Monthly Archive for June, 2009

Jun 30 2009

Go Ahead and Fake It!

Children doing tae kwon do.

I stopped short when I stumbled upon the following quote yesterday:

“To pretend, I actually do the thing: I have therefore only pretended to pretend.” ~Derrida

My friend and mentor Meri Walker had posted it on her blog. She proceeded to ruminate about how she and her partner John are both artists, and imagine the craziest things into being:

John imagines something and then commits to fabricating it, come hell or highwater. That’s how he put skylights in the top of the TransAmerica tower, for instance. The union asked him if he could do that, he looked inside his imagination to see if he could “see” that scene, said “Yes,” and then set about discovering how to make what he had seen show up in the 3-D world.

When you are imagining something, you’re pretending that thing already exists. John and Meri have proved in their own lives that once you fake it, you can make it! I highly recommend reading the rest of her post.

When I read Meri’s words, though, I couldn’t help but think about the InterPlay classes I teach. InterPlay is an active, creative approach to unlocking the wisdom of the body. Classes include improvisational storytelling, movement, and singing.

During the InterPlay warm up, I’ll invite people to try on different movements by faking them. “Try some fake karate!” I’ll suggest. “Now, how about fake tap dancing!?” And finally, “Get into those hips with a little fake hula, why don’t you!?”

New Interplayers always giggle when we start faking it. Perhaps out of nervousness. But mostly, I think, because it’s fun and freeing.

In fact, some recent personal “aha!”s have emerged from the fake forms.

See, I’m a perfectionist. Big time. Which doesn’t always allow me to relax and have fun because I’m often worried about doing things right. That’s why the fake forms are so good for me. They let me off the hook for being perfect.

Now that I’ve gotten good at doing fake karate, I’m finding other ways to trick my inner perfectionist into letting go. For example, when I started my blog, I gave myself permission to be a “fake blogger.” Somehow, that allowed me to just start DOING it.

And before I knew it, my posts weren’t fake anymore. Somewhere along the way they turned real.

Of course, Derrida would disagree with me slightly. He’d say that pretending to do something is, ummmmmm, actually doing it. So my blog posts never turned real. They were real all along.

Yay for faking it! Because once you fake it, you’ve already started imagining that new thing into being.

This all just begs the question: What are you going to fake today?

(If you’d like to be a fake InterPlayer, come on down to one of my classes in San Francisco or Oakland. I’d love to play with you!)

Filed Under Creativity & Edges, InterPlay | 3 Comments

Jun 29 2009

Exformation

Sieve

This post is part of a project to share reflections about all 28 of the Core Elements of InterPlay. For background information about InterPlay or this project, read What the Heck is InterPlay?!.

What creates information overload for you?

Too much time browsing the internet does it for me. And juggling multiple creative projects at once. Not to mention the emotional ups and downs of navigating the world as a (hopefully) clear and honest communicator. Phew!

Information overload can sometimes be too much of a good thing — like excitement about falling in love or finally accomplishing a personal goal.

When I’m in a State of Too Muchness, I crave balance. And that’s where exformation comes in.

Exformation is InterPlay‘s word for the process of moving unnecessary information out of one’s body.

Imagine for a moment that information is physical, and it accumulates inside our bodies. It’s almost like our bodies are sieves that process our daily experiences.

Most of the time our experiences flow easily through us, like the flour in the picture above. But sometimes that sieve gets clogged. What can we do to loosen up that gunky, yucky clogged feeling that comes with stress and overwhelm?

We can exform! And if information has a physical component, then so does exformation.

The simplest kind of exformation is breathing, sighing, and shaking your body out.

But exformation can include just about any activity that allows you to be truly in your body. The InterPlay facilitator’s manual suggests activities like

exercise, art-making, journalling, making love, taking long showers, meditating, doing housework, cooking, walking in nature, singing, etc.

I invented MuseCubes as a simple exformational tool. After a roll of the dice, folks can howl, twist, and sigh their way to feeling more refreshed and balanced. I’ve been collecting stories about all the ways people use MuseCubes to exform; you can read those stories here.

