From the Editor: Made to
Play
 I
encountered a woman the other day who I had not seen
in far too long. Her hair was disheveled from an impromptu
game of backyard soccer. She had grass stains on her
elbows and dirt under her fingernails. As our eyes
met in the hallway mirror, I was astonished by the
sheer joy that emanated from her smile. I had forgotten
just how much I look like my dad when I laugh.
My long lost friend had been on a journey to a place
that we all visit. A destination that runs high in
deadlines and dry-cleaning. A place where fancy free
fun is often replaced by obligations, both real and
imagined. Seeing her reflection was like hearing a
knock at the door. When I accepted my daughter's invitation
to "play" and put aside the busyness of
my day, I was reintroduced to someone who I like very
much. She is the person who my husband fell in love
with. She is the child who wrote poems that rhymed
so little, but said so much. And she is the woman
who I become when I remember that I was made to play.
Summertime affords us the perfect opportunity to
play. The warm weather has the uncanny ability to
relax the space between our eyes. Languid days and
light labor grant us a pardon from our "grown
up" lives. Everything just becomes more casual.
Fashion lightens up both figuratively and literally.
Entertaining takes on the alfresco flair that permits
us to let our hair down and enjoy the special people
in our lives without being confined by place settings
and protocol. Even the food we eat becomes less formal.
Have you ever noticed how many summertime favorites
require finger licking and drip catching? The best
byproduct of summertime is the insistence that we
do not take ourselves too seriously.
So this summer, open the door and let your inner
child out. Make s'mores, spit watermelon seeds, get
dirty, and run through the sprinkler. Dive into your
favorite sport for the love of the game and forget
to keep score. Go to a drive-in and hold hands in
public. Sleep in the backyard and make wishes on falling
stars. Wake up and do it all over again.
My friend and I have made arrangements to meet regularly
this summer. We are going to read paperbacks and sing
along with the radio, take a road trip and not care
where we end up. And we are going to play. How glad
I am that she rolled back into my life with the question,
"What do you want to do?" How natural it
felt to reply, "I what to show the world that
I was made to play!"
Kjirsten Grosky
Senior Editor, Dominator Magazine
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