go back and and think about what you used to love to do as a child. Um what did play look like for you? And for me, I have like a handful of poor memories. Um my very first ones are playing with my sibling, my brother. So he's three years older. I know we there's pictures of us like dressing up. I feel like we were like playing like spies or or something like that, you know, the big like James Bond era. Uh Roger Moore, he was my guy. Um and then I also have a vivid memory, and I don't know how many times this actually happened. Maybe it only happened once, but my brother was like super into baseball, and so we would set up our stuffed animals as like a baseball team, and we would play baseball, like have them hit and and run the bases and all that stuff, and that was like a really good memory for me. Um also, oh, another memory with my brother. It's funny. So we there was a game called Stratego, and I I actually still love that that I think we have it here. I should get it out, but um, so we were playing. I remember exactly, we were sitting at the dining room table, or not dining room, we were living room. We had this like fancy table in the living room and we were playing Stratego, and he was drinking Diet Cherry Coke, and he was like burping, and it smelled so bad, and I was just like so happy to be hanging out with him that I just like didn't say anything and you know, like just sat there and played the game, so that's kind of funny, anyway. Um, so then I am thinking about another memory with a really good friend of mine, my best friend Nikki, Nikki Powers. Um she was we were five, maybe six, and she lived right off of the loose line, which is just like uh it's not a paved trail, but it's a very long trail that goes through a lot of Minnesota. Um people bike and hike and uh walk and run on it, and we were just like these little kids, and we just like packed up snacks all the time, and um we would just go walk, like it felt like we were like walking for miles and that we were so far away from home, but it was like this freedom and adventure and um independence, and um that was something that like really brings me joy when I think back about that. Um, another thing I used to do as a kid, and this was like an older kid, but we would still when Stand By Me came out, me and a couple neighborhood kids would like pick what character we were, and we would um play Stand By Me. I even had like the high tops, but we would do it um in at we lived on a little lake and we had a canoe, so we would all go out on the canoe and pretend like we were looking for the dead body. Um I also loved playing like when the whole neighborhood would get together and we would play like night games, um, capture the flag, things like that. That was super fun. So at some point we start playing less, right? And even like thinking of all those memories, like it just makes me so happy and so excited. Like, I don't know, I just to feel that feeling again. So I encourage you guys to go back and think about like what did you love to do as as a kid and and think about your memories of play. Um, but at some point we start playing less and we start like performing more and we stop doing things. Um, like we we have these ideas and these judgments about ourselves about like, oh, um, you know, like if I I've never been good at that, or I'm not, you know, I'm not sporty, or I'm not um I don't know, just building round building walls around your comfort zones, and it gets smaller and smaller, so you're just like kind of stuck in this little box. Um so at glimpse I want to and we want to encourage you to play as an adult and what can that look like. So for me, I look back at my core memories of playing, and you know, as a family we love to camp, and I know um when I was in my 20s, I would do backpacking, and maybe that's something I can bring back in, but we would go, um I wouldn't, I'm like really scared of bears, you guys. So um I don't know how a funny story actually. So I had a coworker. I used to work at General Mills, and I had a coworker, and she was awesome. Her name was Alina, and we would go on these backpacking trips together, but we would go with like the um, I think it was like the Eden Prairie um rec center, and they would so we would have guides and then like people would sign up. So we would go with these strangers, but we would like bond, you know, we would go for the weekend, like superior hiking trail up by Duluth, it's beautiful, and we would, you know, have like a three-day um backpacking camping experience. And um one time we so Alina and I we both were like super scared of bears, and um, we never saw one except for when we were driving down the road, like on the highway, we saw one on the side of the road, but um, like back in the woods a little bit. But um, so we were um and then we one night we woke up and it was like two, you know, probably like two in the morning, and we had to pee. And so we were like, we went out together because we were like so scared and we peed, and then all of a sudden, like we heard this noise and we like bolted back to our tent and we like zipped it up, like, oh we're safe, and we laughed about that so hard the next day because we're like, okay, yeah, like if there was a bear, he could just like easily you know get us in the tent. We're not gonna be safe behind a zippered thing. And then I remember one time she was so mad at me because we all had to carry meals in our backpacks, and you know, obviously, like then we would tie the meals up um in and put them in a bear bag up um because you don't want to have any food in your tent, obviously, because like a bear would smell that and come. Um, so in the more one morning the the guide was like, you know, getting all the the meals, and he's like, Oh, who has meal number five? It's missing from the bear bag. Meal number five, and I was like, Oh shoot, I had it in my backpack. Oh my god, she was so mad at