How did we get here?

From children with infinite curiousity and wide open hearts we somehow find ourselves as stilted adults with too many rules and too little laughter. James and I went to the aquarium on saturday and we had fun. Yes, in theory it's where you take your 5 yr olds so they can ooh and ahh at the cnidaria (for those who have already forgotten high school biology, those would include jellyfish and other such underwater creatures) and of course cheer for the dancing sea lions, but adults can be playful too, can't we? When was the last time you heard a grown person giggle. I don't mean chuckle, I don't mean laugh heartily, I don't even mean snicker, I mean GIGGLE. Where it all just bubbles up inside and spills out irresistably. How does that get squashed out of us?

Sometimes when I'm teaching yoga I encourage my students to be playful. more often than not, the response is pretty much a blank face. I say: "let go, have fun, act like you're a kid again trying something brand new". And again, the response is a tight smile and and a will to contol every inch of the body. "I WILL BALANCE" you can just hear their minds saying. "I WON'T BE THE ONLY ONE TO FALL DOWN!" it yells. So I want to know who put this pressure to perform on us, because by jove, if I meet the guy he/she's in trouble. Can you imagine if as adults we could go up to a stranger and say: "Hi, my name is Sammy, wanna see me do a one-handed cartwheel?" I know it's a bit of an exaggerated point I'm putting across, but I'm just a little fed up of the constant performance that is our adult lives. And it's not like we're only acting that way infront of strangers, we do it in our most intimate settings too - our own families. I am starting a personal campaign this year to boycott stalness and rigidity and to learn to play again. Any takers? Have you tickled your spouse or pulled an outlandish face at someone lately?

And the random moment this morning is: Why do they say that rice crispies snap, crackle and pop when really they just kind of fizz?

The photos are from the aforementioned aquarium visit.