The back garden’s at a stopping point.  It’s cleared of the big stuff, weeds have grown back over most of the bare soil, it’s been raining a lot here in Connecticut, and it’s getting colder out.  And, because I’m not sure what I want to do with it, I’m going to let it sit over the winter while I mull over my options for next year.

So…that’s it, right?  Not exactly.  Though I did spend some time fixing some spots in the yard that have been perpetual pain points, like next to the stone wall, there’s the matter of the north side of my house.  I put ground cover and shrubs in there so it could be “no maintenance”.  LOL!  Like anything in a yard is no-maintenance.  As in that back garden, there are unnumbered vines in there, most of them with thorns.  It’s so overgrown that it looks like a jungle.  It’s so bad, I won’t even take a picture to show you.  I’m sure there are real plants under there, but who knows where they are.

And then there’s the poison ivy.  That’s something I didn’t have in the back garden.  I’m so allergic that it gives me the creeps just looking at it.

I guess I’ll have to do something with that space too. At some point.  Maybe next spring.

‘Cause what I’ve been feeling lately is that it’s time to do something else.  Not because there isn’t tons of work to do on my yard.  There is.  In fact, it’s pretty much never ending.  But because it’s just time.  I can feel it.  And not just because it’s colder out.

I’ve felt the call of my creativity to just play.  Making raspberry leather for the first time.  Making jam for the first time in probably 25 years.  Working on sets for a show our Gilbert & Sullivan group just put on.  Cooking some new recipes.  Playing.

No agenda.  No goals.  Just time to let my creativity wander.  And while I’m doing that, taking time to pray.  Whenever I’m doing something that doesn’t require too much concentration.

So, if I have an hour free to do something, I’m choosing creativity over productivity.  Not that productivity is bad.  After all, that’s what I was doing while I cleared out the garden.

But we all work and no play makes Kathleen a dull girl.  And the same is true for you.  The work will always be there.  You can’t possibly finish it all.  So why not take some time to play too?

It might be 15 minutes.  An hour.  Or a day.  But it’s important to you and me to not have to produce every minute of every day.  Even machines require maintenance.

And I’m talking about play.  Creativity.  Making something.  Not “relaxing” with a passive activity.  Actively playing with something.  Maybe a car engine.  Detailing your motorcycle.  Planning your vegetable garden.  Using a new herb in a dish you’ve made before.  Playing the guitar that you haven’t picked up for 2 years.

It’s up to you.  You know what that thing is.  The thing you want to play with.  The thing you want to try.  So just do it.  Even for a few minutes.  Your heart will be lighter.  You’ll have a new perspective on your life.  And when you go back to work, you’ll bring renewed energy.  All because you took some time to play.

What would you like to play at?  Feel free to share in the comments.