The regular practice of InterPlay is another way many people choose to get exformation in their lives. By telling our stories, playing with our voices, and moving our bodies, exformation becomes a multi-sensory experience!

The beauty of exformation is that we don’t have to wait for a State of Too Muchness in order to do it. Instead, we can build exformational activities into the daily rhythm of our lives. Preventative exformation! I try and incorporate movement, creativity, and play throughout my day.

What do you do to keep your sieve clumpless and flowing freely?

Filed Under InterPlay | no comments

Jun 25 2009

Wreck This Journal, Week Four

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI48bD5uAYE]

This week on The Next Chapter, I learned a TON!

The video explains more, but if you prefer to read, here’s my list:

It is possible to braid books.
Red flowers actually look purple when you rub them on paper.
Carrying scissors, pens, and glue in my purse allows me to be spontaneously destructive…and creative!
It feels quite intimate to destroy/create alone. Prior to this week, I had mostly destroyed/created in the company of friends. Both are wonderful — just different.
If I cut out all the name-of-people on a book’s acknowledgment’s page, the words that are left reveal the heart of the book. Or at least, the heart of the author. And, it turns out, my own heart as well. In the video hear me read a poem I created from Keri (the author’s) left-over words.
Creativity koan of the week: destructive creativity vs generative creativity. Similar or different?!

***Fellow Wreckers: Do you notice that a cloud of dust puffs out of your journal whenever it’s opened?! Sheesh! If I open my book over my keyboard — my typing feels grimy for at least a day.***

If you’re wondering what this is all about: a delightful group of national (and international?) bloggers has joined forces under the Master Destructress herself, Jamie Ridler. Jamie’s got a book club called The Next Chapter, and this summer we’re interacting with the book Wreck This Journal. To see what wreckage others are doing this week: click here.

Filed Under Creativity & Edges | 22 Comments

Jun 24 2009

Juggling and Expressive Arts — for Veterans!

dorothy-scarves

Welcome to my first guest post ever! Occasionally I will use this blog to highlight how facilitators use InterPlay to change the world. This post is written by Dorothy Finnigan.

This Work Could Save Lives

I stared at the email. “This work could save lives,” it said. Had I really just been invited to teach InterPlay and juggling to a group of Iraq and Vietnam War Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?!

A day later, I was granted clearance to the Veterans Affairs (VA) facility. My host drove me through the rain, warning me to expect a tough reception from the vets. Some had just returned from Iraq; others were still healing from Vietnam. Once a week, they all took mandatory art therapy and wellness classes. On this day, I would be given the entire “wellness” hour to share whatever I wished.

Accessible, Playful, Unpretentious

InterPlay had been a personal practice of mine for under a year. I found it when I was craving the embodied wisdom of elders and the space to share my stories. With its practical forms and accessible, playful, unpretentious philosophy, InterPlay had helped me transition through harrowing circumstances and enjoy life more than ever. Now, I wanted to share simple tools for relaxation, healing, and enjoyment with these vets.

A dozen people took their seats around the perimeter of the small, naturally-lit room. I stood before them and took a deep breath, letting it out with a loud sigh. “The best way I know to help myself relax is to take a deep breath. I invite you to take a deep breath with me.” This invitation seemed simple enough, and everyone obliged.

Optimal Health and Happiness

“I’m of the belief,” I explained as I drew five bullet-points on the whiteboard, “that to have optimal health and happiness in our lives, there are five things we need on a daily basis. The first one is to have our voice. Sighing is one of the simplest ways we can let ourselves have our voice throughout the day. So let’s take a deep breath, and let it out with a sigh. Ahhhhhhhhhhh.” The sighing got louder as people relaxed into the permission to have their voice.

“Another thing I need on a daily basis is movement. Right where you’re sitting, shake out a hand. Shake out another hand. Shake out a foot. Shake out another foot. Shake out what you’re sitting on.” Everyone participated. A few chuckled. One veteran got really into moving her rear around her chair. Within myself and around the room, I could feel the anticipation of fun growing.

