afterwords::8::push

Push PLAY

In speaking about imbalance, we better release ourselves from the judgment of doing things wrong. Perhaps at one time not playing protected us from being clobbered or teased and ridiculed. That historical moment exists in a past; and we can’t give more energy to that imaginary shadow. In fact it probably helps more to consider holding onto the past as a type of play that no longer serves us but still involves us in an imaginary realm where we play with our own memories. Give permission not to play that way so often. Like certain habits, we might find we have to give permission several times. Assume it takes 4-5 times (or 6-8 times: how long have I been writing?) before we notice and we regain a sense of freedom. Think of this play like a ‘play’ button on a CD or computer. It helps to remind us that a ‘stop’ and also a ‘pause’ button exist. We acknowledge what happened, and that we succeeded in protecting our selves, but now a higher priority goes to returning to playgrounds in our imagination. Playgrounds appear more and more accessible for our enjoyment with simple attention and words of encouragement.

afterwords:7:pseudoplay

**Pseudoplay

[A Sixth Assumption] Often we create a state where the activities we engage in seem “as if” we were really playing. We engage in talking about fun things to do. We spend a lot of time telling each other about the fun of going somewhere. But curiously these conversations frequently reveal that we tend to talk about the fun we had somewhere while we visit somewhere else where we supposedly came to experience some pleasure.




We almosst compete with each other to tell each other of another playful time we had of which a story reminds us. From this perspective the experience loses any actual connection to playful living.

Engaged imagination transforms the players and heals inner workings. In pseudo-play motion fails to enter the body. We remain out of balance with our human nature.

afterwords:6;wishes

PASTE A FEW SINCERE WISHES HERE:
(use the comment window to add a few)











Ok, so now we are either sad or defensive; or some of us, bound in other emotions. All I am asking is that we consider the option of making stuff up while all the other stimulation are takes place. “Make things up?” a critic within asks. Can I mean that in the middle of all the demands that we try to balance that we are supposed to make things up? Yes, that is exactly what I mean and hope. It is certainly one sure way we know we are playing, and it creates doors and windows into being alive that work well in most situations. Make up what I am going to say next. Make up what is going to happen next in the space of the next three breaths. Temporarily delete thoughts of what is supposed to happen and make a few sincere wishes instead. Remember passing that blank space for wishes and wondering what it was for. Fill it in without instructions. How often do we get to paste in our wishes intentionally? And I really invite us to take a piece of paper and write wishes on it.

Sometimes we’ll spend hours sitting still and talking about these activities: entertainment, sports, shopping, without inviting our listeners to move around and join us in the realm of imagination and healing play. We will sit still when our hands beg to be able to play with some material. Somewhere along the way of adult socialization, the idea of sitting still takes firm hold and this includes keeping our hands in our laps. It helps at times to remember that although stillness forms one aspect of meditative prayer, whirling dervishes approach this state through motion. There exists a continuum and just the right place on that continuum for each of us. In any given moment, we find the level of activity that fits the occasion. Unfortunately without allowing the healing process to occur, we will start over without ever really getting to engage, without ever really getting to play. So take this moment to notice what movement would satisfy an inner yearning before continuing to read. Rock, turn, twist or whirl; perhaps, just one finger.

afterwords:5:passive

**Passive Play

(Fifth assumption) In our attempt to regain our secret truth, we develop elaborate play schemes that have essential elements of play mixed with behaviors that fail to bring us authentic playfulness. We watch entertainment and are transported to an imaginary realm, but while there, we fail to engage actively. Sometimes I wonder if within the passive TV realm, we don’t repeatedly heal the wound of the author, or director, or creative consultant that offers us this show. We watch sports and athletic achievement lost in a realm of imaginary competition without moving much and without deeply holding our own personal intents.

We go and buy toys or sports props for exercise. We buy props for cooking and fill shelves. We buy videogames or music and then fail to use them at all, or use them without engaging in active creative play. We park our imagination outside the room and come inside to play. How will the healing join us, if we leave it out? We may even make a collection of objects and never encourage touching them and using them in an imaginary activity.

afterwords:4:secret

**Play in Secret

First we relegate play to childhood, blocking an essential life resource. Second we separate our creative flow from our everyday state of being alive and curious. Third we label behaviors associated with being playful as silly. Fourth we require play to sneak into our lives. We require it to remain in a hidden shadow form. Shadow forms form wonderful resources when we have a chance to draw on this energy. We lose out when we keep them at a distance based on fear, holding playfulness separate from us. Usually some thread of fear creates the shadow. Consider fears of darkness. When we play with this fear, we realize that we don’t fear the dark, but we dislike a feeling inside of not “seeing”. Not seeing becomes quite interesting when we take time to play with the experience. We can make up activities that let us explore the dark; then we remember with our other senses “objects” in the dark. Or we follow a different idea and play stumbling. Stumble over a chair into the embrace of a dozen cushions.

