I performed for the first time with Penn Strings on Sunday. It was great. We had a kind of simple ease together even though it was our first time performing together. The set included everything from Beethoven to Coldplay, so there was no shortage of variety. I can hardly wait for the next gig!
Contrast this with the fact that taxes are due in less than a month. Lots of numbers, calculations, paper forms, confusing descriptions. Thank goodness, my CPA takes care of most of it!
My music/recording studio has been in a shambles. Between gigs, rehearsals, jams, PULSE, and being lazy after all of this other stuff is done, I had really let it go. So, over the past couple of weeks, I really cleaned it up. Well, actually I’m about half-way there. I can see the floor. OK? So it’s a major victory.
I’m grateful. And ready. To take the next step. Here goes.
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).
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.
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.
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.
From a journal entry dated 3rd September, 2009, April Point, Quadra Island, British Colombia, Canada
Here’s my crackpot theory: people who in some way have “not been heard” are made most vulnerable by playing with creativity or performance techniques centered in the voice. Even if I’m wrong about generalizing, my own personal experience bears this out. And I’m inspired to reflect on this now because I’ve just completed my first workshop with Rhiannon at Hollyhock Retreat.
Making way for the trail at Hollyhock Resort
She’s an awesome teacher and performer (live and on CD). I’m finding renewed passion in myself as I enter into these playful techniques that she has been formulating for years.
It only took me a few hours of the workshop to be feeling deeply. My inner turmoil came to the surface when I was drafted into the role of beat-box in a quintet. Beat-box vocal percussion has been an elusive form for me. I’ve taken workshops in it, but have never been successful at making the techniques come to life in my mouth and vocal cords.
So, when it was my turn to be the “drummer”, I accepted the challenge. When it was over, I judged that I’d done poorly and felt ashamed. My impulse was to hide out and minimize the experience.
So I chose another direction. I outed my shame to the group in the sharing time.
Sunrise at Hollyhock
Bringing shame out into the open (in a safe group of people anyway) is almost always a cleansing and cathartic experience for me — and this time was true to form.
In subsequent improvisations where I needed to be the drummer, I used variations on TaKeDiMi: a vocal form in which I am more capable and practiced. (Thanks to Rhiannon and everyone else in that workshop community for creating the space for this to happen. There were many more examples of this sort of cracking open at Rhiannon’s workshop. They were experienced by other memebers of our community of 16, so they are not mine to share. It’s enough to say that my experience was not an isolated happening.)
The fact that the singing involved is spontaneous (improvised) is important as you can imagine. This is the song of the heart. That call of longing from the core. Vocal improvising cracks me open to my own yearning to be heard. Singing greases the wheel of desire that’s been waiting to roll out.
InterPlay Inspiration Deck on FaceBook
The InterPlay Inspiration Deck has lots of fans on FaceBook. Hope you’ll join us and share your experiences of using the deck!
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