It’s Not An Order; It’s An Offering

“Anything I say to you today,” I reassured them, “is just an invitation. An offering. It’s not an order. Feel free to alter or abstain from any activity.” I invited them to stand up. Everyone complied. I didn’t yet sense the major resistance I’d been warned about. “Shake yourself down into your spot…”

And with that, I took them through the InterPlay warm-up, welcoming and awakening parts of our body from head to toe. At one point a couple of veterans chose to sit down; true to my word and in keeping with InterPlay’s commitment to honoring individual choice, I simply continued leading. Soon both veterans were on their feet again, perhaps because they realized that my “do what is good for you” rhetoric was for real.

Juggling Is Good For You

After warming up, it was juggling time! I had spent 15 years teaching tens of thousands of people to juggle using slow-moving nylon scarves; yet, only recently (thanks to InterPlay) could I articulate why juggling helps heal the supposed “split” between mind and body. Neurological research increasingly confirms the integrative health benefits of juggling. Moving cross-laterally and tracing infinity sign pathways (which are the “secrets” to juggling) are movements that activate communication between left and right brains. This may help to inhibit Alzheimer’s, deal with dyslexia, and develop reading skills and higher order problem solving abilities. Turns out that juggling is not only fun, it’s really, really good for you!

Sharing Stories

Earlier, I had been cautioned by my host to expect the veterans to be self-conscious in the group because of certain judgmental personalities. However, as each individual’s nylon scarves kept falling to the floor, they just laughed at themselves and continued to enjoy learning. When I casually asked half the room to stop juggling in order to witness the other half, the vets enthusiastically applauded for one another! By slipping in this opportunity to witness and affirm their peers, we had avoided setting up a stressful paradigm of “audience” versus “performer” that might have activated judgment of self and others.

InterPlay is essentially a practice of doing stuff (with our bodies, voices, etc.) and then noticing our experience. With that in mind, I invited each veteran to take 30 seconds to share with a partner about learning to juggle. The vets were proud they had learned a new skill; they were also surprised how much of a workout they got out of three floaty scarves. With the group relaxed and confident, I then led them through a storytelling series. They got to talk about things like their favorite place in nature and a person on their mind. There were nods of agreement all around when I said, “I believe that sharing our stories — both the monumental AND the mundane — is another requirement for health and happiness.

The One Hand Dance

To close the hour, I taught the quintessential InterPlay form: the one hand dance. The beauty of the one hand dance is that anyone can do it. Raise your hand in the air and move it through space. Play with both smooth and jagged movements; make different shapes; vary the speed. For the veterans, I put on a piece of music and invited them to do a hand dance on behalf of the person who was on their mind. As partners witnessed each other, some pairs fell into deep laughter and others had tears in their eyes. One vet ended his piece with his hand over his heart. He and his partner sat in stillness for a silent minute.

And our hour was up. I invited them to take an idea or activity into their lives beyond this room. If nothing else, I hope they feel a greater sense of permission to take a deep breath and let it out with a loud sigh whenever they need a moment of grace.

A New Way to Express

Earnest “thank-you”s filled the air as the vets filed out of the room. As I packed up my scarves and sound system, I overheard Archie (one of the “resistant” vets I’d been warned about) telling his friend who hadn’t been able to attend, “You really missed something. Too bad for you, man. It was fun.” My host, who’d also overheard the comment, shook her head in disbelief. “You won them over,” she marveled. “Even Archie.”

The other staff were impressed, too. “Not only did you give them an opportunity to relax and have fun, but there was a sense of peaceful group cohesion we desperately needed. Thank you!”

As I was leaving the facility, a veteran who had done a hand dance on behalf of his daughter, thanked me again for allowing him to have “a way to express.” Over the course of the class I had shared the belief that for optimal health, we need to be able to have our voice, our movement, our stories, our stillness, and our contact with others (otherwise known as InterPlay’s Five Recommended Daily Requirements). The invitation and opportunity to have these things, had given this vet a way to connect with his own truth.

