When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.
Rumi
If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun!
Katherine Hepburn
I am looking out my window and it is a bright, sunny day- one of those days when you want to be outside doing anything! Sunshine in spring is an invitation to go outdoors. When I was young, it was the time of bundled up energy that could only be released by outdoor play. Spring was the time to clean up my bicycle and hit the road- going somewhere, anywhere, without anyone knowing where I was.
Hopefully many of us can recall a time when the opportunities for fun were in abundance. Adulthood though, can rein you in and shrink the possibilities for play and silliness through the accumulation of responsibilities that bring a serious tone to life without our even realizing it. Squeeze the Day was an expression I happened to come across and I immediately loved it! It’s a jump for joy manifesto.
A Squeeze the Day moment happened to me several weeks ago when a number of us at work came together to sing at a talent show. Of course, there were many reasons not to do this, including no spare time. But our teacher had a gift for bringing out the best in everyone. We sang our heart out and enjoyed ourselves immensely!
Squeezing the day can mean many things. Singing in a talent show or basking in the warm sun of a spring day are two examples. I think it is all the small moments that put a bit of punch in the day- acting on the spur of the moment; not following the “rules”, doing something out of the ordinary. For instance, a woman I know told me she had made a peach pie one day and for a while she ate peach pie for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No guilt, no regret, how refreshing!
There are so many “shoulds” in our day and so many expectations as we try to do the right thing in the right way. This plainly takes the fun out of living. I am not advocating we all quit our day jobs or live on a diet of sugar, or fail to meet our obligations to others. But when we play it safe all the time we can end up in a bubble. Safe but bored.
How does one squeeze the day? There are as many ways to squeeze the day as there are people on earth. The ideas are there; they just may be buried deep. Perhaps it is time to let them loose and let that exuberant fun loving girl out. Ask yourself: What makes you smile? What are you curious about? What are you grateful for? Who do you like to be around and what interesting things do they do?
When we squeeze the day, those gems of passion and ability and fun that lie within us are revealed. What a great way to get to know ourselves better. Go for it!
* Squeeze the Day is the title of a calendar found in a Montreal gift shop. I loved the title!
Becoming of Age 