afterwords:3:silly

**Silly Play

Many of us give ‘silly’ as the reason not to play. To appear silly remains a child’s prerogative, we think. Meanwhile we may remember as children trying our best not to appear foolish. And foolish and silly become hidden elements of our adult life rather than rich sources of potential play. We only allow silliness or foolishness in private moments that we rush to veil and for which we apologize. Comedians exploit this aspect of play thoroughly and we love them for it. It profoundly saddens me that we give up certain behaviors because of the ridicule that we either experience directly or indirectly. Usually the source is a ‘busy’ adult, communicating exasperation or there is another child exposed to a ‘busy adult’ who mimics the adult. Frequently we simply observe the ridicule of another and we anticipate with fear ever suffering such humiliation. As we quickly see, we also learn through our veil of fear that children play and adults work; Adults essentially become too busy to play.

afterwords:2:access

(Never Too Soon...)

Now I get fidgety reading; and I long for a bit of play. I may bite my fingernails, if I have to keep reading. For some our fingers long to play with anything. Do we call this handwork? Or shall we stand up and move about. I remember from school a certain joyful anticipation of recess, but I can’t remember an action that follows standing up. So I would like to enlist help, using memory and random thoughts, fill in what to do. Stand up and….

I immediately want a little neck rubbing. I want to toss something around and see where it lands and toward what it leads. I want to get up and march to a more comfortable chair. And that’s only the start. Expand a list; send comments:

Let’s play as we inquire.


**Access to Creativity

We accurately identify creativity as an integral part of play: the art of play. Then we assume we aren’t creative. Or we heard this somewhere and we heard that creativity represents special skills. Only the talented enter here. These limitations distort our appreciation of our inherent imaginative power. That power has to be encouraged and held with positive intent to deeply entertain and benefit our families, our communities, and society as interconnected world communities.

afterword::play

Everything starts somewhere; and I started out my musings on play by considering why we don’t play. I collected several threads and followed them. I put them here near the end because they mattered to my thinking about play. They aren’t about play; they are about not playing. So here they are.

Assoociations and assumptions that limit playful behavior

**Who plays?

only children play.

Somehow this rich realm of healing activity exists as a child’s domain. As a powerful religious injunction states, “When we were children we behaved in childish ways, and then we put those ways aside.” I think buried in the injunction lurks an attempt to take away from us one of our inherent tools of self-healing. Why would anyone wish to take away from a human being direct access to our own soul and healing potential? An obvious answer would be to undermine our autonomy. This autonomy we spend much of our productive adult life attempting to reclaim and defend. We engage in meaningful work that at a minimum provides us with an income with which to support our selves and eventually our family. This serious struggle represents adult life, an adult life heavily weighted toward responsibility. Bearing that responsibility feels like a serious matter. Vacations and weekends believed to be the break from those responsibilities become times when we intend to visit some formalized remnant of play. Rest becomes synonymous with play. Gradually many of us find the burdens of time off more exhausting than the structured time we refer to as work. So now we find ourselves in a bind. We teeter out of balance. But this needn’t be, so we could assume that play inherently belongs to humans of any age involved in every activity.

pppendages viii-xiv seven final bits ff-!!!

[A]Mirror Play

Did we say, ‘Abracadabra, let’s play?’ Have a word that makes the association with play. For a series of complicated reasons, telling a mirror that it lies serves as my current play induction. I discovered quite by accident that mirrors don’t always tell the truth. They can make us look fatter or frailer or uglier than we remember. They can probably distort in the other direction though we flow more easily with that information. I know others know this. So I decided that when the mirror distorted my appearance that I would address it directly and playfully, and see if I could call its bluff and get it to play with me. I have been quite impressed with the results. I usually end up backwardly smiling at myself. I remind myself of that part of the sleeping beauty story where the queen addresses the mirror. I think we get swept up into the rest of the story too fast. Wisdom resides in talking back to the mirror. The word “relax” preceded back-talking to the mirror. Relax works though it doesn’t address underlying distortions.

[Mirrors begat distortions begat wisdom]

[Bra]Casting the Spell#6: Talking Back to the Mirror

Notice that the mirror consistently draws attention to an aspect of the body that engages the mind in serious judgment; talk back. Take a playful lunge at the set of beliefs held in collusion with the mirror. See if the mirror can speak differently. Tease the perception in the mirror. Flirt with it. Give it a run for all it’s worth. Start to reclaim influence over the image. Notice that the world has been paradoxically trying to clue us in to mirror play. Though we haven’t been encouraged, take the reins. Take the reign. She who spoke to the mirror after all was the queen.