Creating a Space of ProFUNdity

Who could have guessed that my old skill — juggling! — would integrate so seamlessly with InterPlay’s tools for holistic community development, creating an environment of ease, affirmation, and grace. The strength of these men and women, and particularly their willingness to open up when given the choice, touched and inspired me. I see now that this work has the power to be sneaky deep: to be both playful and transformational for individuals and communities. I’m looking forward to new opportunities to create a space of proFUNdity for groups, from intergenerational gatherings to corporate cultures.

Until then, I continue to work on having InterPlay’s five recommended daily requirements in my own life. Even now, sitting in this coffee shop writing, I take a deep breath, let it out with a sigh, and am grateful for this moment of grace.

Who is This Dorothy, Anyway?

Dorothy Finnigan grew up on the road, living in a motor home with her family as they taught juggling in elementary schools across the United States. She was world-schooled (her version of being home-schooled) until age 18, after which she traveled solo internationally, paying her way by juggling on the street. After a brief stint of formal education at Yale University, Dorothy “walked out” to pursue intergenerational embodied learning. Now a graduate of InterPlay’s Life Practice Program, Dorothy is developing several workshops that integrate her skills as a juggler and a body wisdom practitioner.

Filed Under InterPlay | 12 Comments

Jun 22 2009

Affirmation

The following post is a project to share reflections about all 28 of the core elements of InterPlay. For background information about InterPlay or this project, read What the Heck is InterPlay?!.

What if…we lived life consistently looking for the good in our own experiences? What if!?

As a classroom teacher, looking for the good was not part of the culture at my school. Critique was, though. What are kids doing wrong? Point it out so that they can grow and learn!

When I was grading papers, it was so much easier to notice what kids did wrong (poor use of a semi-colon, again!) than what they did right (creative imagery!). After marking up a paper, I had to force myself to re-read it in order to find some compliments. How messed up is that — that I had to force myself to affirm my students?!

Now I work as an academic coach at a private school. Although I’m technically there to support kids with learning disabilities, it’s become apparent that teachers crave support too. Especially affirming support.

At a meeting last week, I had been pushing the school to create systems that help students be accountable for their work. Over lunch, a teacher approached me and asked, “Gretchen, I really think that the system I use for communicating grades to parents and kids is the best possible system for what you’re talking about. Am I deluding myself? What do you think?!”

I was so struck by how much this teacher needed feedback and acknowledgment. The subtext I heard was: I’m trying. I care. I’m doing my best. Do you see me?

In fact, all year I’ve admired his system for using Google Spreadsheets to communicate grades and missing assignments to families. I’d been thinking it but I never said it.

And yet, I know full well that we “can create much more change in another by pointing out their strengths than by criticizing their weaknesses” (from the InterPlay leader training handbook).

In the InterPlay context, affirmation refers to naming the good in ourselves and others. But it also has to do with practicing noticing the best parts of our own experience (as opposed to fixating on other people’s experiences).

I coach a student who loves to write. Although she doesn’t care an iota about academic writing, she hungers for feedback about her creative short stories. However, she hates it when I give general compliments like “This story is great! You’re such a good writer.” Rather, she wants specifics; she wants to know what I’m experiencing as I read her words:

Wow, the way you describe your characters in the opening sentences makes me really curious about what’s going to happen. But in the second paragraph the curiosity went away because I got a little confused about who was talking. I had to reread several sentences to figure it out.”

Certainly, there is a place for general praise and encouragement. In InterPlay classes, we’re trained to say “good!” or “yes!” frequently so that people feel supported. Creating an atmosphere of affirmation, after all, is crucial to opening up people’s creativity.

But I’m also fascinated that, in the story above, my student continued to feel affirmed even when the feedback I was giving was technically “negative.” Maybe it really is true what Marshall Rosenberg says, that the most basic human desire is to contribute to others. I like feeling curious, and my student wants that for me. Because she cares about me, she’s motivated to fix anything in her writing that gets in the way of my curiosity.

