be childlike
coming soon - a playground for those who like to
live simply with a positive mindset
Hi,
Coming out to play?
I recently received a very positive reaction to a piece I wrote about travelling the length of England, without my mobile phone, relying on the kindness of strangers for directions, help and company. The trip ended up being really life-affirming, with the realisation it’s not just me, but everyone I met and most of the people that read the piece, who want to spend far less time on screens and just be outside sharing their time with other people.
…to live the very life we enjoyed as children; simpler, playing with friends, curious about the world, trusting our instincts and dreaming of what we are going to do when we grew up – when life would be amazing because anything would be possible!
So, I’m launching a new website and community for every one of us, for the childlike! Those who want to make work simpler, play more, be healthier, live more meaningfully and lead a life that is rich in itself.
Rich in simple living, friendship and contentment.
Too often adult life, at work and at home, doesn’t feel like that.
Before we leave childhood, we are taught to compete with others, when we’d been happy collaborating with them just a few years earlier, and to earn and buy more, so that we will supposedly become happier than we were as carefree children. Adulthood soon becomes about how we spend our money, rather than our childlike priority of how we spend our time.
But from my experience, that isn’t the route to a happy or even successful life.
During my career, I’ve learned a lot about the simplest ways to succeed but I’ve also learned the rich are no more contented than you and I.
A simple, happy life doesn’t need a full bank account, the most enjoyable times are often the simplest and cheapest. Following your instincts and not the money is a far less stressful, healthier and happier way to live.
Deep down, maybe we all know that though. It’s literally in our human nature. It’s the demands on us to fit into society, that can make us lose sight of it. Elon Musk has said that having always-on access to the information on our phones means that we are really, already half robot. It’s just the input device that needs improving, from finger to thought. Communicating primarily through typing and reading though, people can go days without talking to another person. With this growing dependency on our digital world, we need to keep, not just our natural habitat, but human nature, our feelings and behaviours, common to us all, alive and thriving. The moments of connection that keep our world going round.
We were born to live lives full of real-life connections, connections we rarely get through a screen but are abundant in real life. We need to talk and listen...and play.
Having a childlike mindset means always trying to look for the positive, with resilience and enthusiasm to enjoy life to the full. This might seem simplistic, but life isn’t meant to be complicated. Society makes us question and doubt everything, question each other, doubt ourselves, and struggle with our mental health.
Counsellors often improve our relationships and mental health by getting us to view life through our childlike eyes again. We can help ourselves by living our lives like that.
With the pandemic changing our norms, this is the ideal time to intentionally choose to simplify our lives and aim to live with less stress, and more fun, conversations, adventures, contentment and even success.
This new site and Facebook group is a playground; to start a ball rolling, share ideas and inspire each other. I don’t know what should be in it and where it should go – come and join us and tell us what you think?
Please sign up for the newsletter on the website or join the Facebook group - and please share this if you think you may have likeminded friends. Without a doubt, the more of us here, the more fun it will be.
Thanks
Chris
Please contact me at chris@chrisward.cc if you have any thoughts as to what you would like to see here.