[charm begat attention begat perspective]

[Ca]In a recent conversation a friend described how disappointed she felt with the playing card queens. They all looked cold and distant. We looked at an old foreign deck with beautiful queens. It has always seemed that the stories we are told of mean queens hide other stories of how power takes away the feminine aspect of life in all manner. The word ‘manners’ catches my attention. Play appears here, too. We can mix up etymologies and plunge into a round of dictionary word-rivers.

[Manners begat word rivers]

[Da]Margin Game #A Dictionary Word Rivers

Create a word river by looking up a word’s etymology in the dictionary; write it down; make a diagram. In the definition chose another word to look up, or skip to a word on the page that sparks interest. Proceed to the etymology, again looking for a spark. Draw lines and arrows as the process continues. See if any part reconnects with an earlier word or sound.

[manners begat word rivers begat anywhere begat maps]

[Bra]Casting the Spell#7: Making the Wand

Since most of us grew up with stories of magicians and faery godmothers who had wands, it seems appropriate to make a special wand to remind us of the importance of casting our intention. I suggest taking any size stick or rod of any material and decide which end is up. Attach to this end items that are light and flowing. At the other end, mark off the grip in some manner. Consider drawing it on. Attach a few special objects to the shaft. Although glue works as an option, I tend to like to bind things to the shaft with string or wire. Some things can end up completely wrapped. Let the decisions follow a whimsical flow. If not quite ready to embellish the staff, just choose it and then at a later time, let some idea or activity give inspiration to move the process along.

[wands begat invitations]
Abracadabra! MOON beauty

pppendages viii-xiv six slips bb-ee

Another spell surrounds forgotten names and events. Don’t miss the opportunity to see how the mind plays with memory. Tonight we found Ram Dass hidden under Meher Baba, and Abby Hoffman under Alfred Orman. These associations can be used more efficiently to release memories and dreams and can equally impress us by the joy of the moment of discovery.

[forgetting begat speech begat word begat, first words begat story begat memory begat spells begat humor begat giggles]

This type of play comes in the category called don’t push the river. Barry Stevens, a Gestalt therapist, wrote a book by that title that helped me hold onto my playful self through the pain of trying to conform to college learning. In this case the consciousness remains a river and only some of the facts float through on the surface. I imagine certain bits ending up closer to the surface at times and other’s bobbing at the bank at other times. One premise of this book offers that we find part of life’s quality by attending to aspects of life that have been relegated to insignificance. These aspects can imminently entertain. They can develop, expand and appreciate. They lead to some wonderful games of home-made malapropisms.

[conformation begat pain]

(I used the word riddles here at first because I liked the way the line sounded. I created a riddle for myself, as I could not really give any further explanation about what I wrote. It seems odd to play like this while writing. Like with the inaccessible word, I knew I was close to the idea and I couldn’t get closer by forcing myself at that moment to find the right expression or even the right idea. I deal with a tendency to get distracted and lose my train of thought. I deal with socialization that says I cannot write. After all I took literally a teachers lament that if I did not learn to spell, I would never get through college. To avoid all these traps, I move on with the loose ends trailing. When I come back to the text, I wonder what comes next.)

[judgment begat confusion]

Casting the Spell#5: Plumb the River

When we cannot find a lost word or misplaced name, and we know we know it, spend some time observing how we push our mind to access it. Rather than keeping this as an internal self-criticism of memory, consider ways in which we could share not the frustration but the layers of association. Plumb the river gently for lost information. Try predicting the word or name based on what word or name comes to mind. Make it up. Usually an associative pattern emerges that we use to access memory. With this overall pattern we can explore and savor remembering. We can get stuck on an association so that we hold it too close and one near it does not come forth. Consider how long it takes to retrieve lost names. Once we know that, then we know how long we have to play with our observations. Consider that some word may have the right number of syllables. Maybe the letters order incorrectly, though hold the correct sounds. Recently I noticed that I come out with the wrong word and cover it with another expression. I have to back up the associative cascade. Sometimes going against too strong a current, I have to go across the stream. If we know what sound patterns exist, we can use them.For me the sound of some later syllable has taken over the lead and blocked the initial sound. Like remembering a dream, the more literal I am in what I am trying to search, the less productive the search. Come in close and increase the tension and then give room for the process to work. The give and take creates clues unless we leave too much space. Formulate personal rules. See how they vary. This opportunity to play with words and sounds allows us to enjoy the transformation. Mistakes springboard into play.

