An Excerpt from The Playful Way: Creativity, Connection, and Joy Through Everyday Moments of Play
Playfulness can help you navigate life with more creativity, resilience, and joy. In The Playful Way, entrepreneur Piera Gelardi offers simple practices and radical permission to shift from the Pressured Way to the Playful Way.
Somewhere along the way to adulthood, we learned that play is frivolous. Childish. Something to outgrow. We treat it like a reward we have to earn, separate from our "real" lives. But denying our playfulness has a cost—it leaves us feeling drained and disconnected. We rely on pressure and perfectionism, trying to force outcomes, wondering why nothing feels fun anymore.
There's another way.
In The Playful Way, creative entrepreneur Piera Gelardi shows how to shift from the Pressured Way—clenching, forcing, white-knuckling through life—to the Playful Way, where you move through the world with fluidity, curiosity, and aliveness. For Gelardi—who has built iconic brands, created daring experiences, and consistently put herself out there in bold, creative ways—play has never been frivolous. It was how she made sense of the world. As an adult, she realized that what she'd called burnout or creative block was really a disconnection from play—and that returning to it helped her feel alive again.
The Playful Way is your guide to living with more whimsy, wonder, and possibility—through both the light moments and the tough ones. Because when you embrace playfulness, you don't have to go play. Play comes with you everywhere.
The excerpt below is a guide to the eight ways adults naturally access play (and how to recognize your own) adapted from the book's Introduction.
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You Are Playful: Discover Your Unique Play Persona
People often tell me they’re not playful or that they don’t like to play, which constantly surprises me because I see the playfulness in most people (I’m always looking).
When I dig in deeper, what I usually find is that they have a limited idea of what playfulness looks like (clowns come to mind), or they haven’t figured out how THEY like to play as an adult. Often a bad experience has interfered with their sense of play or left them with lingering shame.
We all have these stories: Perhaps you were dragged to karaoke and it was loud, drunken, and you felt self-conscious about your voice. Or at the end of a long day, your kid demanded “play with me” with a toy truck in hand, and it was just one more obligation, not a joy. Or your partner loves trivia, but every time you play with them, you suck at it and get competitive, embarrassed to have been such a sore loser afterwards.
These experiences don't mean you're not playful—they just suggest you were in a situation that didn’t fit your particular play style. We just have to help you tap into your own powers of play and find the things you enjoy. I’m up for the challenge, are you?
Every one of us has natural play powers — ways we bring lightness, creativity, and joy into our lives and the lives of others. Just as superheroes have different abilities that make them uniquely powerful, we each have our own special ways of accessing and expressing play.
Some of us light up through imagination, others through physical movement, making, or curiosity. Some of us play best alone, others in small groups, still others in active community.
Let's explore the eight distinct Play Personas I've concocted through research and experience. As you read, notice which ones make you nod in recognition, which remind you of people you love, and which might offer you fresh possibilities for bringing more play into your life.
Think of these personas like trading cards in your personal deck of play possibilities. While you might have a few favorite cards you play most often, all of them are available to you.
The goal isn't to box yourself into one type, but rather to recognize and celebrate your natural play strengths while getting inspired by other approaches.
The Joyful Jester
These mischief-makers wield laughter like a magic wand, dissolving tension into connection with a well-timed quip or self-deprecating story. Joyful Jesters know the secret power of humor—it's not just about being funny; it's about unzipping your serious suit when everyone else is armored up.
You'll catch them cracking jokes in hospital waiting rooms, finding the absurdity in workplace disasters, or turning family tensions into moments of shared laughter. They're not avoiding difficult realities; they're creating breathing room within them.
These playful provocateurs understand that humor can flip power dynamics, speak truth to authority, and create instant bonds between strangers. Their greatest gift? Reminding us that even in our most challenging moments, we can still access joy—and that sometimes, our heaviest problems seem more solvable when you infuse them with a little levity.
The Visionary Dreamer
These imaginative souls float a few feet above the ground, their eyes catching glimpses of what could be while the rest of us are stuck seeing only what is. Visionary Dreamers don't just build castles in the air—they draft the blueprints for bringing them down to earth.
You might spot them finding animals in the clouds, reimagining abandoned buildings as future community, or turning dinner table conversations into “what if we...” brainstorm sessions. For them, imagination isn't just fantasy—it's the first step toward new realities.
They move through the world collecting potential, and inviting others into their expansive inner landscapes where anything might just be possible.
The Adventure Seeker
These intrepid spirits are the first to say “yes, and...” when life presents a challenge or unexpected turn. Adventure Seekers approach obstacles not as battles to fight but as territories to explore, bringing a refreshing spirit of improvisation to even the most daunting situations.
You might find them taking the scenic route home just to see where it leads, rallying spontaneous weekend explorations with a “who's in?” text, or enthusiastically building on the random idea you threw out on a whim.
