I love having my breakfast outside on a warm, sunny summer morning.  The fresh, sweet air, the birds twittering away in the trees and the warmth of the sun all combine to make a truly joyful start to my day.

I realized several years ago that if I wanted joy in my life I had to create the conditions for it to show up.  There are two conditions that I know are necessary to help joy show up in your life – play dates and hammock time!

I once heard a comedian complaining about having to arrange play dates for his children.  He thought it was ridiculous that play had to be arranged.  I don’t really have an opinion either way about play dates for children but I think it’s a brilliant idea for adults!  When you don’t play it’s hard to know what is joyful for you which means that you will often default to work or chores to fill your time. Scheduling time for playful activities seems like the perfect solution for creating conditions for joy!  Let’s get started, shall we?

• Schedule time once a week for your play date.  Once a week is important – this can’t be an “every once in a while” activity.  If you want to develop a consistent connection to your joy, you need to develop consistent habits and actions.
• Choose activities and plan field trips that will make you feel light, energized and connected to your joy.  Have some play dates just with yourself and some with really good friends or family members who understand that this is a fun outing, not an opportunity to whine, complain or have you take care of them!
• Protect this time as fiercely as a mother bear protects her cub.  DO NOT allow this time to be rescheduled, infringed upon or otherwise interfered with and do not let other daily tasks creep in (ie: “oh, I’ll just stop and pick up a few groceries on my way to my date…”)

The second condition I mentioned was hammock time.  What happens when you lie in a hammock?  Very little!!  You might read or maybe you can do some writing or check your emails but mostly a hammock is about relaxing, napping and day dreaming.  Slowing down is the point of hammock time.  In order for joy to show up, it needs the conditions of peace and quiet which allow you to truly feel it when it arises.  Here are your basic steps for hammock time:

• Find something that you can use to have a few moments to yourself – a hammock, a deck chair, a picnic blanket, a beach towel or even a favorite shirt or funky hat.  The idea is to have a visual clue for everyone (including you) that indicates that you are taking some time for yourself and that no one is to disturb you
• Discuss with your family, friends, room mates, coworkers (anyone who may be affected by your hammock time) that this is your time to take a break and that when they see you in the hammock, deck chair, funky hat, etc, that they must be very quiet around you and under no circumstances other than fire or profuse bleeding are they allowed to come near you.  Wondering what’s for supper is not an acceptable reason to interrupt hammock time!
• Make space for hammock time every day.  Do it for as long or as short a time as you want but I recommend a minimum of 15 minutes.
• Leave the distractions behind – no emails, text, music, books, phone calls, etc.  This is your time to listen to yourself and be open to what your heart wants to tell you.  Give yourself the gift of a distraction free zone.  It may feel uncomfortable at first but trust me; you’ll come to find it the most delicious time of your day!

Creating a balanced life requires a combination of taking action and resting/receiving. These are also the requirements for connecting to your joy and summer is a great time to get started.  I would love to hear about some of your play dates.  Post them on my blog if you want to share – that way you’ll be more likely to schedule them and others will be inspired to schedule their own!  Enjoy!