[Mistakes begat connections begat play]
The spell has been cast. Abracadabra

pppendages viii-xiv and five more skips x-aa

Casting the Spell#4: the Social Spell

Like so many spells, many of them cast off rigid thinking that prevents us from being fully present for our life as it occurs. In the next exercise we are really using a counter spell to stop the stereotypical dance that we developed to protect our self from what we didn’t know already.

[story begat memory begat spells begat flexibility]

To play we will own our projections. Next time in a situation that places us with new people, make note of the people who remind us of other people we already like. Make note of those who remind us of people whom we don’t like, and watch for those who evoke stereotypes of race, gender, age, religion, and sexual preference. Once we lay out our awareness, let the process unfold of being brought together with individuals or groups by chance, and attend to what we learn about our self and our initial impressions. Watch for transformations when the people step out of where we had plugged them in and see where they take on their own energy.

[Awareness begat unfolding begat experience begat transformation]

Words spells

Casting spells and being mindful of how we speak leads us to a loose pun, the value of the spoken word. I delight in the play of malapropisms. We can begin with jokes, which usually take advantage of some aspect of the less fortunate. These root in a reversal of shame. Often it embarrasses us that they make us laugh. This type of joke actually creates a false release of our own shame. We laugh as a signal of relief. Humiliation passed us by. The joke does nothing to lift us up or support our communities. I would compare this to pseudo-playing. It sounds like humor but lacks any of the healing power humor and play portends. When we realize how they work, we can refocus on layers and layers of humor that draw up and dissolve shame though laughter, through twists of the spoken word. Puns carry us back to misspoken language.. Even word plays have a humorous way of bonding people. I believe that stories that reflect back our personal misunderstandings of language pose valid vehicles of humor. Generally these episodes have a time and place for telling. Most of us have found our way to this playground lubricated with alcohol. I gently believe that we can decrease our anxiety by trying to play without the skewed perception that the alcohol introduces.

[speech begat word begat, first words begat story begat memory begat spells begat humor]

*word play:
I hope a previous asterisk created some wonder. Remember it? I was mis-led by the word misled and am part of the group of people who have a verb in their vocabulary, the past tense of misle. We stand as an honorable fellowship of the fooled.

Giggles

I encourage savoring giggles. Something about a stuffy schoolroom and the unexpected twist of perception casts a playful spell and leaves us vulnerable to waves of barely suppressible laughter. Sadly we learn to suppress this experience and even learn to attach shame around it. I have wanted and still want to hear of a classroom teacher who celebrates the spirit of play that enters when one child begins to giggle and others fall victim to the spell. I encourage anyone present for such a moment to take the plunge and breathe into the laughter wholeheartedly, encouraging others to follow. The several minutes of indulgence reward us immeasurably.


[speech begat word begat first words begat story begat memory begat spells begat humor begat giggles]

pppendages viii-xiv five more skips t-w

Casting the Spell#3: Make Up Five.

Using experiences in life, make up five precepts for a walking meditation. Yes all of the above are available. Use them for a set period of time. See how they transform over time and what insights they uncover.

[experience begat transformation]

Social Spells

Some of my favorite spells serve social emotional needs. They probably simplify down to two words. ‘”Like me!” It has the meaning of be my friend, hold me in positive regard. It does not mean be like me, which the same expression could demand. The intent of each one contradicts the other. Unfortunately far too often the fear and anxiety of existence corrupts our intent. So that we think, if everyone seemed like us, we would feel less anxious. I expect if we seemed more similar, most of us would be severely under-stimulated. Also solutions to problems would elude our ability to discover novel solutions given our similar perspective. In casting my “like me!” spell, I have learned a lot about play. Surprisingly many of us are misled* by our initial impressions.

[emotion begat intention]

Although first impressions give a map of our intuitive read of social connections, many distortions have to be navigated playfully to avoid the pit falls of first impressions. For most of us first impressions tell more about how we want to seem in community rather than how we interact. We project our misperceptions out onto the community and then make discoveries, if we pay close attention. Unfortunately many people will not play this game through and rob each other of the subtler richness of community. In workshops discover the richness of people overlooked by opening up awareness to the random meetings and groupings that occur In brief encounters initially unnoticed people can change the sense of the group. Attractive people offer a false source of strength. Time and again this playful scenario presents itself in social groups for our inspection. It started in the sand box and continues right through adult life. It seems we all benefit as human beings, if we follow the energy of the experience and cash in the advertising budgets that have indoctrinated us in misperceptions of beauty and strength. While we cash it in, let’s use it to feed the hungry and house those who desire homes.

