Welcome to the Lilatory

Why is it that, as adults, we go to workplaces and not playspaces, and why do we do experiments in the labor-atory and not the ...Lila-tory!? (Hang with me, I'll get to this strange word in a minute.) Why do we have a holiday named Labor Day and not Play Day?

You can't tell me that you don't have a healthy bit of envy when you hear about those tech companies that have in-office playrooms and 10% company sponsored play time.

Lila (leela) is an ancient Sanskrit word that means play. But not just play according to our (comparatively) dull dictionary definition: "activity engaged in for enjoyment and recreation, especially by children." I could pick this apart but instead I will focus on the enriched meaning of Lila play.

Lila play is divine play. It is creation, destruction, and re-creation. It is ripe with possibilities and sees all the potential in emptiness and in chaos. It is, according to Stephen Nachmanovitch in his excellent book Free Play, "free and deep," "both the delight and enjoyment of this moment," and "the play of God."

I would add that it's the play of adults who never lose touch with the eternal child inside them. The ones that refuse to take themselves so seriously. The ones that laugh at themselves and the absurd beauty of life.

Old Soul Alchemy is a Lilatory of the most imaginative order. Of course we do work here, but it's the funnest kind, even when it's confronting the so-called monsters in our minds. It's a blast to conquer them!

We have so much fun here that we can make up words like "Lilatory" and get away with it. I have been known to make up a few words now and again. ☺

I hope you'll visit my Lilatory from time to time. The door is open!

♥ Runa

PS If you want to know more about the Imaginative Play of Old Soul Alchemy, set up a Soul to Soul chat with me!

Need a reason to play? Researcher Dr. Karen Purvis has said, "Now what we know from research is that it takes 400 repetitions of an act or a learning skill, 400 times, to get one new synapse. Or -would you like to know an option - there's an option. OR, 12 repetitions with joy and laughter and you get a synapse because there's a release of a chemical dopamine."
What better way to produce joy and laughter than play??