Whether they're physically climbing mountains or navigating emotional landscapes, Adventure Seekers carry an invisible backpack filled with adaptability and spontaneity. They understand that the map is just a suggestion and find exhilaration in navigating without one.
The Mundane Alchemist
These playful wizards possess the extraordinary ability to morph the lead of everyday routine into pure gold. Mundane Alchemists don't accept “boring” as a permanent state—it's merely an invitation to shake up their special brand of whimsy.
You'll find them turning dish-washing into dance parties, creating elaborate scoring systems for completing expense reports, or creating silly meeting names to brighten up the Google calendar. As these routine remixers entertain themselves, they simultaneously lift the energy of everyone around them, proving that joy doesn't require special occasions.
The Mundane Alchemist's laboratory is everyday life, where they're constantly experimenting with adding unexpected elements—a dash of competition here, a sprinkle of silliness there—until voilà! The ordinary is dressed up as surprisingly delightful.
They remind us that micro-opportunities for play are all around us, hiding in plain sight.
The Expressive Creator
These vibrant makers turn raw materials—whether clay, words, ingredients, or simply the space around them—into expressions of their unique inner landscape. Expressive Creators don't only make things; they make meaning, turning their experiences into tangible creations that help them process and share their perspective.
You'll spot them rearranging furniture to reflect a room's potential better, plating a weekday breakfast artistically, or working through difficult emotions by putting pen to paper. They understand intuitively that creative expression isn't just a luxury—it's a necessary channel for moving through life's challenges.
These artistic players don't require formal training or fancy materials; they simply need the space to transmute what is into something new and beautiful. Whether they’re assembling a showstopping outfit, crafting the perfect playlist, or arranging objects into a vignette, Expressive Creators remind us that we are not passive consumers of our lives—we are its active designers.
The Mover & Shaker
These embodied spirits understand a truth many of us have forgotten: our bodies aren't just transportation for our brains—they're instruments of joy, expression, and release. Movers & Shakers communicate through rhythm and motion, finding delight in the simplest physical experiences.
You'll catch them suggesting walking meetings when brainstorming sessions stall, shaking off a stressful day with an impromptu living room dance party, or taking the stairs to get their blood pumping with the rhythm of the steps.
They intuitively know what research confirms—that movement unlocks creativity, dissolves stress, and connects us to ourselves and others in ways words never could. These kinetic players don't separate “exercise” from “fun”—to them, physical movement is one of life's most accessible pleasures.
Whether gracefully flowing through yoga poses or enthusiastically jumping into leaf piles, the Mover & Shaker experiences life from the inside out.
The Wonder Wanderer
These attentive treasure hunters move through life with the eyes of a beachcomber, spotting the extraordinary within the ordinary that the rest of us rush past. Wonder Wanderers possess the rare ability to experience familiar surroundings as if seeing them for the first time, collecting moments of beauty and surprise like precious shells.
You'll find them noticing the geometric patterns in sidewalk cracks, appreciating the perfect symmetry of a sliced bell pepper, or quietly observing how the morning light enlivens a familiar room.
These pattern-recognizers are more than passive observers—they're actively curating their experience, labeling delights as treasures and creating mental collections of life's overlooked wonders. They understand that even in difficult times, the world continues to unfold in beautiful ways if we are aware enough to recognize it.
The Curious Quester
These inquisitive explorers move through the world with a perpetual “hmm, I wonder...” on the tip of their tongues. Curious Questers approach life as one grand experiment, replacing the pressure of perfection with the liberating mindset of “let's try it and see.”
You'll spot them testing new recipes with creative substitutions, disassembling gadgets to see how they work, or navigating career transitions with a series of small experiments rather than one giant leap.
These playful scientists collect data from everyday experiences, turning life's uncertainties into fascinating research questions. They're especially brilliant during in-between times—new parenthood, career changes, relocations—where their “what happens if...” approach recalibrates uncomfortable limbo into rich discovery.
The Curious Quester doesn't expect to get things right the first time; they know that each “failure” simply provides more interesting information. Their gift to others? Showing us that not knowing the answer isn't a problem—it's an opportunity for playful investigation.
Adapted excerpt from The Playful Way by Piera Gelardi and reprinted with permission from HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Copyright © 2026 by Piera Gelardi. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Piera Gelardi is a creative entrepreneur, speaker, and artist passionate about bringing play into every room she enters. She co-founded the influential media brand Refinery29 and its magical pop-up 29Rooms, earning recognition as one of Ad Age's "50 Most Creative People" and Entrepreneur's "50 Most Daring Entrepreneurs." Through her new company NoomaLooma and her energetic keynotes, Piera helps people unlock their creative superpowers. When she's not playing professionally, she loves hosting noodle & doodle nights, throwing spontaneous dance parties, and making up songs with her daughter Viva. Follow her at @PieraLuisa on Instagram and Substack, or visit www.pieragelardi.com