[first impressions begat emotion begat intention]

(Writing these pages spans several shifts in perspective. One shift occurred here a few drafts ago and I have been at a loss as to how to tie the threads together. A hole has opened amid some play threads. They have to do with a realization that the various “Like Me!” scenarios have a shadow side called “don’t get mad at me.” The credibility of the first dissolves because the true nature gives way to self-protection. “Don’t get mad at me” gets played so effectively that I notice many details about a group of people and I can engage socially within a group of people. It’s exhausting; I would not recommend it. I think our energy and creative interests could be more joyfully and effectively focused.)

[joy begat effectiveness]

pppendages viii-xiv five skips p-s

Agreements we make support basic humanity and therefore define the fundamental substructure of fair play. These commandments or agreements cast spells of good will. Buddhist teachings give direct agreements. Take the example of the 5 wonderful precepts that Thich Nhat Hanh translates for us and I paraphrase:

I. Be mindful of life
II. Be mindful of property
III. Be mindful of relationships
IV. Be mindful of speech
V. Be mindful of consumption (including all media)

These precepts sum up the Ten Commandments with a slightly different emphasis. If we cast our spell in a manner consistent with these beliefs, then we remain clear about our intent. We can then step out of the box, while honoring our intent to heal our community and thereby the social fabric of the world and have fun with our own creativity.

[agreements begat good begat community]


Casting the Spell#2: Meditation as Spell

I offer a walking meditation. Slowly repeat each step on a 20-40 minute walk over a period of months. Sometimes I forget to do the meditation. Sometimes I realize that the step has changed based on an insight along the path of life. While walking allow transformation even of the meditation itself.

1. Creativity flows through my hands.
2. I honor the creative energy that created me.
3. We are all one.
4. I wish for:
5. I deserve my wish and more.
6. I listen with an open heart: what I wish is already so.
7. I meditate on the sound of creation.
8. I detach from the outcome.
9. I am generous with what I receive.

[walking begat meditation]

[1/ Carry something around and give it special meaning (mindful possession.) 2/ Write a word that reflects an intention and sew it to the inside of a sleeve (basic mindfulness.) 3/ Decide not to complain about pain or discomfort for a day (mindful speech.) 4/ Smile at strangers for a consistent period each day for a week.(mindful community.) 5/ Pick up a piece of trash and dispose of it properly and repeat each time, “with this small act I heal the world.” (mindful consumption.)]

Consider a spell that attends to all living organisms? Write down the Ten Commandments, iamyourgd, no other, no image, observe the sab, honor thyfandm, no kil, no stel, no covt, no lie. Play with them a little.

In my creative walking meditation, the 2nd statement to 'honor the creative energy that created me' honors the ancestors. It represents a consistent precept of most belief systems. The past gazes upon us, and it reflects onto the present in many forms. In the 3rd 'we are all one,' I found an antidote for coveting. The 9th, practicing generosity serves another important approach to not covet resources.

Which spells attend to others? In the first and 4th wishing holds intent mindfully. In the 6th open-hearted, already having everything, we reinforce mindfulness of the present moment in our environment . In the 7th,mediating on the sound of creation, the spell addresses an inner receptive state. These spells deepen present experience by opening our ears to what we sense. The spell alters perception since we spend so much time filtering out sound. In the 8th statement, 'detaching from outcome' refocuses our attention.Everything exists in this present moment.]

[mindfulness begat walking begat meditation]

The nine Enneagram truths can serve as another start for a walking meditation.
1. We are all part of one who;e and alright as we are.
2. Everyone’s needs are equally and fully met.
3. Everything works and gets done naturally, according to universal laws.
4. We hold deep and complete connection to all others and all things.
5. An ample supply exists of knowledge and the energy we need.
6. We all began with faith in ourselves, in others and in the universe.
7. A full spectrum of possibilities can be experienced freely and can be sustained.
8. Everyone begins innocent and without guile. Everyone senses truth.
9. Everyone belongs equally in a state of unconditional love and union.

[All begat everyone]

pppendages viii-xiv walz l-o

Positive Belief Spells

So what do we mean by casting the spell? Can we get any clearer? We charm something. We refer to making something or some place the focus of special attention. Possibly we emphasize the improbable or the unlikely. We focus our attention on some aspect of reality while drawing attention away from other aspects. This dance of energy represents a fundamental of Fung Shui and many martial arts. It is the essence of a magic trick. We have some experience with this energy. For some reason everyone seems to have a different name for it, and some times it is elevated to the divine, and sometimes it is demoted to a negative shadow.

[charm begat attention]


(Or even to the seven deadly virtues: lying, cheating, greed, avarice, stinginess, jealousy, envy,)

[cheating begat lying]

Since casting a spell focuses attention, it can be used as a type of prayer or meditation. If we regard an aspect of divine energy as housed within our own being, then we in effect make a connection to that energy by casting a playful spell. In the language of a statement like, ‘ I set a stage and act from it,’ we can focus our attention. We can call these statements spells of good will. As most humanists agree the ability for humans to elaborate good and refrain from hurtful behavior derives from genetic expression and social pressures. In this manner, people committing acts of evil have separated themselves from their human potential.

