“The days ahead require mastery and clarity
AND strength in numbers. Pay attention to your group bodies.
InterPlayers are subversive, sexy,
wild, bewilderers, catchers of light and dark.
We’re alchemical mystery workers and wannabe’s. We’re life artists
who really make shifts not just in ourselves but in the world.”
By Cynthia Winton Henry Founder of Interplay
Cynthia writes about the days ahead, and suggests that they may be difficult and challenging. Sometimes the whole world challenges me; sometimes its only my own small piece of it. Either way, playing helps. Playing gives me access to my body’s wisdom. Which turns out to be a powerful resource for coping, figuring things out, and most importantly changing the world.
Here is what you need to know. Everybody who has a body can play. Do you have an urge to stomp your feet, clap your hands or swing your body when you hear music? Or maybe your body wants to hold perfectly still and take in the music of the country or the city, or the silence of the quietest night. That’s playing. Anyone can do it, anywhere, any time.
1) Playing Alone. (Sometimes it is helpful to listen to some music, but that is entirely optional) Take a breath. Take another breath and this time let it out with some sound. Shake out your body. Take another breath. Pay attention to your body, with a particular focus on what feels good. Now pay attention again. Notice the desire to move, and the desire to be still. Follow that desire, notice what happens next. What catches your attention now? The sound of the traffic? An ant on the sidewalk? The lines in the palm of your hand? Pay attention to that. Now pay attention again. Continue with this process until it becomes a total way of life.
2) Playing with Others. Again, music is optional. It also helps if you are playing with others who are paying attention and have decided to play together.
However, it is possible to play with others even when they aren’t necessarily thinking about playing with you. Start with taking a breath and shaking out your own body again. A very small shake is sufficient. Pay attention again and again. Now notice the group body. Pay special attention to the place in yourself where love and good will reside. Notice the connection between you and others. Be aware that the connection exists even if you aren’t thinking about it. Be curious about it. Are you happy to be in the company of others, nervous, irritated? Be very curious. Notice the connection in the coffee shop or bus stop or in line in the grocery store. Notice your body moving through space without crashing in to another body. Notice your internal responses to the other people in the space. Continue to be curious. Be mostly curious about yourself. It isn’t necessary to acknowledge the connection out loud, but you might with a nod or a smile. Your bodies already know all about it. Breath. Move. Pay Attention. Pay Attention again.
Wanna know more? Click on the photo above and it will take you to the InterPlay home page www.interplay.org. There you can find lots and lots of other subversive, sexy, wild bewilderers to play and learn with. We are out to save the world!
Earthly Goods 