Tuesday Thoughts | 24 October 2023 | The Inner Child

In his 2009 book Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul Dr. Stuart Brown founder of the National Play Institute, wrote that “The opposite of play is not work — the opposite of play is depression”.

I’d love to pretend that I learned this by reading said book, but I didn’t; instead, a number of years ago I found myself sitting in on a session on Gamification being delivered by Julie King and I was (sorry girl, you know I’m a big fan) not really listening until I heard this line about play. Which spoiler, is just as true about adults as it is about children.

Around the same time as I first learned of this idea that the counterbalance to play is depression – I started to think about the many ways in which we can (and should) make our work as playful as possible; more recently I have found myself consuming a great deal of content online produced by Ali Abdaal, the Medical Doctor turned YouTuber who recently penned the book Feel Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You. In a recent issue of his newsletter, Ali writes: “anything that makes work more playful or energising will also make it more productive. Double win. Whenever I struggle with being consistent or productive, I ask myself 'how could I make this more fun?’”.

Earlier this year I was listening to an episode of Lewis Howes’ School of Greatness Podcast, when I first heard the idea that “People who don’t have a mission need Motivation, People on a Mission just need Discipline” and it drove me to do some real work on my own Mission (which I wrote about in the Tuesday Thoughts issue: Can Your Mission Drive Your Discipline?); what I didn’t really think about at the time, or at the very least didn’t think to include in that post in any meaningful way, was how much the sense of play or at least enjoyment remains baked into inspiring self-discipline.

At the time when I was first exploring this idea of play at work, I had the good fortune to be in the employ of the Association Management Company (AMC) that managed, and still manages, the back office of the Canadian Toy Association. In fact, this morning I noticed a Facebook memory from 9 years ago that reads: ‘I'm not saying that I just fired a Nerf Dart across the office, I'm also not saying that I didn't! #FridayFunday’.

We’re all familiar with the idea (roughly at least) of play-based-learning; and we were all at some time instinctive practitioners of this concept. Many of the obsessed gamers of my youth are now the people who work with computers to keep the lights on, and keep our financial institutions safe, and keep planes in the air, and keep bridges from collapsing.

As adults this instinct to keep playing doesn’t really leave us (although many of us would benefit from being more open and honest about it), as someone who continues to be a keen watcher of the Toy Industry, the concept of the Kidult has caught my attention. Here in Canada, Toys R Us – the store that long encouraged us not to grow up [video] – has curated a section of their website specifically dedicated to meeting the Kidult’s interests and needs.

In my own life, rediscovering a love of art, has been one of the key ways that I have brought childhood enjoyment back into my adult reality.

As a child I LOVED to draw, and to paint, and to reimagine spaces; as an adult, I have my signature doodles that tend to appear around the margins of documents when I start to feel anxious (or bored) in a meeting, I have an entire room in my house (which used to be the dining room) filled with my paints and my easel, and my arts and craft supplies (its also where I do jigsaw puzzles – another childhood passion that I’ve continued, but with considerably harder puzzles), and I am constantly reworking spaces to inspire creativity and fun.

Anyone who has had a zoom call with me since I moved into my new home office this summer, will know that my walls are ‘Sea Faring Clear Blue’ to create the feeling of wide open spaces (and possibilities) and call back to the signature teal that appears in many places (including the branding for this newsletter).

One of my longer term goals (as in, its on the list, but there is no practical time or space for it in this season of my life) is to illustrate a colouring book. When I think about colouring, I am called back to summer days sitting at the table in the family cottage, with all the adults in the family (I’m the oldest grandchild so it was just me and the ‘adults’ until I was 8 years old) stopping in to colour, or to remark on whatever I was working on. Sometimes I still look to the top of the china cabinet, expecting to see the stack of colouring books, and the Crayola-yellow crayon-lazy-susan my grandmother kept well stocked.

It was around the time that I was rediscovering the science of play, and playing with all.the.toys, that several studies were conducted on the mental health benefits of adult colouring; like many other forms of play – building Lego as an example – there is a meditative element to colouring to be sure, but the secret sauce appears to lie in the feelings of safety that childhood memories (if we’re among the lucky ones who grew up in safe and loving homes) evoke.

As we become more comfortable and accepting of an openness around mental health, many have been incredibly brave and authentic in exploring the need to heal the traumas experienced by the inner child. I want to acknowledge that for many the inner child is not the place of safety and nostalgia that I am tapping into in this article; although I cannot begin to address it in any meaningful way, I did not want to ignore this reality.

At the same time, I believe it is important that we are aware, that as we sit here – in my case writing, in your case reading – horrific traumas are being visited on Children throughout our world, in Ukraine, and Armenia, and Israel and Gaza, and many other sites of war and conflict, as well as in places much closer to home due to poverty, and abuse, and violence.

As I’m sure you are all well aware – and probably tired of reading about by now – I had the great fortune to graduate last week alongside my peers in the Chartered Director cohort for 2023. If you caught my post from yesterday, you’ll know that at times it was an incredibly intimidating exercise; being surrounded by incredible humans with far more formal business school training and far more (age and) experience.

Graduations are a VERY BIG DEAL in my family, when I graduated from St. Brother Andre Highschool in the spring of 2000 my aunt Dr. Angela Ramsay happened to be in Canada (visiting from Jamaica) and chose to attend instead of doing something more ‘touristy’; when I graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University in the summer of 2004 seven members of my family attended the ceremony (at this point I would remind you that I’m an only-child); and, when I thought about graduating from the Directors College, I again extended an invitation to my favourite Uncle.

