Today we’d like to introduce you to TJ Matton.
Hi TJ, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I’ve always been a bit of a well-behaved under-the-radar rebel. I grew up as a middle child, trying to keep the peace in my home, and anxiously following the rules. Internally, I was wildly overwhelmed by this experience and all of the unspoken expectations and rules of life. This led to me becoming an intensely curious person–focusing on how people live and love in this world and seeking out a way to live more openly and honestly.
Eventually, I found my way into social work because I believe deeply in the right for people to feel safe in their human experience. Social work is this beautiful field founded in social justice and about acknowledging the person within their environment. I am always exploring and testing boundaries, theories, and ideas because the world has never made sense to me. Social work gave me permission to acknowledge all of the unspoken systems of power that shape our world.
I’ve been in social work since 2006 and while it has been a winding road, I am obsessed with the path I am on to liberate people through the power of play.
In 2023, I opened up The Playful Revolution, dedicated to teaching the power of play. I believe play has the power to change the world as it is at the heart of change. It is about creating, testing, and innovating, and is the force that helps empower individual change and the cultural binds we live within.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’m not sure there is such a thing as a smooth road! I dropped out of college, struggled with alcohol abuse and mental health, and became a single mom at 25. I am fortunate to have layers of support and privilege that supported me during these challenging times. But, all of these derailed my professional and personal vision. It required an enormous level of grieving rewriting of my internal story and learning to be open to the chaos of living.
I think this ultimately became a seed for my professional passion for play psychology. Play is about finding peace, joy, and fun within the challenges of life. Play is about building capacity and resiliency so that we can keep evolving. Play teaches us to be flexible, creative, and innovative in our growth as humans. Life is full of obstacles and as humans, we are meant to constantly evolve and surprise ourselves. There is beauty in embracing our power while also embracing the shifting landscape around us.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The Playful Revolution focuses on the psychological power of play and teaching adults to re-discover their playful nature. Play is an innate biological drive in the mammal body that is driven down in our culture. It is also unique to each person and is driven by our way of interacting with this world.
Play is a state of mind. It’s looking at our journey through this world with this slightly tilted head, a twinkle in our eyes, and saying, “Let’s do this.” It is the act of feeling safe enough to embrace the world within us, around us, and between us.
I am an educator, coach, and collaborator. When a person is feeling stuck and asking that age-old, “Well, now what?” – I’m there. With individuals, I help them identify their play personality and teach them to engage in the play state of mind. I help them identify patterns they are stuck in and use the play state to challenge these patterns and propel them into lifelong exploration and capacity building.
As an educator and collaborator, I work in partnership with so many different disciplines and cater my teaching to the audience I’m working with. Because play is a state of mind and not a behavior, I’m here to help hold a kaleidoscope up to patterns and dynamics and open up the creativity in the room to see, think, feel, and exist differently.
I am most proud of the feeling of aliveness in my work. My soul ignites doing this work and it feels unbelievably fulfilling to hear people make sense of their experiences and feel like they are coming back to a lifelong friend. I think my work is unique because of my deep drive towards the work feeling alive, playful, and collaborative which allows the work to feel engaging, challenging, and liberating. The work is liberating and gives people a new lens and lease on life.
Working with me propels them to find more aligned challenges, teachers, connections, and opportunities. Connecting with play feels like coming home to yourself and there is no better place to be than home within ourselves and one another.
Networking and finding a mentor can have a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
My greatest piece of advice is, just go for it. We are meant to be in vulnerable collaboration with each other. I am so eternally grateful for my mentors and teachers who have ignited my soul.
Practically, I have two pieces of advice. First, check in with your values. Knowing what values we orient towards in different moments can help protect and guide our growth process. It helps ensure that the people and relationships we cultivate in our world generate experiences that are aligned with the values we want to live.
Secondly, pay attention to people who calm your being and people who ignite jealousy in your belly. These two emotional experiences for me have signaled that this person possesses something of value to me. They are either meeting a need in me that is going unmet or igniting a passion in me that is unfulfilled. And either way, they are igniting a part of me that wants to live more fulfilled, abundantly, and openly.
Ultimately, don’t be afraid to be open about what you see in them and what you need from them so that you can create an open, collaborative, and fulfilling relationship. How people treat us in the vulnerable act of reaching out reveals a lot about how they exist as teachers, mentors, colleagues, and friends.
Pricing:
- $100-$1500
Contact Info:
- Website: theplayfulrevolution.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/theplayfulrevolution
Image Credits
Chelsea Spears
