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.

Playful blessings…

(Here you go, technorati: PHAYQ8KRXTNP)

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…

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.

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

]]> http://blog.mandaladesignworks.com/2009/12/what-people-are-saying-about-the-interplay-inspiration-deck/feed/ 0 http://blog.mandaladesignworks.com/2009/12/circle-singing-and-being-open-hearted/ http://blog.mandaladesignworks.com/2009/12/circle-singing-and-being-open-hearted/#comments Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:43:47 +0000 Stan Stewart (Sawyer) http://blog.mandaladesignworks.com/?p=151 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.

This is part of what calls me to improvised music and creating “songs” from improvisations.

Playful blessings…

The 20-some must be 23.  The last trio shares a single card.

We’ve been improvising (pure InterPlay) for hours.  Stories.  Movement.  Intuition.  As the card slides into my finger tips, I accept that now-familiar picture and story.  It’s the Practice card.  Again.

Each person in the circle, in turn, shares what the card brings out from their life or experiences of the day.  Many quote from the card.  I repeat the phrase (again): “She knows that to change your life, you just need to change your practice.”  I enjoy that the message is an inspiration, a blessing.  Not the heavy way that I’ve held this sentiment other times.

InterPlay Inspiration Deck display

The sharing is beautiful.  People cry.  There’s a tear in my eye.  Anita is across the circle from me.  She’s in the trio sharing the Incrementality card with two other women.  She is telling us her experience of seeing the cards used in this circle in this way.

I am inspired.

I consider improvisation to be a highest form of art.  Having heard the mantra “just improv” from other artists too many times, I’ve been continually more and more committed to improvised music and dance and storytelling over the past decade.

Back in 1999, I became “certified” (if not certifiable) in InterPlay, an active, creative way to unlock the wisdom of the body.  Under the mentorship of Phil Porter and Cynthia Winton-Henry, I moved from a clunky techno-geek to being a slightly less clunky techno-geek — which was a huge change. Above all, I learned that I really do have a body and that it really does inform me about almost everything about me. This was — and still is — a miracle.  No matter how “spiritual” I may be (or believe myself to be), I will always be a body in this life.  The other thing that I learned is that improvised art (dance, storytelling, singing, instrumental music) is an incredibly cathartic and artful experience.  Both of these learning have stayed with me 100% over the years.

What I imagined I’d be telling you about in this post is my passion for improv.  Now that I’m here typing this, I find that words are insufficient for what I want to get across.  So let me try this scattershot approach:

The Exformation round card from the InterPlay Inspiration Deck

• improv art informs my whole self (InterPlay is also about integration of body/mind/spirit)
• when I practice my improv artforms I am more grounded and vulnerable
• improvisation is an exformation (this is what InterPlay calls moving information out of the body) — I (and I would say all humans) need exformation to stay healthy and conscious
• improvising connects with now — how Zen can ya get?

So sing a little song, tell a little story, dance a little dance in the name of now.  It’ll be good for your body, mind and soul.

Bless you.  Bless me.

At all three of those shows you can see and buy our inspirational jewelry, mandalas, photos, music CDs and other handmade artwork. Each artist has new material since our last show and some of these are not up on the web site. Given the custom nature of handstamped jewelry and personal mandalas, this may be your only chance to see these pieces of art.

Meanwhile, Anita has released The InterPlay Inspiration Deck. These 21 round cards are a testament to her incredible creative talent. Each one has a word or phrase (an InterPlay principle) to inspire your moment. Of course, that’s not all. The word on the card is illustrated with an ingenious colorful picture on one side and imaginative story on the other. You will be inspired by this deck. I’m not just saying that. I keep a deck at work and it’s been an inspirational life-saver. Stories coming here soon.

For today, I drew the card for Practice with the great story about the goddess who “knows what is best for you … She knows that to change your life, you just need to change your practice.”  I don’t know about you, but I need to be reminded about the stuff I already know.  Thanks for the reminder, Anita.  It’s great to get these reminders with a picture, a color, a story and the tangible, tactile sensations of the card in my hand.

So, check out Anita’s new InterPlay Inspiration Deck and come see our art at an upcoming show.

Bless you. Bless me.

InterPlay Inspiration Deck on my desk with the Practice card drawn

Because we are four artists, you get a “one stop shop” for everything from jewelry to inspirational cards, photo art to music CDs, mandala prints to MP3′s.  We hope you’ll stop by often to see what we’re doing.  You never know when the muse will appear…

Blessings,

Anita, Marci, Susan and Stan