Back to the blueprint

“What did you love before you thought you had to be good at things?”

Pop the phone down for a minute, and let your mind ponder this. Seriously.

[insert acoustic interlude here 😉]

Where the Light Gets In has been out for a couple of months now. And in that time, we've been in a lot of rooms; Monday night's book launch in Adelaide the latest among them, a full house at Norwood Concert Hall with the wonderful Rebecca Morse.

What keeps emerging from these conversations, from the messages landing in our inbox each week, and the stories being shared in book clubs and boardrooms and classrooms, is something that inspired so much of Where the Light Gets In in the first place.

The life force that is play.

And not play as a luxury, the thing you earn when the serious work is done.

Play as the way people are finding their way back to themselves.

One of our readers - lecturer, entrepreneur and sustainability leader, Adam Bumpus - wrote about his own journey back to play recently, and we've come back to these insights constantly. Particularly his memory of play as 'a blueprint for how it feels to be fully present' as a four year old, and what it taught him about life. Before there was performance or proving, and only pure presence.

There's a sad but somewhat inevitable forgetting that follows for many of us…

"That kid went quiet for a long time. I replaced him with credentials, with striving, with perceived momentum, with the particular exhaustion of people who care deeply and push constantly and call it commitment. [And] the breaking point that eventually comes when inner capacity isn't tended."

What helped Adam find his way back?

Support and care, of course. "But at the core, it was play," he reflects. And we'd say that rings true for all of the stories we've been lucky enough to hear or witness over the last few years.

"Not as reward. Not as a self-care add-on. As practice. As the actual mechanism by which something in me could breathe again."

We reckon there's something here that the Mojo community will recognise. 

Because play, as it turns out, has its own Hero's Journey.

There's a Chapter 1. We move through the world with a sense of curiosity. Learning and exploring at a rapid rate before anyone told us we needed to be good, better or best at a particular activity or hobby.

Then comes Chapter 2. The stakes seem to have shifted and life feels a little (or a lot) more serious. Achievement starts to carry weight. Responsibilities stack up, and play starts to creep towards the sidelines.

And then, for more and more people, there's Chapter 3. Arguably the best part of all: the chance to return. Not to childhood, but to the curiosity, joy and wonder that still exists within us. 

We're hearing this everywhere right now, from the Year 12 students at Firbank weaving it into their English studies, to local footy clubs, book groups, to corporate leaders. And one member of our community who even has the words Play On tattooed on her arm (more on this one, another time).

Play is how we stay connected to what we actually love. 

Which brings us back to where we started, and Adam's great musing: What did you love before you thought you had to be good at things?

This was never just child's play.
This is who we are, and who we get to be.

A huge thank you to Rebecca Morse for hosting Monday's event, and to everyone in Adelaide who made the night so special. Including this little guy! 👇

Just In Case You Missed It

Last week, we had the pleasure of talking to over 5,000 leaders at AREC 2026and asked a room full of high achievers to reconsider everything they thought they knew about success. Not just the metrics or milestones, but a deeper definition. What it means to win on your own terms, from the inside out. 

Sarah Millar from Domain captured it beautifully. You can check out the full article here.

Find Your Mojo

"I only have about 1 hour left of this book, and honestly, everyone should listen to this no matter your age or where you are in life.

For those who go to school, I think this book should be in the curriculum for every kid in Year 7… For those that homeschool like us, it really reiterates the way we learn best — through self-interest, having fun, and following your passion.

As soon as I'm done, I'm going to listen to it again with my kids. Ben explains these concepts at a deeper, easier to understand level."

— Kimberley