what's in your toy box?

every day you go to work, you carry a briefcase, backpack or a bag with all the tools you need. whether you’re blue collar or white collar, you gotta carry your tools else you wouldn’t be able to work. it’s that simple right?

so it makes perfect sense that you gotta have toys if you wanna play! which is something we’ve all thrown away or handed down to the kids to play with. time to reclaim that lost treasure. let the hunt begin!

start with a treasure map

what i want us to map is the territory of our memories. let’s chart out the times in our lives when we felt absolute bliss, joy, excitement, curiosity and more. using this chronological outline, identify the toys you associated with those feelings.

in different phases of your life you’ll find you played with different toys. though you will also discover the ones which are universally playful and enjoyable at any age. collect all the memories and the associated toys and complete your treasure map.

the motley crew

if those memories bring our thoughts of those you played with, the people you shared your toys with. the playmates who made the game worth playing. after all what fun is adventuring alone when you can adventure together?

call them, reconnect with them and ask them out to play with you once again. for old time’s sake. for fun’s sake. for the sake of rediscovering the treasure - the fountain of youth that bestows immorality to all that drink deep of it.

maybe they’ll ignore you, maybe they’ll laugh at you. but eventually they’ll play with you and laugh with you. and if they don’t, well there are plenty of fish in the sea. when you’re so busy having fun, everyone wants a piece of that pie.

simple. silly. shareable

i’m more confused about the metaphors i’m using than you are so let's just get back to stocking our toybox without further ado.

keep it simple and get the most basic toys you can find. something that makes noise. something you can draw and color on. something you can throw around. something you can spin in the air.

no, i’m not going to give you a list. i want you to make your own list of toys you want in your toy box. dig into your memories. rediscover your playmates. recreate your toys.

the toy-box is a time machine that will take you back to blissful times, when the world was simpler, sillier and shareable. let me know if you want some ideas, happy to help you build your own toy box 📦