Thursday, September 23, 2021

Child Play at Mid Autumn festival

 



Yesterday was Mid Autumn festival. Last weekend I saw a shop selling lanterns and intended to buy a new lantern to add to my collection. The shop keeper asked me how old my grandchild is so she can recommend a suitable one. She remarked that if the child is too young a lighter one with a cartoon image would be appropriate. My immediate response was to tell her I do not have grandkids but thought it would be either embarrassing or too tedious to tell her that I love lightening up various lanterns for my own enjoyment. As usual I had quite a bit of fun taking pictures of the lighted lanterns last night. 

This morning I thought about Carl Jung and how he loved to play even as an adult to connect with his inner child. Now I am thinking of buying the toys which I have always wanted as a child and play to my heart's content. For a moment I thought I am losing my sanity because of Covid. However considering that Lego has come out with adult Lego sets and with adult colouring books flooding the market, I begin to appreciate the virtue of play. Would it be weird though? 

I google 'adult playing children toys' and came across a remark made in Quora on a similar subject. The response says it is perfectly normal for adults to continue playing with children toys. The only abnormality is "an adult who just wants to play with toys sometimes, but feels ashamed of doing so to the point that he hides it, and does it secretly. He may have some kind of problem with self-image".

I try to recall happy childhood memories so as to relive them but don't seem to remember much. Perhaps a better alternative is to probe what I feel I have missed out. Perhaps I should buy a doll house and put little pieces of furniture and miniature figures in it or perhaps I should go to the library to enjoy pop-up books. Whatever it is, the idea is to recreate the sense of fantasy and wonder and to have fun unrestrained.

It sure would be a good way to beat the Covid blues.




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