[connection begat play begat energy]

Great energy can be channeled by human experience for the good of the community. We recall what degree of good can come from a man like Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi in leading groups of individuals toward personal freedom within the boundary of a responsible community. Our memory of them, even inaccurate attributions to them can inspire us, charm us, into being community minded and generous. We can play with intention.

[good begat community]

pppendages viii-xiv polka dots h-k

Casting a spell breathes life into something. It feels like something taps potential. We honor this aspect of play by defining a playground. We define ”in.”

[Breath begat potential]


A friend likes to demark a performance or studio space by placing bright tape on the floor. He establishes a perimeter or a playing field and then steps inside in order to perform. He alters his awareness and attention when he stands inside. I once set up a studio in a corner of a room as a very small play space, enhancing my focus on my found object assemblages. Most of the objects ended up inside; some objects ended up outside the line. In a way that place still exists for me. I must have placed special intention for it to sustain itself after several years.

[demarcation begat stage]


We can elaborate boundary concepts remembering crayoning. Crayoning inside the lines serves as a reminder to recognize the line, but the line does not define crayoning. The line describes a boundary, and it does dictate certain behavior. Impulses and decisions inform our choice. We make a response to the impulse and express it in our behavior. Creativity represents that give and take between the impulse and decision.

[impulse begat decision]

Casting the Spell #1: Exploring the Spell

In an opened ended fashion, find a used box of crayons. Find an image in a newspaper. Color in the lines of an advertisement. Now let the coloring take on its own energy, color outside the lines and if the paper tears redefine the edge of the field. Let it take on a form. Like cloud reading find an animal or face. Place this to the side and write about the spell that we cast. Repeat the process, creating a second piece. Imagine that these two forms have some relationship to each other and use circles arrows to represent this.

[Lines begat boundary]

pppendages viii-xiv two step e-g

We can play anywhere.

The sandbox serves as one of our earliest play settings. Maybe we still have positive sandbox memories. Write it in words or images. Map it so it exists here for later. My map appears indirectly. When I was growing up I heard my aunt tell the story about my scientist father who had the choice to spend his first school year out in the sand box, if he so chose, which he did choose, according to the story.

[anywhere begat maps]


Maybe a crib provides an early play setting. What early positive play memories does a crib inspire? I know that early in life I held the crib rail and raised myself up on my toes and lowered myself down on my heels. A neighbor reported to my mother that I spoke my first words, which she heard as “up and down”. This may be my first play setting in the safety of my crib. An image of a crib helps connect memory to that time past. Try it.

[first words begat story begat memory]





In the way I write I make these stories distant from the events to which they relate. By doing this on the one hand I increase attention to the connection, while on the other I focus attention on the degree of truth of any tale. Perhaps these things didn’t actually happen. In play we hold connections whether they occurred or not. This aspect of play creates the spell.

[story begat memory begat spells]

Ah, it happens here.

These settings establish our initial play spaces. Walls bound them, walls that we learned to climb over. It usually helps to know the frame in which we play. We have the safety of the container and the comfort it provides. We have an ability to expand past the boundary. Sometimes we climb out of that frame.

[safety begat expansion]

apppendages viii-xiv one limp a-d

Listening to the recounting of a religious based event reminds me that sometimes I feel like the point of a story never gets explained. I have a feeling about this part of play. How do I really explain a spell when by its nature it has that inexplicable aspect, which has an unexplainable, though expectable effect that defines its essential quality?

[story begats memory]




When I play I enter an altered state of connectedness. I use the word connectedness rather than consciousness, because I think the levels of awareness of connection determine play. Levels exist of safety, recognition or familiarity. Layers exist of strangeness or quirky novelty. Levels exist of persistence and of reward. I willingly go to a place inside myself where I defer expectations. Being present in the moment allows me to connect myself to what holds my attention. I focus. This may describe the entire act of casting the spell.

[connections begat play]


(The sleight of hand that accompanies
a magic
trick has our
attention
carefully
drawn
away
from something;
that calls
our attention.
Play accomplishes
this feat.
Perhaps I call it play
for the soul,
because the soul
redirects our attention
momentarily
and when we turn back the shift has occurred and
the magic unfolds?)

