Mandala Design Works » InterPlay Inspiration Deck

World Peace Plan

Anita Bondi — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 11:38:04 +0000

The InterPlay G-5 summit happened yesterday! Five of the most powerful play/toy makers got together to talk about world peace.

well……

okay, we got together to talk about creativity, our creative projects, our vision and dreams for our creations, and moving those creations out into the world.

and….

we believe that can have an impact on world peace.

In fact, Cathy Ann Beaty from Minnesota is creating play flags fashioned in the prayer flag tradition. She sees them flying colorfully all around the globe.

Sybil Macbeth from Tennessee is full of color as her Praying in Color book is currently circling the globe with 30,000 copies already sold! Sybil is also pondering more ways to “pray”, so keep an eye on her!

Gretchen Wegner from California is helping the world to shake off the stress that keeps us from peace with her Muse Cubes…..and the new iphone app is about to be released!

Rosie Senjem also from Minnesota (but formerly from my neighborhood in PA!!), has a great CD to help create inner peace and boost energy called, Play and Shine. She is keeping it going strong working on a new boost for the planet called, Entrepeneur by Nature: A crack pot theory that could save your life!

one of the 21 cards in the InterPlay Inspiration Deck

And me, Anita Bondi, the creator of The InterPlay Inspiration Deck, is thrilled to be playing Side by Side with these power house women!

Stay tuned for more, as this powerful summit is just getting started!

Something Beautiful or How our dog rescues us

Stan Stewart (Sawyer) — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 08:23:42 +0000

Something beautiful is happening between Anita and me: we’re falling in love again. Maybe it’s the seven year itch finally bearing fruit — we’ve been together for about nine years. Maybe it’s that we’ve actually managed to practice what we preach by using the tools we have learned over the years in our own day-to-day relationship. We’ve even remembered to pull a card from Anita’s own InterPlay Inspiration Deck or role Gretchen Wegner’s MuseCubes a few times recently!

Mostly, I think it’s been about each of us learning to be more playful — both individually and in the ways we relate with each other. One of our playmates is our “rescue dog,” Scout. In addition to loving to hike, run in circles (usually around Anita or me), and play games with his stuffed toys, Scout likes to sing and talk. Sometimes these vocalizations just sound like grunts and sometimes they form random melodies. However they may sound, they always draw our attention to him.

A few days ago, we were involved in this deathly serious discussion. Anita was getting focused — I could tell because of the furrow in her forehead — and I was getting sad — and showing it. Suddenly, Scout stretched and performed one of his delightful little vocalizations right between us. We both laughed. And the moment was transformed.

So — unless you have a dog or a child to shift the mood — roll the dice or draw a card and relax into your life. Join us on a Monday night to experience the tools we use.

Playful blessings!

Notice

Anita Bondi — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:54:50 +0000

I loved my Lutheran Lenten group last night. The chairs were in a big circle when I arrived and Pastor Gail had already brought the piano bench in for our altar. As i began to set up for our mini-retreat, the group began to come in, one at a time. Howard arrived carrying a really large poster, framed in gold. At the bottom it said “Crystal Eyes.” I thought that was pretty bold for a Lutheran!

It was a 3-D picture. When you soften your gaze, (yes, take an Easy Focus) there is a balance that is achieved by your rod and cone vision, so that more of your peripheral vision field is used.

It is a more emotional, intuitive way of seeing the world. Score another one for InterPlay! In this picture a floating heart appears to come out of a center circle and then zodiac symbols magically arise out of that center and surround the heart. We worked on that last Wednesday, but I did not love my group that night. It was more like a job that night. So, with Howard by my side and the magic heart floating before my eyes, I softened and relaxed. Guess what? Everything shifted. Amazing? No, not really, but powerful nonetheless.

When Martha arrived, I went right over and hugged her! She was not expecting that and drew back a bit, smiling slightly. I took the hint as I stretched my hand out to warmly greet Jack. That seemed better, so I stuck with the handshake.

Notice from the InterPlay Inspiration Deck by Anita Bondi

Once everyone was settled we began with our theme for the night: Notice. I did a guided visualization/relaxation with a focus on noticing the places where we hold tension and tightness.

At one point I opened my eyes and that is when it happened. That was the moment I fell in love. The whole room was filled with the soft scent of Juniper, the warm glow of candlelight, and all of these brave souls that had come to experience a new way of being in their bodies. They thought they had signed up for an exercise class. That was not what I wanted to teach and frankly, I am sick of not pleasing myself! I brought exactly what I wanted to bring and it worked! Guess what? Everything shifted. Amazing? No, not really.

As I looked around the room, they all looked so peaceful, so trusting and vulnerable. I realized how much they were allowing me to guide them and to stretch them in ways beyond the ability to touch their toes. I almost cried. It was so beautiful. They were so beautiful. When they opened their eyes, I asked them to take a soft and Easy Focus and to Notice how they were feeling.

Howard said it was the most relaxed he had been all day and everyone nodded. We all took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh!

P.S. A Lutheran sigh is very quiet, almost inaudible. I am going to work on that next!

