Life Language & Interpretation WORDPLAY: TAO (WAY) OF PLAY
Photo & article by Marcia Singer •
lovearts@att.net
joy in. Yet Donaldson reports that by the age of six, most children are competing rather than simply playing by heart –vying for love, attention, rewards.
As
grown-ups, we often “work hard and play hard,” instead.
And
SANTA ROSA, CA. ~[DOW Of Play] International play specialist Fred Donaldson teaches in his remarkable book, Playing By Heart: The Vision and Practice of Belonging, that play is a "uni- versal language…the pattern that connects all living crea- tures.” Play cuts across ethnic, social and gender differenc- es, continues across species, melts time and space, and may be ultimately the intergalactic dance. --Which reminds me that in the Sanscrit language, there’s a word, “lila” (lee-la) that translates to playfulness, sport, creative pastimes. But Hindu legend also tells that the divine, universal absolute principle called Brahman, cre- ated the entire cosmos in a wild, spontaneous, free act of supreme Play.
I like that!
So I named this sheer, native enthusiasm for creating our personal lives the “tao” or way of playing the game of Life itself.
Play is inherent in anything that’s fun or that we find quiet
If you can't write your idea on the back of my calling card, you don't have a clear
idea. David Belasco
Language forces us to perceive the world as man presents it to us. ~Julia Penelope
when we do manage to lose ourselves in the fullness of happy moments, stumble
when we into the Play
Zone, --we mistakenly associate our happiness with a particular activ- ity. We think the magic is in dancing, teaching, playing tennis or mak- ing up games with a grandchild. We don’t realize the magic is what we bring to that activity. ness to
It’s our open- playing,
our
indulgence that brings the
joy, originality, vitality
and connection we all need in life. It’s a relationship to being alive. How necessary our true playmates are, our trust- worthy friends of the soul. My mentor, Fred Donaldson offers that “trusting play is a natural wisdom.” We can be ourselves during play as we, invent our experiences together moment by moment. And this includes enjoyment with furry or feathered play- mateys, or ones with stems and leaves, or made of stone. When I’m in play mode, you
a day adventure with a whole forest full of friends. Or pass a weekend discovering all the ways to enjoy a new elec- tronic gadget for the pure joy and challenge of it.
Before I had my “aha” and
began to play on purpose, my life often seemed to be miss- ing something. Being suc- cessful or smart or even being a good human being didn’t feel completely fulfilling. But I did feel fulfilled whenever I was simply fully engaged with whatever I was doing, just for its own sake. So whenever I am just being alive, present,
can lie in tall, friendly grass and watch clouds making shapes just for you. Or go on
and inventing the moment as I go along –improvising—life feels wonderful. What makes an act playful, makes it authentic is its heart --like all forms of love. So I share with you my “tao of play.” As an upbeat, moving medita- tion, it arises naturally from a still, grounded place within, spilling out good fun in its wake. Play has been called “fundamental to evolu- tion" by naturalist Diane Ackerman: we can’t live without it. Storyteller, “cantadora” Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes reminds that play is essential to creativity.
And when
we are happy, laughing, our whole minds and bodies benefit as stress disappears. We breathe easier, relax, feel more
vital, inventive. We belong when we put our best selves into play.
UPBEAT TIMES • March 2014 • 17 JOKES & Humor # 7
ACTUAL TEST ANSWERS. These are reputedly real answers to
questions on science tests.
When you smell an odorless gas, it is probably carbon monoxide.
Water is composed of two gins, oxygin and hydrogin. Oxygin is pure gin. Hydrogin is gin and water.
Nitrogen is not found in Ireland because it is not found in a free state.
When you breathe, you inspire. When you do not breathe, you expire.
Three kinds of blood vessels are arteries, vanes, and caterpillars.
Before giving a blood transfusion, find out if the blood is affirmative or negative.
The moon is a planet just like the Earth, only it is even deader.
The pistol of a flower is its only protection against insects.
A fossil is an extinct animal. The older it is, the more extinct it is.
Equator: a menagerie lion running around Earth through Africa.
Rhubarb: a kind of celery gone bloodshot.
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LEAVE WITH A SMILE...YOU HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE! UPBEAT TIMES • March 2014 • 17
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