[hands begat tricks]




I set myself in play motion. Do I just bring two or three threads of intention together and see how they connect to and unravel about each other? Unraveling ravels something else new of a value that I only indirectly hold. (Did I really write this before the conversation with Gary about raveling something out?) How would I give an example when examples, too, seem to elude the process? Suddenly it seems I don’t know how to play and have never authentically played with written language. Play doesn’t come into my head; it comes in through my hands. And play comes through the materials that the hands connect and the unexpected connections the hands reveal. This might happen with words, if I weren’t so concerned about writing them correctly and having them be understood as intended. So rather than focus on the spell we focus on where it can occur. Bear with me; we may get through to somewhere by going here.

[threads begat ravels]

ppendages i-vii, seven tails

Exercise #7: Intuitive Enhancement

Guessing details about what someone describes, and using that guess to have the other person guess about some other detail allows us to see where the tail of the guess wags. Indirectly we let our self into our conscious associations. We can also call this reactive imagery. Start by telling a story to a partner or group. Then ask questions about how they imagined details that we imply but do not state in the story.

As an example I say I went to bed early on the floor of the sunroom. Describe the room imagined. As the details elaborate the story, I could ask a question about something in this description that I imagined. Like asking what arrangement of windows filled the imagined sunroom. Then I could describe the three walls and the view of the trees twenty feet off the ground or the slanting metal roof toward the back. I could inquire about the imagined leafy view.

Keep in mind that we all use our imaginations in slightly different ways and that the activity might include other types of associations, other than images. Consider any sense as a fair field. This exercise gives us a chance to reveal assumptions or intuitive leaps we make. See what happens. How does intuition conducts itself?




As a totem of these appendages make a drawing, collage, or a visual reminder of a guess that an intuition created that remained unspoken.




Exercise the other aspect of temperament that we access less easily. Try this:

IIII; Leave something unfinished that almost always gets completed and complete something that usually gets left undone and notice the shift in perspective. Though please don’t use that horrible expression of agreeing to disagree. That one gets inappropriately used to end a negotiation midstream rather than leave the closure open or carrying it a step toward further clarity. We want to decide not to return to something and see if we can hold that as our intent. We want to discover a new perspective.



IIIII; I
imagine
playful humor
slipping
in after
acknowledgement
of
frustration.
Use these
shifts to
explore
the social
world.

ppendages i-vii, six antenae

Take something that seems personally, self-satisfyingly playful. Play it for its own sake. Take it into a social setting, present it in some manner, perhaps subtlety. Observe the response. Be amused. Try again. Show more people. If you know someone who knows a lot of people, do something with them. If it doesn’t evoke any response, consider how another presentation might appeal to another.

A second approach comes from educating to change behavior. We can look at what makes someone change behavior. Optimizing this factor makes an enhancement more effective. If an outcome leads to a predictable and consistent outcome, participants more likely attend to it. If an outcome of a changed behavior occurs regularly, then people more likely engage in that behavior. Finally if the measure of the effect reveals itself clearly, then people more likely change the behavior, as they have a way to assess how close they come to accomplishing the behavior.



Enhancing Exercise #6:Enhancements

1. Introduce a type of tag
2. Introduce a new word and meaning to an old expression, perhaps a special form of greeting. Consider using something that comes from childhood that seemed ubiquitous until we noticed no one else said that. I laugh at the endearments that my father called his sons. I can’t spell them. They remain evocative, personal and playful.
3. Tell the same story altering a significant detail in each retelling
4. Talk about playing as a child and get others to elaborate their play memories. Keep searching for more details from the memory. “And then what happened? And then? And who played with what? How did that happen?”
5. Introduce into a new setting a curious aspect of an activity overheard.
6. Enhance an activity with an idea heard in someone’s play memory.





Exercise the other aspect of temperament that we access less easily. Try this:

III; Use emotion as a guide for approaching a thought process and think through an emotional experience. These require careful tweaking because thinking through emotions may dodge the emotion. If the experience seems familiar, immediately try the converse.

ppendages i-vii, five legs

As a suggestion inquire about how others played as children and what aspects of playing they enjoyed most. Find out not just what they remember now but also what they remember about how it felt to play. Allow unexpected activities to count as play. Imagine playing along. Make up an adult version. Consider playing it together. Explore what feels different now. Play a modified adult version

Enhancing Exercise #5: Take a Play History

When spreading out an inquiry, we can explore the behaviors, feelings, sensations, and knowledge about it.

How did we play?

What did we really enjoy and how did it feel?

What sensation did we notice as we engaged in remembering?

What knowledge or truth did the activity inquire after?



After really listening to the answer find out more details about any aspect that held attention. We aren’t comparing this to our experience; we are finding out more. Listen, listen some more, then ask. Remember to leave some spaces open.