And as the InterPlay facilitator’s handbook says, “To be headed toward our desires is always a good direction in which to go.” Yuh – huh! What would formal learning look like if both teachers and students had the freedom to move towards their desires?

More and more, I’m committed to creating a culture of affirmation. It’s one of the reasons I love twitter so much — affirmation is such a huge part of the culture (at least in my circle of followers; follow me, and you’ll see what I mean).

Developing a habit of affirmation, though, doesn’t come naturally to me; I have to practice looking for the good. Here are some basic tips that are helping me develop the habit.

Tips for Creating a Culture of Affirmation:

Notice when I’m thinking an affirmation or appreciation. Say it out loud.
Pepper my language with affirmation blurts: “Nice!” “Yay!” “Wow!” “Cool!”
Make sure, though, that all the affirmations are genuine. (Folks can smell fake a mile away).
When possible, be really specific about what I appreciate.
Speak from my own experience.
Name feelings rather than opinions.

What else?! I’m sure there are tons of other tips!! Please comment if you’ve got one.

Filed Under InterPlay | 3 Comments

Jun 19 2009

Wreck This Journal Week Three

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Td8NUbLiU]

Welcome to Week Three of Jamie Ridler’s The Next Chapter: Wreck This Journal! Please enjoy this week’s stories of random wreckage:

1. Control. Controlled creativity. Controlling other people’s creativity. Thanks to my roommate and fellow Wrecker Katherine Kunz, I’ve been thinking about the relationship between control and creativity. I don’t have any profound thoughts about it yet, but the question of the day for me is, “What is the relationhip between control (or lack thereof) and creativity? Watch the video (above) and you’ll notice Katherine talking questioning her impulse to “control.”

2. Closing time at the local meat market. I have a fun crush on one of the butchers. This particular day I realized with glee that the store had just closed. If I waited outside, my crush was likely to emerge soon. Sitting on a nearby bench, I opened up Wreck My Journal (I bring it everywhere, after all!) to a random page. “Dedicated to internal monologue,” it said. Perfect! I started writing some affirmations, but quickly transitioned into writing about how silly and nervous I felt:

Internal Monologue about Crushes

3. Camping. On a 24-hour excursion last weekend, I woke up early and decided to take my journal for a walk. With the book bouncing behind me on the end of a string, I hiked the 400 foot drop to Lake Chabot. Through dust. Over dead leaves. Across fallen eucalyptus bark. Soon I discovered (to my delight and surprise!) that my book had a 2-foot long tail made out of eucalyptus bark (wish I’d snapped a picture!). Runners-by look at me like I’m crazy, and I was certainly embarrassed. But I walked on! Here’s a picture of the damage I did:

Wrecked Edges

4. Last week’s Tuesday night InterPlay class ended. As we chatted near the shoe shelf, I showed Marcus my wrecked journal. The first page I opened invited me to “ask a friend to do something destructive to this page. Don’t look.” How serendipitous! Marcus left for 2 minutes and returned grinning, dripping book in hand. Today I turned to the page and discovered a dried and soapy mess:

Soapy Journal Page

P.S. In case you’re curious, my crush did come out five minutes later. I promptly discovered that I’m less enthralled when we’re not discussing what meat I’ll buy. Now that is fascinating…

Filed Under Creativity & Edges | 14 Comments

Jun 15 2009

Incrementality

Inchworm

The following post is part of a project to share reflections about all 28 of the core elements of InterPlay. For background information about InterPlay or this project, read What the Heck is InterPlay?!.

Last week I spied a teeny inch worm gracefully maneuvering across the top of my laptop screen. Its miniscule body curved up and then flattened itself, advancing a millimeter each time.

Curve up. Flatten down. Curve up. Flatten down.

I was entranced by it’s slow, steady — even artful — progress.

