Corridors are there to help us get around. And they usually have several doors.

Speaking of doors, here's something I recently read that inspired me.

Draw a door on the wall

We live in times when walls seem to be closing in on us. But we can always grab a piece of chalk and draw a door, two doors, many doors, a corridor! And then open those doors. Could you imagine the possibility that lies behind each door, if we just dare to draw it?

Honestly, I cannot think of a way to explain the power of play in creating possibility and potentiating (creating potential in) the world that is better than the above quote.

But if I have to, and sound erudite and sophisticated doing so, I could tell you that Brian Sutton-Smith, a researcher of play, defines it as “the willful belief in acting out one’s own capacity for the future”.

Ahh! I had to read that quote many times to let it sink in.

Perhaps on the next wall you face this week, you could grab a chalk and draw a door. If you manage to open it, please tell me what you find.

Don't get caught up in counting steps

The author of the quote I shared above is a French dancer, choreographer, and artist. He and a pianist by the name of Alexandre Thaurad created this beautiful video installation/performance.

If a painting is worth a thousand words, this performance is worth a thousand paintings to me.

The first time I watched it, it flooded my heart with bundles of emotions (joy, melancholy, sorrow, content).

I could not help but recall Sisyphus, from the Greek myth, who was condemned by the gods to roll a rock up to the top of a mountain, only to have the rock roll back down every time he reached the top.

Then, I noticed something different about this video. There's one thing that remains hidden throughout the performance. Did you spot it? The trampoline!

And this got me thinking about how, in our daily Sisyphean struggles, especially during these uncertain times, we often forget the trampoline and obsess about the staircase, and the fact that we keep falling off of it. We count the steps, adding and detracting, but always falling short.

But we can joyfully lose count, as the staircase loses its hierarchy, when we revel in the thrill of bouncing, lower, higher, backwards and forwards.

And so, when I confuse my work, my relationships, my parenting, and many other things, with this staircase, and start to feel helpless and exhausted, I remind myself of the many trampolines I have in my life that make my journey a playful dance.

Try to notice the trampolines you have lying around you and try not to get caught up in counting steps. Enjoy the playful dance of climbing and falling, just like you did when you were a kid.

Here's to drawing doors and opening them, and to the 'bounciful' trampolines that lie around.

Thank you, Mahmoud

If this is your first time

If you'd like to peak through the 'doors' I've shared before, you can find all the content I create HERE.

Below are a few titles that may tickle your fancy:

​Why we play and what this can tell us about ourselves​

​Why we all have baby faces and what this should constantly remind us of​

​Layla and the Marshmallow Experiment​