“Frolicking” means to play and run about happily.
“[Mariel Zech] would elaborate on that definition to posit that frolicking is the art of surrendering to our desire to have fun through movement, and to express our appreciation for the experience we’re having through those movements. Frolicking can consist of skipping, running, twisting, rolling, dancing, cartwheeling, flipping, jumping, leaping, wiggling, hopping, crawling, and more. A classic elementary school trick, to grab hands with someone and then spin in a circle as fast as you can, remains a spectacular method of frolicking.”
In her Ted Talk, Why Having Fun is the Secret to a Healthier Life, Catherine Price argues that we have fun when playfulness, connection, and flow converge. More specifically, we are the most likely to have fun when we let our guard down, when we are enjoying a shared experience with someone else, and when we enter a flow state in which we are fully focused on what we’re doing in the present moment.
Frolicking successfully checks all these boxes. First, playfulness is literally in its definition. Second, frolicking is also the most enjoyable, in my opinion, when you’re doing it with someone else. Third, I’ve found that frolicking activates that flow-like state for me, in which it’s easy to lose track of time and simply relish the activity at hand. “Frolicking became the way in which I felt the most present,” shared Kira Smith, “Frolicking brought me so much joy that it felt like the most authentic way to express how happy I was to be in any given place.”
It is for this reason that frolicking in public is even more invigorating. People don’t necessarily expect an adult to leap like a ballerina at a public park. But why should only the kids and the dogs have all the fun at parks?
Where we frolic can be important as well. After sitting in an office or classroom for much of the day, time well spent in active, un-directed, play in nature or natural settings can have tremendous benefit to one’s overall wellbeing. It enables us to interact with our environment and ourselves in a completely happy way. This can help youngsters to develop fine motor skills and adults to release the stress of the day.
This weekend we celebrate the preserve, programs and people that make up the community of SHADOW at Frog Frolic! We delight in the people who help us make SHADOW a success- we hope you will continue to join us in creating and celebrating SHADOW’s mission to acquire, restore and protect habitat while providing engaging education to all- and to Frolic with us along the way.
By Stephanie Miller, former SHADOW Executive Director
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