Play
and a Roaring Heart

September 2016

Play is an intrinsic human quality. We all love to play; when we are in a safe space, we can dance and invent and improvise to the cry of our heart. Young children are the epitome of this freedom.
Try the exercise: give yourself 20 minutes to lay still with closed eyes, and then wander through all your brightest childhood romps! Sometimes just remembering how we loved to play in all its untainted complexity gives insight into how to adjust our present life so we keep moving and celebrating the path.
Valuing play churns the desire to do more of it. For artists, play feeds the foundation of a committed life. It's pure celebration. It's gratitude. It is the nourishment that births the next piece of art, and then the next.

Play gently 
recognizes 
my 
soaring and roaring
heart.

---

above:
Improvised Painted Bunting
8 by 10 oil painting
​

​

All images and text © Nicola Barsaleau. All rights reserved.