me. But we were safe, we stayed overnight, and um no bear sniffed us out. So, anyway, okay, I digress. Those were some funny stories. So, anyway, I should get back into backpacking. I think that would be amazing. Um, we are planning a camping trip now um for next month, and I love it because our daughter just like came up to us last night and was like, we need to go camping. And we're like, Yeah, we do. We were gonna go visit Nate's mom anyway, and it's beautiful up in Bayfield, so we're gonna go camp for a few nights and see her, and um, we can bring the dog, and that's super fun. So, you know, getting out of your comfort zone, the comfort of home, going out, you know, staying in nature, and that's a way that I kind of bring back that play um that Nikki and I had when we went and um you know hiked. You know, we probably went like maybe one mile, but that's far for like a six-year-old. Anyway, bringing back that adventure, and um it just kind of puts your mindset in it changes your mindset and it opens up your your scope of you know, just what you're experiencing, you're out in nature, and also just like other campers you meet, and um so that is one way that I bring back playing. Another thing, um I do, I mean, and I love to hike, I've talked about that. Um so think about what you used to do as play and what you could do. Um and then I also want to just talk about uh being open. So like I said, I feel like we put ourselves in these boxes of you know, I don't like this, I do like this, you know, people get set in their ways, they maybe had an experience 20 years ago of camping that was bad, or of you know, swimming or of something, and they're just like, oh, I don't like that. Um so um how about we challenge ourselves next time somebody asks us to do something where our immediate thing was like no, I don't do that. How about just yes, like just say yes and just experience it? Um or even further yet, you could, you know, find something that you want to try or you know that you might like, like an art class, or join, you know, like the rec centers, or um, I don't know, there's all kinds of groups that you can join. I can't I'm like blanking on the name of the thing. Um I can't think of what it is, but like online, like they have those groups where you know it's like hiking or um you know bird watching or or whatever. Like there's just like groups for everything that you can find, you know, challenge yourself, go do that, or ask a friend, you know, um sign up for an art class or um, you know, a tennis lesson, or maybe try pickleball. I don't know, people seem to love it. So um, instead of saying I'm not really a hiker, I'm not really creative, that's just not my thing, try it. You're gonna grow as a person. And if you don't like it, big deal. Like when you're a kid and you're like playing something and it didn't like you weren't like thinking I failed at this play, you know, you just like tweak something, you just don't do it again if you didn't if you, you know, or tweak it a little bit if you didn't like it. So, um yeah, let's just kind of reframe things and say yes and and plan something and and see how that goes for you. Um I think play can actually be like the antidote for perfectionism and fear of failure, overthinking. Um when kids are playing, they're just in this constant cycle of trying, adjusting, trying again, being creative, you know, and working with one another uh to figure out what feels good, what's fun. Um I would uh encourage you to try breath work or um, you know, like a yoga class or a meditation class or or something, or even like you can just download on YouTube. I did this meditation uh yesterday. I was trying to kind of surrender and let go, which we're gonna talk about. Is that our next one? Yeah, next week we're gonna talk about surrender. But I had some things that I had put out there, and I just wanted to like let go and stop thinking and and holding on a couple things in my life. So I did this meditation on YouTube, and it was amazing. It was like a sound bath, which is so cool, and I think that is like my next thing that I want to kind of add to my repertoire. Um, is I think that is really can be healing, um, especially when you're like meditating, to have like that sound to keep coming back to. It just feels so cool. So I might be experimenting with that a little bit. And as I say that, I am reminded that I just opened up a community in school, S-K-O-O-L, which I think I did an ad right before, not an ad, but a little blurb, um, right before. But you guys can join me. Um, it is super cheap right now. I am building my community, and I'm gonna I'm I'm just trying to get um I just want to be doing some group breath work sessions um every week. And this is this was the easiest way to do it is to just build a community, show up there, and do some breath work for anybody that wants to experience that. Um it's gonna be great. Um we're gonna do all different kinds of things in the community. So um check out that link in the show notes or check out school. It's called the Glimp the Glimpse Collective. So um yeah, so I want to challenge you guys to say yes to stuff or be the one who finds things. And let's just play a little more. Let's have fun. Let's not worry about what we look like or if we're good or bad at things. Let's just like try things, never quit trying, never quit learning and keep playing because I promise it will bring you joy. You might open up a whole new avenue in your life. You just never know. And um, you know, if you have kids having them see you play at the age that you're at is a is is an amazing thing too. So hey, maybe sign up for a 5K. I don't know, that might be fun. Um okay, now I'm just off the cuff here. Um why don't you guys just go out there and have a great day? Let me know. Send me a message what you guys do to play, and um if you try something new, that would be great to share. Okay, have a great day. Bye.