Posted by Susan Bradford on October 20, 2011 under Susan Bradford | 
I had to laugh when I read Anita‘s eloquent blog on Tuesday because for the past week I have been immersed in working on a Grace mandala. She captured the concept so well, while it has been quite the struggle for me to grapple with the word and all its meanings. Mine has been in the works for several months. I had made some sketches and had written down some of my feelings about Grace. But of course, once I started to draw it, everything changed.
And there is Grace in that for sure.
So many opportunities have arisen in the last few days to challenge my ideas about it. I have to laugh about that as well. It seems to be the pattern. Once I make a decision to tackle a particular word, the lessons show up all over the place.
I will be finished with it soon, and will share it here along with more of the story about making it. I wanted to use just a small detail of it for now, but the lighting was bad, and it is late, and it all felt just a bit beyond my technical capabilities. So for now, these are the markers and the palette that I’m using.
Posted by Anita Bondi on July 5, 2011 under Anita Bondi |
….between your eyebrows with your fingers, throw your hand up in the air and say, “WHEE!”
This is the gift of letting go of my hard focuser and taking a soft or easy focus. The peripheral vision has to be engaged and more of what I am looking at invited in. When I see only what is in front of me I am extremely limited. My fears can run rampant and make me believe that, nobody likes me, everybody hates me.
remember that childhood song? it ends with, “I’m gonna eat some worms…big fat juicy….ok, you get the idea.
My time at the InterPlay Leaders’ Gathering was an amazing exercise in letting go of fixation and my belief that the world is conspiring against me.
well, maybe just a few people, but “world” sounds so much more dramatic!
While at the gathering, I decided to use my tools and apply them to myself: noticing, witnessing, body wisdom, and incrementality. I let go of a bit of fear, allowed myself to be vulnerable, and wonderful things began to happen: people showed up to support me, meaningful connections were born, and The InterPlay Inspiration Deck found a whole new audience.
The principles and practices of InterPlay work, if you use them! When I make them more than just words on the page, or concepts that I study and memorize to spew out at appropriate times, especially to show how “wise” I am, then life shows me its magic!
hmmm, maybe life is conspiring for me and not against me.
Like all the other wonderful things that I have learned, read, and studied over the years, I am finally at a place of truly living and embodying the teachings I have spent years studying. It is a daily practice as some days flow and some days don’t. Many times I am in awe and just as many in tears. I see myself behaving in new ways and also see the same old me, doing the same old sh_t!
As Easy Focus says,” Good noticing Anita. Now, get on it , get off it, and get over it!”
Okay, here I go. Wanna come along?
Posted by Anita Bondi on May 3, 2011 under Anita Bondi |
from the InterPlay Inspiration Deck
Message for today: GRACE
“….she has a way of knowing what is resting on your heart even before you do.
Her touch is comforting and her words uplifting……”
~from the InterPlay Inspiration Deck
Posted by Stan Stewart (Sawyer) on December 10, 2009 under Stan Stewart |
It seems to me like life is full of transitions. Each day brings it’s own changes and these changes call on me to adapt or transition. Today: a former roomate’s step-father recently died; my best friend’s dad just got out of the hospital; my dad has a will-not-stop tear duct that may require surgery and my eyes are watering (on behalf of?); it’s my first day back to work after two days out with a cold; and I have unanswered questions about my future always on the back-burner these days. All of these call for me to transition along with them. Seems like my theme for the day is fathering. Step-father, father, dad, fathering myself.
Inner Authority card in The InterPlay Inspiration Deck
I’m not sure that the cold is gone yet. Maybe my self-care is lagging. How well is my transition into self-fathering going, then? Not as well as I’d like.
My dad was a Protestant (Christian Church – Disciples of Christ) minister and I guess he still is in his retirement. To me, it seemed like he was always there for other people. He’s been a great example to me of an open-hearted man. I still strive to open and soften my heart the way I’ve seen him do. And I would say that he’s done some great self-care in retirement: traveling to many places around the globe while continuing to work part time. I would say that both of these pursuits are dear to him and he does well to go after them with gusto — which is exactly what he is doing.