The idea for my MuseCubes business came to me last August. Since then I‘ve received a lot of advice from well meaning friends:

It’s cheaper to manufacture them in China. Sell the idea to a game company. Distribute them to Barnes and Noble.

These suggestions used to stress me out. I heard them, and felt pressured to grow my business Bigger! Faster! Richer! Now!

Lately, however, I’ve decided to learn from the inch worm. One graceful little step at a time. I don’t want to grow this business faster than I’m able to nurture it…and myself.

I’ve also been learning from InterPlay’s philosophy of incrementality.

Incrementality is the process of breaking a task down into small, manageable steps.

We have learned many of the important things we know incrementally — how to walk, talk, read, use a computer, play an instrument, learn a language. We accept that these skills are learned in many small steps, over a long period of time.” (Phil Porter and Cynthia Winton-Henry, Self Study Handbook)

The philosophy of incrementality gives me permission to apply this same wisdom to the big things I want to do — like start a product manufacturing business.

In a culture that pushes me to work harder, faster, and better than the competition, InterPlay recommends the opposite. It’s perfectly acceptable — even downright healthy! — to build my business at the speed of my own body.

Now I ask myself, “What’s the next easiest step I can take?” And I take it.

This doesn’t mean that I don’t set big goals. Or push myself. But I do so with balance. I give myself permission to pursue the lofty goals one little, slow, easy, fun step at a time.

Interestingly – (Huh! I’m just putting this together right now! I love how much I learn when I write) –the MuseCubes are a practical tool to help people remember incrementality.

So often when we feel stuck, the real problem is that we’re trying to do too much.

For example: (1) Why can’t I just finish writing this paper!? (2) Arrrrgggggh! Reconciling this whole spreadsheet is driving me crazy!

The MuseCubes remind us to — quite literally — shake ourselves free from the tyranny of Too Much. Once we’ve moved our bodies and voices around a bit, we’re better able to see the whole picture. We can then recognize the next, easiest action to take in service to that larger goal.

For example: (1) How about I write for 5 minutes without a single edit, and just see what I produce? (2) Maybe I’ll plug in 10 more numbers into the spreadsheet and then see where I stand.

So now I’m curious. What about you? What’s the next easiest step you can take to get you where you want to go?!

Filed Under Creativity & Edges | no comments

Jun 12 2009

Wreck This Journal, Week Two

Journal with Charcoal

During Week Two of Jamie Ridler’s The Next Chapter: Wreck This Journal, I learned how fun it is to wreck things with friends!!

Over the course of my week, four different women sat at my kitchen table and slung food in, on, and around my journal — jam, coffee grounds, miso paste, black beans. I’ll let you know when the mold sets in.

Sarah drawing with charcoal

The crown jewel of the week was a walk with my friend Sarah. She was totally game to bring the journal along on our hike. When we stumbled upon an old fire ring, we looked at each other with a glint in our eyes. Charcoal!!! Here’s Sarah creating our masterpiece. See the fire ring behind her?

car running over book

Sarah is so creative and zany! I shouldn’t have been surprised when she shouted suddenly, “Let’s run the book over with my car!” Terror was my first response! I mean, I have NO qualms about smearing my journal with food and charcoal. But… ummmmm… running it over with a car? Wouldn’t that break it’s spine?

“Come on, Gretchen. If it breaks, you can just tape it back together again.” Oh, right. Tape makes everything better!

Tire tracks on book after being run over

Nervous as I was when the car started rolling over my journal, I felt disappointed when the the spine didn’t break! Check out the gorgeous tire tracks, though. (Hmmmmm…. maybe next time I’ll paint the tires first). Although you can’t see it in the picture, the cover is all pockmarked. Yay, asphalt!

As I reflect on my crazy week wrecking things with friends, I’m reminded of an exercise I did from the book Attracting Perfect Customers. The book asks you to identify what gets you out of bed in the morning. Here’s what I wrote:

I feel most alive when I am creating for, or with, other people in a way that enlivens and deepens our sense of connection to each other and the world.