Exercise the other aspect of temperament that we access less easily. Try this:

II; Find an activity that involves detail after detail rather than intuitive leaps. Now find one that leads itself by leaps. Try and leap with the first and attend to details in the second and pay attention to any unexpected experience.

ppendages i-vii, four wrist watches

Enhancing Exercise #3: Personal Play Contour

Play like memory unfolds in an individual way. The contour of the experience can have a quality that someone else can recognize. The pace
can follow a familiar cadence. Certain events can lead in and out of the activity. Memories themselves can form integral aspects of play. Someone can play alone; someone else, in a group. Some like to play with very specific rules, while others like to guess and make things up. Some even play games and walk away from an unfinished game and return later to continue the experience. Make it up.

It helps to consider that we all have different temperaments. Based on factors of temperament, we all experience the same world differently. We could almost say that we experience different worlds simultaneously. If we simply divide people’s temperament into categories, we discover things about how we experience the world. Temperament scales in themselves introduce inaccurate ways of discerning difference, but they give a method for highlighting difference.Like with much of science, we posit a hypothesis in order to observe something more carefully. Eventually that enhanced credibility has to be released based on a new understanding of the world.

The Myers Briggs Personality Test or the Kiersy Temperament Sorter use a series of preferences to describe temperament. Using four aspects of human experience on a continuum, we can roughly group individuals by how they make decisions in their environment. The first consideration looks a how an individual experiences social interaction. On a continuum social interaction energizes a person or depletes energy. A second consideration addresses how information gathering takes place. On a continuum some collect details while others follow the gist of the information and leap to “accurate” conclusions.


The third consideration compares the inner process of thinking through with the process of feeling through it. Finally we consider when a process completes itself either by holding it open or by closing it up.

It seems like it becomes easier for people to play, if their temperament favors an open-ended outcome. To initiate play it seems helpful to use intuitive leaps. Although thinking remains important, at times we have to go with a feeling and discover where it leads. In this manner it becomes easier for some people based on their temperament to play than for others. If we get energy from social interaction then we probably play better with others. Though it seems more likely that depending on the type of play activity the role of playmates will vary. The nature of the play brings in energy when we chose activities that replenish us. Probably movement within the realm of imagination becomes easier, if we use feelings rather than thoughts to guide us.

None-the-less, most people play as children with active imagination independent of what gets described as temperament.

So it seems like the description given above might account for those for whom play resumes more easily. But ideally no one excludes anyone else from playing. In fact I imagine with attention to spin we could describe patterns of access to play for everyone.

Describe playing. Would a close friend agree? Test the description out using the four previous considerations. Did we describe activities that replenish energy? Did we describe things that we do by feeling our way? Did we describe activities that cause us to make leaps? And did we describe things we leave open? Collect descriptions.

Exercise the other aspect of temperament that we access less easily. Try this:

I; Find an activity that exhausts and one that gives energy. Schedule them back-to-back in series and gently explore the energy flow.

ppendages i-vii, three threads

Enhancing Exercise #3:

I offer couples the three minute rule when working to understand a partner. In the event where one person completes something more quickly then the other, one partner deserves a little extra time to catch up. I randomly assign that length of time as three minutes. Given a certain time frame, minutes may collapse to seconds or expanded to days. The potential space in which the minutes occur allows us to feel the give and take of the play. Here we meet the possibility of what play accomplishes. Play makes connection with a partner sensitively. Try it.

So we can probably say that play comes more easily to some and that others have to push a bit more to get there. Actually it shows that we all can develop aspects of ourselves that lead us to be playful. Using our various processing skills creatively, we can develop new ways of playing. Each time we pursue a different channel toward playfulness, we expand empathy and alter past misunderstandings. The play makes up an antidote to the hurt.



To know how to engage others in play requires trust. It requires us to explore first impulses and to adjust them appropriately and sensitively based on the response of others. This energy give and take requires a leap of faith and we have to take on the role of the fool sometimes with a metaphorical step off the edge of the cliff. When we deeply trust the process we can be sensitive and reckless at the same time with humorous results.. This stepping of the cliff happens as we trust our creative impulse.

ppendages i-vii: two leafs

Enhancing Exercise #2: Story Telling

Make up a theme for a story. Choose a collection of seven random past memories; add five wishes, and three current events. From this costruct a story. We can tell stories by our self to our self or to any available audience. Afterwards jot down any aspects of the storyteller’s mind, which hold interest or value. Look for an awareness of shifting time. Notice a different quality of speaking voice. See if any unexpected connections or details insinuate themselves in the story.


Keep using the
same basic story
and notice when ]
other details insert
themselves.
Include them.
After the story sits
dormant for a while,
tell it
and see what gets included
and what gets left out
this time.
Develop the story from a different
character’s perspective.
Select an audience
and begin to tell the story,
preferably with little explanation.
We can tell the listeners
that we might do something
like this sometime.