Your word is PLAY
Creating was never supposed to feel heavy.
Play is what happens when you pick something up just to see what happens — no destination, no justification, no one watching.
You’ve probably had moments like this already. A doodle in the margins. A recipe you improvised. A sentence you wrote for no reason.
This word is inviting you to do that on purpose.
This is how I practice it. Your way will look different.
Sit with it
Try this
Pick up something you don’t consider your medium — crayons if you’re a writer, a voice memo if you’re a painter, a recipe if you’re a musician. Make something with no purpose.
I keep things around that have nothing to do with my “real” work — a monster truck in my studio, a kalimba next to my journal. The things that feel unrelated have started more honest projects than any plan ever has.
Answer these
When did I start believing everything I create needs to have a point?
What would I make if I knew no one would ever see it?
What did play feel like before I learned the word “productive”?
Carry this
The thing I make for no reason is the thing that reminds me why I make anything at all.
This is one word in a practice with six. If you want to sit with all of them — the prompts, the questions, the space to write — the RIPPLE Practice Workbook is the companion I made for that.
Get the RIPPLE Practice Workbook →
It's free. I just ask for your email so I can stay in touch.
If you want to go further, you can
What This Is
This workbook is a quiet entry point into The RIPPLE Practice™ — a presence-based way of living, making, and connecting.
It isn't a productivity tool. It isn't a creativity challenge. And it isn't something to complete or optimize.
Think of it as a companion — something you return to when you feel hesitant, disconnected, or unsure how to begin.
Some people use it at their art table. Others at their kitchen counter, with a pen and a few minutes of quiet. Some return to it again and again. Others open it once and let it change how they see things. You’ll find your own way.
What’s Inside
Six movements — not steps to follow in order, but places you return to as needed.
Reflect — noticing what you're carrying before you begin.
Identify — naming the stories that hold you back.
Play — making something with no destination.
Personalize — finding what makes your work unmistakably yours.
Let Go — releasing what you've outgrown.
Embrace — stepping into what you already are.
Each movement offers a short reflection, a creative act, and a writing prompt — something to do, something to sit with, and something to carry.
24 pages. Printable. Free.
A Note on Access
When you download this workbook, you'll be added to my newsletter list so I can share occasional updates, reflections, and invitations. I write once a month. No algorithms. No urgency. No noise.
A Gentle Reminder
Your creative needs shift with life’s rhythms. The word that found you today is simply a reflection of where you are right now — not where you’ll always be.
If you took this quiz next week, next month, or next year, you might discover a completely different word calling to you. That’s not inconsistency — that’s being human.
Your creative spirit is allowed to need different things in different seasons.
The Practice Deepens in Community
There are many ways into this work. Where you go next depends on how you process — not on what your word was.
Be With Mansi is a monthly live gathering on Zoom.
No agenda. No performance.
Just a space to sit, create, reflect, or simply be—together.
If you’ve been craving connection without pressure, this is where we meet. Come when it calls to you. No need to commit.
$10/sliding scale
Inside the Studio is where the work between the work happens.
The beginnings, the experiments, the things that don’t quite work—but matter anyway.
If you want to stay close to my creative practice, you’re invited in.
$10/month or $108/year