In the context of the fabulous Wreck This Journal experiences, I now know that the opposite is also true — I also feel incredibly alive when I am DESTROYING for, and with, other people. Destruction definitely enlivens and deepens my sense of connection to others and the world.

But then I have to ask myself — aren’t creating and destroying the same thing? What do you think?

By the way, if you want to check out how other women are wrecking their journals, visit this week’s The Next Chapter page.

And if you missed it, check out my video from week one in which I bang a coffee-soaked flower into my journal.

Filed Under Creativity & Edges | 14 Comments

Jun 09 2009

“Relax Your Brain” with MuseCubes

Last August I invented an office toy called the MuseCubes. It’s designed to liberate people who think too much.

Although I originally intended the MuseCubes for grown-ups, teachers have been buying them right and left. They recognize the MuseCubes as the perfect, short break for stressed out students.

This afternoon, a geography teacher from a high school in Texas sent me the most amazing email. She’d just read through all her course evaluations and couldn’t help but notice all the references to MuseCubes. Dedicated customer that she is, she typed up her teenagers’ words for me to read:

You should keep the muse cubes. They’re really fun and when you do what they tell you to do, it’s funny and it gets our hopes up. –Jose M.

I think you should keep the fun little cube game for next year because it relaxes our brain by making us laugh and, in that way, we think better. –Maria S

You should keep the muze cubes because they are a lot of fun and they are a great way of giving us a well needed break but not losing our focus at the same time. -Cesar M.

You should keep the little dice thing because that’s funny. –Irving A.

I think the cubes you used at the end of the semester were awesome and it lightened up the classroom when it was dead. -Lizeth C.

You should keep the silly dances you would do when we were tired. -Mariza S. [Note: Mariza is referring to the fact that, sometimes the kids would watch Susan while she, alone, did what the MuseCubes said to do. It must be refreshing for students to watch an adult be such a goofball. At least, Mariza thought so!]

Wow! This is such great feedback. I’m thrilled that Susan’s students realize how important movement and laughter is for their brains.

We humans were not designed to sit and think for hours on end. We were designed to move and think.

Thank you, Susan, for taking the time to share your students’ words!

Filed Under MuseCubes | 1 Comment

Jun 08 2009

Intergenerational Healing

The following post is written by Cynthia Winton-Henry, co-founder of InterPlay. Every Monday she sends out a morning email, and this week it was so sweet, I just had to share. There are so many applications for the InterPlay philosophies and practices. Soyinka Rahim’s intergenerational work is yet another crucial example of how InterPlay bridges the divide of difference (in this case age) — and gives people a common way to play. Here are Cynthia’s words:

In an intergenerational, multicultural InterPlay session, Soyinka Rahim led five adults and five children in a warm up.

We squirmed and delighted in moving each body part. There was a mom who had lost her hair due to chemo for breast cancer, her two creative, home-schooled kids, a grandma in her seventies who loves to dance and her two shy grandkids – a boy two years old carrying a toy truck and his sister. There was a single mom whose first grade daughter was wrapped around her mom seventy percent of the time, and there was me. Everyone enjoyed moving. The two year old wanted to watch.

Following Soyinka, we reached out our arms then wrapped them around ourselves. As we hugged ourselves Soyinka said, “Just say to yourself ‘I love you. I love you. I love you. Like a chant.” As I did it myself, I watched the moms and grandma with eyes closed, sway, and say those words. They weren’t trying to say them. They knew that this was important work for them, too.

We moved and played as a group for an hour and half. By the end the littlest and shyest child, the one who was allowed to watch, was dancing and asking people to talk in funny voices as we passed a dragon puppet and used weird voices as we said, “Thank you very much for coming!” As we blew bubbles and thanked Soyinka for leading this class, I thought, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Is the golden rule. In this session we got to do both, and all ages became more than neighbors. We became friends.

(More information: Multigenerational Play with Soyinka in Oakland – 1st Saturdays of the Month at InterPlayce, 10am-noon)