Childhood is filled with play. A significant part of development is creativity and imagination.  The homeland of play is found in the brain. Creativity and imagination fueling the games we play. Games that allow us to grow and expand our awareness.  When I think back to my childhood, I think of how every day was filled with play.  It’s the one thing that stands out the most. My siblings and I, we played from the minute we woke up until we were forced to go to bed at night.  

One of our favorite games was wrestling. We would stake out the family room and each of us would get a corner.  We based the wrestling ring on the wrestling shows we would would watch on Saturdays.  Back then TV was black and white.  So the wrestling wring was made of stark contrasts.  A stark white platform contained by thick black rubbery ropes that the wrestlers would bounce their muscle bound bodies off of and propel themselves to the opposite wall of ropes or to leap on to an opponent.  When we made our wrestling wring in the family room, we created the wring in our imagination and then instructed each other what it looked like.  

“Here are the four corners”, my sibling instructed as we placed markers made of a bundled sock, a book, a cup or an abandoned toy at each corner to create semblance of a large square.  

“This is your corner and this my corner. I will count to 3 and then say go and then we wrestle”, she commanded, as older sisters often do.

I thought about it, about my opponent. How strong was she? Was she really going to wrestle me? Was I going to hurt? Could I pin her down?

I didn’t know, but the challenge felt inviting and I imagined myself as the big, muscle-bound, weird looking, but awesome character, that I had seen on the Saturday wrestling show.  I couldn’t wait to experience what if felt like to be in a live wrestling match and live inside the body of that unusual human. 

We took turns counting down. My sibling got to do the count down first because she was older. 

“3, 2, 1, go!”

Sometimes we would sing the theme from Batman as we moved towards the center of the wring.  We would circle each other and then lunge.  Pushing with our strength, holding back at first and then realizing that we had to put forth maximum effort to find the best hold.  Then once we realized it was working we would pin each other to the floor.  We practiced somersaults and flipping each other.  We tried one handed wrestling and blindfolded wrestling.  Our imagination had no boundaries and we would create new scenarios for an hour or more playing the game of wrestling.  

I can’t even imagine what our parents thought as we yelled and hurled our bodies around the family room. Once I asked my grandmother what she thought.  She smiled quietly and said “It looks like fun” and then laughed.  I guess we were entertaining after all. I wondered how we could get on TV and if people would like to see our wrestling matches too.  For that’s what being a child is,  thinking that anything is possible. The skies are the limit.