Shuffling The InterPlay Inspiration Deck
But, back to me… I’m looking for some inspiration to make today’s transition or maybe just to determine what this transition looks like. Yes. I’ll be pulling a card from the InterPlay Inspiration Deck to help me gain some direction. I notice that Monday’s selection “Inner Authority” with its yellow sun is still on top, so I shuffle the deck even more than I usually do.
Surprise! It’s “On Behalf Of” with the cool dragonfly symbol. The colors are enticing. The stylized body seated in lotus position frames the green dragonfly.
Okay. I don’t get it. Why would I get this card today? Don’t I just need to take care of myself at the moment? Guess I’d better read the story on the back. Here’s the phrase that most catches my attention:
On Behalf Of round card from the InterPlay Inspiration Deck
“She sees everyone who has shared their pain with her bathed in warmth and love.” Nice. That’s the kind of acceptance I observed in my dad and in the literally hundreds of InterPlayers who have done Dances On Behalf Of for me. Now that’s music to my internal ears.
What if I were to approach myself the way On Behalf Of (from the InterPlay Inspiration Deck) does? This small, round card has so much to teach me. Not that the universe hasn’t tried to bring me this noticing before. My dad modeled it for me. All those Dancers On Behalf Of showed me the possibility of bringing this “warmth and love” to myself. I created my mission in the men’s work in 2002 that incorporates this open-heartedness: “I open my heart to create a world where I and others are enlivened to appreciate and co-create beauty.” For whatever reason, I waited for this round card to be my real teacher. I am grateful. I am inspired.
I don’t even know what my current transition looks like. And already it seems less intimidating just knowing that I can bring the open heart I long to bring to others to myself. How cool is that?
May I bless myself with this kind of ease around my current transitions and adaptations to the changes around and within me. I bless myself.
Creative blessings to you all.
Tags: art, card, cards, circle, creative, creativity, dance, dancer, heart, Inspiration Deck, InterPlay, InterPlay Inspiration Deck, muse, music, On Behalf Of, round, round card, Stan Stewart
Posted by Stan Stewart (Sawyer) on December 3, 2009 under Anita Bondi |
In addition to the Cheryl Cutler quote, here are what some people are saying about Anita Bondi’s InterPlay Inspiration Deck!
I have been using the deck for my Hospice work… Asking patients or caregivers to pick a card and see how it “fits” them.
Inevitably, the card is just right for the moment.
Some of the families I work with have logged onto the Interplay
website as a result of the cards and have grown interested in Interplay.
It’s a beautiful deck of cards and such an easy way to show what
Interplay is.
social worker, Hospice chaplain
So I brought my fun pack of round cards. I was drawn to the Loosely and Tightly card…..I am thinking take it loosely….yeah…relax…then take it tightly….yeah….strangle it…till it can’t breathe…..back and forth back and forth…loose and tight. And then I turned the card over……Loosely and Lightly. Aaaaah. Ok. No strangling involved whatsoever….interesting concept. I am having to rethink this whole thing now….soften my grip and relax.
hard-working Mom with a corporate job
InterPlay Inspiration cards are easy to use and provide sweet insight into the everyday challenges.
under-employed, highly talented and trained person
I love using Anita’s InterPlay Inspiration Deck and the way it helps me tap into my own inner wisdom. The suggested exercies are also a great way to bring InterPlay into my every day.
Mom, fierce advocate for the weak, dancer
Tags: Anita Bondi, babbling, dance, dancer, improviser, inspiration, Inspiration Deck, InterPlay, InterPlay Inspiration Deck, loosely and lightly, music, play, playful, soft focus, spontaneous, Stan Stewart
I had to laugh when I read Anita‘s eloquent blog on Tuesday because for the past week I have been immersed in working on a Grace mandala. She captured the concept so well, while it has been quite the struggle for me to grapple with the word and all its meanings. Mine has been in the works for several months. I had made some sketches and had written down some of my feelings about Grace. But of course, once I started to draw it, everything changed.
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