Great Escape Publishing

Posted April 17th, 2014 by Lori Allen & filed under Travel Photography.

If I asked you to drop everything for the next 10 minutes and go build a fort…with whatever props you can find around you (chairs, tables, beds, pillows, ironing boards)…would you do it? Or would you think I’m crazy? That building a fort is something silly? Well, today I’m here to defend all things silly. I’m taking a stand for the ridiculously trivial or frivolous. Heck, even the absurd and foolish can come stand in my corner. Because what I’m asking you to do here might be the one significant thing you do all day. It might be the one activity you do that brings you happiness in its truest form… purely because it doesn’t serve a purpose. It is fun… plain and simple fun. Trust me…after building, you may not even want to leave the comfort of your fort! (If you’re reading this in a café, park or some other public place, I’ll allow you postpone this activity until you get home.) We had our attendees build forts out of hotel furniture at our photography workshop in Santa Fe last week, and everyone got really into it. It was awesome – tables were upside down, pillows were thrown about, everyone was laughing… it was beautiful chaos. And afterward, someone came up to me and said that they hadn’t had that much fun in years. (And they enjoyed the benefits of play.) Here are a few photos from our Facebook group page… Everyone thinks playful, frivolous, and seemingly-purposeless activities like building forts and playing hide-and-seek are reserved for children. As an adult, your rational brain takes over and you don’t even think to do these things. But you need to. Implementing play into your daily (or even weekly) routine can add years of good health to your life… it can give purpose to the mundane… Spice things up a bit… You’ll find that you’ll laugh more easily… Take advantage of new and different activities that arise… And on the whole, enjoy and cherish the beautiful world we live in a little bit more. So do something childish or unexpected today. Build a fort with your spouse or friends, and get creative. Better still, take a picture and post it on our Facebook page, here. You won’t regret it. Share on Facebook