Playing Small

There will never be an us if I play small. — Sharon Preiss

There is a lot of talk about playing small right now. From a gender perspective, people ask why women are encouraged to play small personally and professionally? Through a critical lens, people ask what is the power dynamic that forces people to play small? Using a philosophical frame, people ask what is the lived experience of playing small? When I think about playing small, I immediately conjure images of flowers with the most amazing blooms. They don’t play small. They don’t sweat small for one minute. They are too busy blooming and playing big to care. Playing big makes sense to me. Playing big is not about foot lights, flash, and sequence. Playing big is about purpose, dharma, and divine light.

Purpose

I spend a lot of time thinking about purpose; both the purpose behind specific actions I take and my larger life’s purpose. Considering purpose means I separate the wheat from the chaff of my life. I try to do what works and not do what does not work. This works best when I stay in a flexible, humble, determined, and gentle space. Considering purpose brings intention front and center to my decisions. Considering purpose gets me closer to understanding the why that drives my life. Considering purpose helps me play big.

Dharma

Living small is impossible when we are living our dharma code. Our dharma code can be understood as our existential project, our work to be done in this world, our calling. Simply put, it is what we must do. I believe each of us has a dharma code. We live our lives in harmony (or dissonance) with that code. Each of us has a unique dharma code. Our dharma code is nonnegotiable in that it is who we are. We know it in whispers and senses. We know it in the advice we give and recieve. We know it in the road signs we see again and again that tell us the direction to head, whether we are paying attention or not. Alignment between our dharma code and how we live is living big.

Divine Light

We each have the spark of the divine in us. Whether we call it love, or God, or spirit, or humanity, or something else, we each breathe divine light. That is the essence of our being and our path to living big. Our divine light asks us to shine. Our uniqueness is our shine. We thrive when we shine. Shining is our gift to the world. Living big is our gift to the world.

Playing Big Together

Love is about playing big together. Think of the joy in seeing success, either our own or a dear one’s. Think of rituals that exist for the sole purpose of celebrate milestones and accomplishments — evidence of playing big. Think of the seeing someone or something so beautiful that your heart stops a minute and it all stands still. That is playing big. In that way, playing big is like wonder. Playing big matters.