Chasing Impact, Finding Joy

Early in 2021, in the aftermath of January 6, when we realized the pandemic was not going to end just because we’d turned the calendar page, and we’d seen more pledges than action on vital issues of racial justice sparked by the murder of George Floyd, I had my own reckoning.

I was questioning what role a white woman, me specifically, could best play in a sector coming to grips with its culpability in perpetuating practices of systemic bias, and wondering how I could use my platform to raise up voices too often drowned out.??

I was advising philanthropic executives who wanted to do better, and nonprofit executives who were burdened, burnt out, but more committed than ever.

I began conjuring an idea for a book, working title: Save the World & Still Get a Good Night’s Sleep.

Ever seeking to make the most of my journalism education, my experience publishing a book earlier in my career, and a national network of folks working on everything from climate change to ending modern-day slavery, I began doing interviews.

The conversations were lively and interest in the book’s title and topic were strong.

But something just didn’t feel right.

I set the project aside and waited for inspiration.

It came in the form of a pre-sale notice for Tricia Hersey’s book, Rest is Resistance (Little, Brown & Co. 2022).

I’d heard about Tricia’s Nap Ministry and her nickname, Nap Bishop, and I began to read and study the spirit behind her declaration that people of color, and especially black women, need a chance to rest. That in rejecting the incessant demand from white supremacist capitalist culture to move, produce, and earn, people who rest perform the ultimate act of protest.

Suddenly I felt that rest (aka the get a good night’s sleep in my book title) was not my purview. I felt that I’d not earned the right to champion a cause that I had never been denied. If I was not resting, if I was working too hard, doing too much, that was on me. It started to sound more like whining or, worse yet, advocating that I needed a day at the spa.

The next inspiration came from my daughter, who said simply, “Mom, rest is not really your thing.” And she was right.

It then occurred to me that maybe there was a form of rest (in this case, play) for which I was better suited and more experienced. A more natural place where I could be a spokesperson, conduit, and advocate.

My role could be to use my network, my optimism, my resources (by-products of my privilege) to share ideas and examples of how play can bring joy, build resilience, and sustain spirits. And I could invite those doing and funding the vital work of transforming the world to share their work, their why, and their ideas about the value of play as a means to fuel their work, feed their souls, and innovate.

Thus, The PlayFull Podcast was born.

Season Two just kicked off with our commitment to Bringing Fun to the Serious Work of Changing the World as strong as ever

We’ve heard from impact innovators in Burundi and Costa Rica.?

We’ve talked about sex trafficking, voting rights, refugees, and the racial wealth gap.?

We’ve come to you from a café in midtown Manhattan and a poverty conference in the Dominican Republic.

And in every case we’ve balanced hard and harrowing with respite and reflection.?

We’ve heard tips about how to bring play into the workplace, into the home, and into the hearts of those working on the biggest issues of our time.?

And we’ve had some ice cream.

In a recurring feature called “What’s the Scoop,” we enjoy a dish (or pint) of sweet creamy dessert while guests share their impact origin story, answering the question “What’s the scoop on how you came to care?”

SIDEBAR Frankly, I don’t remember the moment we decided to eat ice cream on the podcast, but I’m sure glad we did. We’ve been able to lift up impactful ice cream entrepreneurs from around the country including, Salt & Straw, Cool Haus, Kube, and Ice Cream Jubilee, among others. And who doesn’t love ice cream delivered to their doorstep, as we do with each guest??

Season 2 of The PlayFull Podcast kicks off with Hector Mujica , Head of Economic Opportunity for the Americas for Google.org. As he leads Google’s philanthropic efforts to create a just economy in Canada, the US, and the 33 countries of Central and South America, he’s learned a thing or two about play and how to bring people together around problems of staggering size. We eat ice cream from a Black-woman-owned, vegan ice cream shop in Oakland while we talk change, justice, and score-card how we think philanthropy is doing in its efforts to seed and sustain real change.?

Kristine Michie is the Managing Partner of?ImpactFull, Inc. and the host of?The PlayFull Podcast: Bringing Fun to the Serious Work of Changing the World

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