Time for a little Grace

Anita Bondi — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:37:47 +0000

In the InterPlay Inspiration Deck, Grace says that she wants to be found. Today is a day that I need Grace. She wears red so that she is easier to see in the crowd. This morning the crowd is inside of my head. There seems to be a cacophony of voices a bit too loud to really hear what any one of them is actually saying. This is making my chest feel a bit tight and I notice that my breathing is also somewhat labored. Why? Hard to say. I am doing Debbie Ford’s , 21 day Consciousness Cleanse, and today is about giving up the old agreements that are keeping us stuck. That could be it?

Then there is the fact that it is approaching the end of February and the next phase of “the card deck project” is not really underway. Sure I have done a few things, but not enough to get something going in the wholesale market. That could be it?

There is also the way that an artist has to be self-motivated and find some structure in her days. When to eat, exercise, write, research the next step, make stuff, and most importantly, make space for the inspiration. This could be it?

A female cardinal has just landed at the bird feeder right outside the window where I am sitting and writing. She is a beautiful red-orange with a brilliant yellow-red beak. Her head feathers are bouncing up and down and she bobs for her breakfast. She is in one sense calm and in another on edge, ready to fly at any moment. I wonder if she has come to find me? If she is my Grace? I do not hear the other voices in my head right now and I notice that I have finally exhaled. This is it.

morning musings

Anita Bondi — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:14:11 +0000

~ a new career blossoming inside me?

~life coach and marketing session today.

~8 InterPlay Inspiration Decks sold in two days!

~Looking for young, inspired person to tweet for me….trade anyone?

~mourning the packing away of the Christmas decorations (don’t laugh at me!)

the true message for the day

~questions about curly or straight hair continue to plague the mornings.

~found my first wedding ring the other day (more on that next post!)

Hold It Loosely and Lightly

muz4now — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:35:05 +0000

Stan‘s niece wrote and said that she pulled the card “HOLD IT LOOSELY AND LIGHTLY” and really needed that message yesterday. She is having a great time using the InterPlay Inspiration Deck which is making me realize even more the power of it as a daily practice. Whether you know InterPlay or not, these round cards are a way to get more out of your day, every day!

For me, this message to remember to hold things loosely and lightly is so important. I am SO NOT a technology person and the whole world operating on Facebook, Twitter, blogging, etc. is not really comfortable for me. Comfortable is this easy chair that I am sitting in right now. My morning coffee by my side, my dog curled up in my lap, the heavy rain and wind providing an awesome background for this Monday morning. Discomfort for me is the way I cannot figure out how to write this post directly into the blog, cannot figure out how to “tweet” people on a regular enough basis so that I would get hundreds of followers like my friend, Gretchen, and my complete inability to post things with pictures on Facebook or any other techy tool like that.
AHHHH, taking a breath as that was quite a long sentence.

That is what lack of comfort feels like in my body: one huge run on sentence!

So, for this moment, I borrow the Hold it Loosely and Lightly card, I grab my tight focuser and release it from my tight knit brow, take one long slow deep breath, and I exhale twice as long.

The wind and rain have stopped. Another Monday miracle reveals itself to me!

Angel Messenger: Hold It Loosely & Lightly

easy focus

Stan Stewart (Sawyer) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:31:24 +0000

Our Monday night InterPlay/improv dance class does a movement meditation on the theme of “easy focus” to a loop I created in the moment before becoming the videographer. Enjoy.

…And here, we do a favorite InterPlay improv form called postcards on Easy Focus. The round cards we’re holding up are from The InterPlay Inspiration Deck (created by Anita Bondi who also teaches the Monday night class).

You can see another version of this Easy Focus evening in the improv studio on the InterPlay Virtual Friday Blog.

Playful blessings…

This is not our fate

Stan Stewart (Sawyer) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:47:16 +0000

“There must be some kind of way out of here.”

Once again I’m sitting in my office wondering what the hell I’m doing here. Are you starting to see a pattern here? Don’t get me wrong: it’s not that I hate the work I do. I like making technology work.

“Too much confusion. I can’t get no relief.”

Trouble is that I see “making it work” from an incredibly idealistic vantage point. And I attach urgency to getting it working. In my original neurosis around this urgency, I left no room for genuine creativity and play.

“No reason to get excited…”

It’s taken me almost 30 years to transform this stressed out approach to my job into one that’s merely over-serious. To those of you who are easy-going, this will seem like no great feat.

Easy Focus round card from the InterPlay Inspiration Deck

“There are many here among us
That feel that life is but a joke”

To me, it was nearly insurmountable. Even after many years working and playing through this, I frequently have to remind myself about what’s really important. And none of it turns out to be “stuff.” In the end, I value my own well-being and my relationships the most. Easy to forget. Easy to remember.

“But you and I we’ve been through that
And this is not our fate”

Yeah. I get it. The call to easy focus really is … well, easy. Of course, today was my day to draw the Easy Focus card from Anita Bondi’s InterPlay Inspiration Deck. Go figure. The Deck knows me almost as well as I know myself!

“So let us not talk falsely now
The hour is getting late”

Is it ever too late to wake up to valuing what’s really valuable? No. But, the sooner and more often I wake up to it, the more time I have to enjoy it.

“Outside in the cold distance…”

I’m headed for some enjoyment now!

(Thanks to Bob Dylan for the still-relevant All Along the Watch Tower.)

Transitioning

Stan Stewart (Sawyer) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:43:24 +0000

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.

What people are saying about The InterPlay Inspiration Deck

Stan Stewart (Sawyer) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:21:46 +0000

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