Emily Saul is the Director of Programming for the Life is good Playmakers, which means she works with the leadership team to create the vision for the program:  where they’re going and how they’re doing it and how to put it all into action.  She’s a sunny presence in the Life is good office and has the ability to see the everyday in new and exciting ways. For example?  The amazing dress she made out of one of the Playmakers’ retired parachutes (left).  We talked to Emily about optimism, playfulness, and dancing in elevators.

Good Vibes:  Are you an optimist?

Emily Saul: Yes.  Absolutely.  I always go to the definition of the word, and I look at optimism as not only the ability but the intention to see what’s good and what’s right in a situation.  Not expecting a guarantee that everything’s gonna be perfect, but having a sense of gratitude for what is, rather than focusing on what isn’t.  And I think my lifetime of experiences as well as the work that I do has led me to always appreciate the parts of my life that have built me up rather than focusing on the parts that were hard and difficult.

I think about going to a brand new school in 7th grade, and having moved from Minnesota to Massachusetts, going from a public school to a private school, and having no friends.  And realizing that kids made fun of me because I had big curly hair and they made up mean names.  And it was a really difficult time in my life, but I had also chosen to make that move.  That sense of empowerment was something that I held onto, that I had the ability to make this choice, and that people listened and that mattered.  And there was one particular teacher who noticed me and saw me on a regular basis and made it a point to make sure that I knew that he saw me, and that he saw that everyday wasn’t easy for me.  And on the last day of school, I was changing schools again for the next year, he very specifically found me and he gave me a hug and he made sure that I knew that he cared about what happened to me.

The point of that whole story is, I may not have realized the depth of his intention and the impact of that connection with him had things not been so difficult around me. It opened my eyes to the opportunity for connection in a lot of ways.

Good Vibes: Obviously the Playmakers talk a lot about playfulness, and how important it is to be playful.  Do you think optimism and playfulness are related?

Emily Saul: Well that’s a simple question!  [Laughs] Are playfulness and optimism related?  I’m gonna say that living life playfully is like the execution of optimism.  We define playfulness as the motivation to freely and joyfully engage with, connect with, and explore the surrounding world.  Which is really about having a drive to be involved.  To be engaged.  To wonder, to be curious, to be excited, to just explore, and take in.  Optimism is a choice about how we do that.  I can explore the world and I can perceive it as there are good things out there or I can perceive it as there are s***** things out there, that are out there to hurt me. And so optimism is about the choice of how we take in all of that stuff.  But playfulness is really about the choice to be out there.

Good Vibes: How do you incorporate playfulness into your daily life?

Emily Saul:  I believe playfulness is a practice that is just as intentional as any fitness, nutrition, or occupational practice that we do.  And so for me personally, playfulness has some action components and it has some attitude components.  To get really specific, I love to do anything outside, anything active.  I love running, biking, going to the beach, yoga, and things like that.  Those are definitely a part of my personal playfulness practice, but I’ve also found that the more I think about playfulness, the more the subtler parts of playfulness are important to me.  So things like practicing gratitude, having moments of stillness and peace. I don’t know if you want to sort of connect it to the greater world, but I find that when I’m talking with people, either in the Playmaker community that we work with or just people in my life, I find that I want to advocate more for the subtler parts of playfulness.  Not just the sorts of like “Yay! Yippee!” active kind of big things.  But the parts of us that balance us out.  That create inspiration or that lead us to really feel grounded or peaceful or empowered, that aren’t always big actions.

Good Vibes:  What are some ways that the everyday person can bring playfulness into their own life?

Emily Saul:  The easiest way to truly be a Playmaker in the world is to be a Playmaker in your own life.  So for anybody who questions “Am I a Playmaker?  Can I be a playmaker?” it’s really about “Do I have my own sense of engagement, connection, empowerment, safety, and joy?”  And if I don’t have those things, figure out how to get them.  So it’s as simple as taking a moment and reflecting at the end of the day and to just notice when was one time that I enjoyed myself, that I felt really joyful, that I felt inspired, that I was like “Yes!”  I sometimes will reflect at the end of the day and think, “When did I laugh today?” And if you can pinpoint those moments when you feel really inspired, connected, joyful, and empowered, build on those.  Make sure that you do those things as often and as regularly as you can.  And if you ask yourself if you do any of those things and the answer is no, then you find something and you do it.  And commit to doing one thing each day that feels truly playful to you, whatever that is.

Good Vibes:  You tell a story during Playmaker training about a woman who has elevator dance parties by herself — what an awesome way to turn an ordinary thing into an opportunity to be playful.

Emily Saul:  Yeah, that’s a perfect example.  Another really simple example is a gratitude journal.  Something I do is when I greet people, really taking the time to make genuine eye contact as if that person is a member of my family who I’m really excited to see.  So I literally think about seeing people with delight.  That I am just excited as hell to see them.  Because I know what it feels like to be seen that way and if I can allow someone else in the world to be like, “Wow, I was important enough or special enough to be seen that way,” then that could totally change their day.  Taking the time to just acknowledge people if you’re in a store, or in a gas station, something like that, really saying hello to people or genuinely asking how are you or what’s going on today.  Other things:  changing up little bits of your day, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or spontaneous high fives — things like that.

Good Vibes:  Who are your heroes?

Emily Saul:  I’m gonna go with a really original answer and say my mom.  [Laughs] My mom is one of my heroes, what I just mentioned about seeing people with delight, I recently realized that she, like no one else I’ve ever known in my life — and she does this with everyone, not just me — she is elated, just delighted to see me when she sees me.  And it’s the look on her face, and it’s the light in her eyes, and it’s the hug that she gives me, and it’s an authenticity to her that I think just changes people who are around her.  And I want to be able to be like that.  I want to be able to have that kind of ripple that goes out from me.  She’s also somebody who stayed home with my brothers and my sister and I until I was 8 and my parents were divorced when I was 2.  So she was a single mom of a 7-year-old, a 5-year-old, a 3-year-old, and a 2-year-old.  And we had fun. In the midst of being a single mom we did really cool stuff.  We still did experiments and had sleepovers and did scavenger hunts and made things and learned things.  And then when she was 40 she went back to school and got her master’s degree and got licensed as a psychologist and worked and started her own business. I’ve never seen her feel sorry for herself, she’s always just been really inspired and passionate and driven and engaged in what she does.  She’s pretty cool.  She’s a Playmaker too!

Good Vibes: What is your motto?

Emily Saul: I think it’s changed over time.  I don’t have a bumper sticker that would be like, “this is my motto in life.”  But I think I have more of internal mantras.  There’s a quote by Socrates that is “Know thyself,” and that has always stuck with me since I read it in high school.  I don’t think we can begin to know others if we don’t know ourselves. Self-reflection has always been an important part of my life.  And lately, in the last two years, what I reflect on as a strong intention or mantra in my life is just “peaceful and grounded.”  In the midst of a lot of growth and change and things like that.  So that’s my goal.

Good Vibes: Awesome.  Well thank you!

Emily Saul:  That’s it!

Good Vibes:  Right on!

[High Five]

This interview has been condensed and edited.

To learn more about all the awesome things that the Life is good Playmakers do, visit the website.