When it comes to hobbies, not all of us can throw a mean curve ball, set records sprinting down the final stretch of the track, or sink a basket for our teammates. Thankfully, sports aren’t the only game in town, and there is one incredible option available to most that celebrates an entirely different set of skills. I’m talking about drama. Theater. The stage. Musicals and plays. Linked to these events are communities that tend to celebrate the things that make us different. Besides, it takes just as much courage to perform in front of all your classmates and family as it does to play a football game or cheer.

With life in the midwest, the winter time can bring out the blahs, and sometimes to fight it, I will start planning our family’s spring and summer getaways to new locations. However, I often overlook the amazing gems of entertainment, scenic views, and privately owned restaurants that are only a short drive away. Sometimes our own city or state begins to feel so ordinary to us that we forget to seek out the treasures that are right around us. When that happens, it is time to think like a tourist while still keeping it local. 

One of the very best things about chess is the way it requires those who play it to consider the board from the other player’s perspective. You’ll never be a very good chess player if you can’t see the moves your opponent might make. A great game of chess requires two players who are actively aware of the possibilities before each of them and how those possibilities change with every move on the board. This is wonderful for a number of reasons, the most apparent being that it challenges those who play to develop and deepen their theory of mind, an integral part of having empathy (Stanborough, 2020).