So, I found myself last week, doing a very grown-up, adult, thing – acquiring a professional designation – with my ‘Mommy’ and my Uncle in tow. Deep down, my inner child still wanted and needed the support of some of those same adults who dutifully coloured in Rainbow Bright and Strawberry Shortcake along-side me on those long ago summer afternoons.

We’re adults now (at least I’m assuming that children don’t tend to read LinkedIn Newsletters), we have a collective responsibility to provide for the children among us, but we also have a responsibility to ourselves to provide for our inner child, to find opportunities for play, and joy, and nostalgia. We know this instinctively, its why we’re drawn to people who are fun, and cheerful, and creative, and supportive.

Our inner child doesn’t know Hate, it doesn’t know to Discriminate, it only knows how to harness fun and play; and I would submit that the most responsible thing we can do as adults, is to give our inner child – the foundation of all that we are – some space to run.

This Week’s Call to Action: is to look for ways to fuel your inner child, to play, to be joyful, to take others by the hand (metaphorically – if you get slapped with a harassment suit, its on you) and skip off together towards a better world.

?New and Noteworthy is a collection of things readers of #TuesdayThoughts might find interesting, important, or informative;

??Other Stuff I Did This Week (shameless self promotion): This week I concluded my second 2-year term as a member of the CSAE Board of Directors | I also officially graduated from the The Directors College as a member of the Chartered Director Program's 2023 cohort | I announced my intention to produce a 2023 Giving Tuesday Guide - sign up to receive a FREE copy

???NEW: Hold These Dates: Thursday, 9 November 2023 - The Minimalist Association @ CSAE National Conference [sold out] | Tuesday 14 November , 2023 - Danielle's Tuesday Thoughts Giving Guide | Tuesday, 10 December 2023 - 100th Edition of Tuesday Thoughts | Monday, 15 January 2024 - the #TuesdayThoughtsBook volume 2 release date | Tuesday, 26 March 2024 - Speaker Slam on the topic of Human Connection

?? What to Read: 21 “nonprofit math” problems that expose the absurdity of doing good from Nonprofit AF | How toy and game companies are winning back their grown-up former customers from CNN Business h/t ChizSix Marketing & Media

?? What to Watch: A Breast Cancer Journey: The CEO of Medtech Canada featuring Nicole DeKort | The new season of Underestimated coming soon from Spinal Cord Injury Ontario

?What to Do: Attend A Brave Space for Black Fundraisers virtual conference h/t Imagine Canada | Compete in Speaker Slam (in case you missed it, I've signed up for the Human Connection themed comp) h/t Dan Shaikh - Publicist for Inspirational Changemakers

????♀? Cool Jobs (Paid and Volunteer): Strategic Account Director – Pathway to Partner @ Agents of Good h/t Cindy Wagman | Multiple F/T Roles @ Canada's Wonderland h/t Robert Karim | Multiple Roles for People with Disabilities @ CBC | Care of Collections and Public Engagement Supervisor @ Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum h/t Jeremy Diamond | Executive Director @ Air Cadet League, Quebec h/t Marie Christine Lalonde

??Take Note: Air Canada lost the wheelchair belonging to (and providing essential support and independence to) Canada's Chief Accessibility Officer h/t Rights on Flights | Congratulations to Uma Gopinath on being recognized by the Directors College with the 2023 Gil Bennett Award | (Hamilton Region) Pitching In for Charity - applications are open to partner with a DeGroote MBA student for a chance to win a $5000 investment in your organization | CSAE has a new logo

I am a Certified Association Executive with over a dozen years of experience in leadership positions across Canada’s Not-for-Profit Sector, with deep ties in the Meetings and Events Industry. I use the art of storytelling in speech and writing to explain ideas, and to inform audiences and readers on a variety of topics. Learn more about how we can collaborate;

???Consulting Services: I offer a suite of consulting services for Associations and Charities, and am interested in working with likeminded organizations on projects that contribute to better governance, leadership and the overall growth and health of Canada’s Association and Not-for-Profit Industries.

????Speaker/Facilitator: I have spoken to standing room only crowds in the Association and Events sectors, connecting ideas and people; topics include, The Introvert Experience, Imposter Syndrome and Mentorship, EDI: Lived Experience as a BIPOC Woman in Leadership, Minimalism and Essentialism, Finding Your Voice and Building Your Unique Brand, Making and Impact, and the?#TuesdayThoughtsFormula.

????Contributing Writer: I have written for Industry Publications and Blogs with a focus on the role of Associations, Volunteerism, and the Intersection of Not-for-Profit Management and many current social and economic trends. My inclination towards storytelling lends itself well to the style of Creative Non-Fiction.

???The Tuesday Thoughts Formula: I am on a mission to inspire actions that amplify my impact, each week I follow the?#TuesdayThoughtsForumla?to deliver a call to action inspired by relevant stories; new this year, I’m bringing live demonstrations of the formula to the stage to help conference, event and meeting attendees tell their own stories that amplify their ROI of in-person attendance.

?? Check out my website?daniellerussell.ca?or email me: [email protected]

??? I’m on a?Mission?to?Change The World, By Inspiring Actions That Amplify My Impact! Despite my Introverted tendencies, if I have any hope of success this cannot be a solo affair. Join my community where I Connect People and Ideas;

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