This quote challenges me. I’m enjoying chewing on it, figuring out what I think about it.

I’m quick to admit that play is hard for me.

I’m realizing more and more (especially since choosing play as my theme for June) how wrong I’ve made myself for not being “good” at play.

There are times that I feel like I’m missing something. Like, did I miss that free-spirited, humor-filled, light-hearted gene?

Focusing some of my energy on play this month has shown me ways I play that I didn’t realize before.

• When I’m in a new and unfamiliar situation I take a playful approach, almost without thinking about it.
• When I play I like to really let go, and let someone else lead the way for me.
• When I play sometimes I prefer to be alone and quiet and introspective.

I am beginning to see that there isn’t anything wrong with me. I just play a bit differently than others. This doesn’t mean I’m broken or boring or too serious.

I’m still not sure about the quote above, and I’m definitely not sure what the way I play reveals about who I am.

I think I’ll play with it some more, and see what comes forward.

How do you like to play? What do you think your play says about you?

Today I dropped my son off at a new summer day camp at the science museum. After checking him in I watched as he tentatively walking over to where kids were gathering, waiting for camp to “officially” begin.

There were some kids exploring marble runs. Others were playing with what looks like a giant Light Brite — colored pegs that light up when put into an illuminated panel.

Cooper was nervous — I could feel he’s anxiety in the air all around him. I asked if he wanted me to walk over with him, and he nodded his head yes, eyes wide with anticipation. I asked if he wanted to check out the marble runs or the peg lights, and he chose the peg lights.

There were a few other boys there, just about his age. Cooper stood with his back to me, my cue that it was time for me to say a quick goodbye and slip away, which I did.

I stood several yards away and watched as Cooper grabbed a couple pegs and watched what the other boys were doing, both imitating and doing his own thing. The tension was moving out of his body as he moved into play with the boys.

Play is the common language of children. I’ve watched my kids become instant friends in a sand pit or on swings, and marvel how after playing for an hour they never learn their new friends’ names.

Details like name and age don’t matter when you are playing.

There are times that we adults use play to connect with each other too. I think of the instant connection I feel with other runners in a race or the communal swell of a crowd at a music concert. The cheers and high fives at a sporting event or spontaneous chatter at the neighborhood pub.

We connect with ease when we are at play. Much faster than with a formal handshake or a quick elevator pitch describing your work.

Where can you bring play into your encounters this week? Perhaps you can seek out a playful setting and open yourself to connecting with people, not necessarily in a long lasting or deeply meaningful way, but through play — glorious, joy-filled play.

With Summer here I’m inviting more Play into my life.

Summer is made for play. The kids are already out of school. We’ve been to the pool. Nights are free, baseball games abundant and there desire for ice cream with sprinkles is strong.

Lately I’ve been playing with paint as a participant in Flora Bowley’s amazing e-course Bloom True.

Creative play is powerful for me. My hope is to open myself more to my intuition, to let the paints give me the confidence boost I long for to share what I feel inside.

What better way to learn and grow than with play?

You might wonder what makes a business strategist a candidate to be a part of The Fulfilling Life interviews. Well, that is what really sets Tara apart. She sees business, and what she calls the New Economy, as a catalyst for living a meaningful, and fulfilling, life. Plus, Tara doesn’t reserve a quest for fulfillment to her work — she infuses it into all aspects of her life.

Enjoy getting to know Tara as together we explore what it means to live a fulfilling life.

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Tara made it very clear that living a fulfilling life is a choice, and a choice that each and every one of us have. She is not a woman to passively accept what life brings her way. She pushes boundaries, and encourages others to do so too.

Living a fulfilling life is really about living life on my own personal edge. ~ Tara Gentile

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Doesn’t it feel great when you know that you are pushing up against your own personal edge? When you are living life to your fullest potential?

Sure, it’s hard to do that much of the time. But remembering what Tara said about leaning into the corners of life and knowing that you are always in choice helps.

My favorite quote from this interview, and one that will go on my list of all time favorites is the following:

We tend to get really stuck in a list of shoulds when there’s a whole world of coulds out there. ~ Tara Gentile

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Life is full of possibility and you are the driver of your life. It’s time to chose the road you want to travel. Where do you want to go first?

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Tara Gentile empowers passion-driven entrepreneurs to find the profit in producing the work of their true spirits. She is the author of the digital guide, The Art of Earning: Because Making Money Should Be Beautiful. To find out more & read her musings on building the New Economy with you at the center, visit her blog.