Help me…

Posted by Anita Bondi on January 23, 2012 under Anita Bondi | Be the First to Comment

From my daily reading, The Language of Letting Go.

“Times are changing for the better. Continue on the path of trust and obedience. Be open to the new.”

I am taking Polychrome Jasper along for this ride. Here are its healing properties:

Polychrome Jasper

Use it for:

• Stability
• Balance
• Grounding

All jaspers help balance the emotional energy in the body.

And here is the necklace I made to help me remember (for sale soon, but in the meantime visit my shop):

Poem 0182 of 1,000 (for Anita): stillness

Posted by Stan Stewart (Sawyer) on January 4, 2012 under Stan Stewart | Be the First to Comment

I drew stillness
From The Deck.
Her avatar?
A peace sign.

Right now,
I think my
Avatar is
A race car.

Zipping ahead
Without thought
For the energy
Being consumed
Or the loudness
Generated.
And all this
Speed and combustion
And noise
Is doing so little to
Improve on what
Was already
Here.

~ spontaneously composed (but not combusted) by Stan Stewart
Copyright © 2011 by muz4now, Inc.
All Rights Reserved. 182/1,000

It’s that time…

Posted by Susan Bradford on December 1, 2011 under Susan Bradford | Read the First Comment

The holiday season has arrived. It’s official. The frenzy has begun. This year as always, I am caught up with everything that I have to do, complicated by my return trip to PA and all that typically entails.

So painting these little jewels has given me a way to quiet my mind and focus my energy on one single thing.  At least while I was working on them.  They are magnets by the way.  And I had a lot of fun making them.  Of course, I thought that I’d be able to whip them out in no time.  But I should have known that would never work for me.  Instead each one is a little world of its own and each one took me to a different place and taught me different things.

They will be available at the Hope (New Jersey) Craft Market this Saturday, December 3rd, and at the Wellspring Craft show the following weekend, December 10th and 11th.

Do what you love and…..

Posted by Anita Bondi on November 25, 2011 under Anita Bondi | 2 Comments to Read

…..the money will follow.  Day 5 of interesting ways to use the InterPlay Inspiration Deck

I think that was the title of a book I once read or a quote I once saw somewhere and I have been carrying it around in my head ever since.

It is a beautiful concept and something I wish to aspire to (I know you sense it too? There is a BUT coming, right?) Let’s list some of the But’s:

1. I don’t know how.

2. It doesn’t come with benefits or health insurance.

3. I don’t have time to do what I love because I am too busy working my “regular” job.

4. The laundry needs to be done, house needs to be cleaned, bills are due, the family needs come first, I have to waterproof my boots (you get the idea)…

Making time for what I love is scary. Alright, there I said it. It is scary. Scary because (see numbers 1-4) if i go beyond the distractions of my above list I find number 5: I may fail, or at least become so vulnerable that I may not be able to function.

Since this is just a blog post (and the experts tell me not to go beyond 500 words), I will stop there and bring the tool of the day into the foreground.

Here is how I will use the Inspiration Deck today: I will start with a single focus for doing what I love and having the money follow.  My desire is to find ways to sell more decks and get more people interested in InterPlay as a life practice.

My questions (along with the cards that I pulled):

• What can I do to calm my fears right now so that I can move forward? EASY FOCUS
• Is there something that I am overlooking in my present approach? FOLLOWING and LEADING
• Where can I get more advise for my next steps? BABBLING

Depending on how much time you have you can keep going and going….

Today it makes sense to me to see what InterPlay teaches about these concepts and to take the wisdom from there.  In order to do that I have to go to the instructional booklet that comes with the deck. Once again, read on if you are interested in my process and how I make sense of these messages and apply them to my focus.

my first question is about calming my fears and the card i chose was easy focus. in the booklet i read, “easy focus allows our body to relax, helps us engage more of our senses, and puts us in the middle of our experience instead of observing it from the outside…” this helps me to see that the tension in me and the fear is coming from the place of hard focusing on the outcomes and not really being present to what it is the i am creating and working on. doing this blogging for a week has been an amazing and wonderful experience for me and the comments i have been getting awesome. i want to be able to breathe all of that in instead of just “zooming” to the next piece of productivity.

the second question is about something i may be overlooking in this approach and i chose following and leading. the line in the booklet that catches my attention is,”on occasion we get to have that wonderful experience where we are not sure who is leading and who is following…” because i have engaged easy focus right now i am able to see a bigger picture. i am not sure if i am leading and you are following or if you are leading and i am following. right now that produces a wonderful sense of anticipation and excitement. where will this blogging lead? how might this produce more interest and intrigue out in the world?  also, i want to acknowledge that i am following my own desires and leading myself on the path to manifestation.

the final question is where can i get more advise and i chose babbling. babbling is also free flow talking where we don’t have to censor ourselves (one of the gifts of blogging for sure!). “…we end up sharing information about who we are and what is important to us.” what is so great about this card is that i see that in the process of doing this week of blogging and babbling i have really learned more about how much i love this deck, love this life practice, and love sharing about it. AND i love hearing what YOU have to say about it.

I WANT MORE! more of you, and your process and what it is like for you to use the principles and practices of InterPlay and ideas about how to spread the word (and alright, i admit, sell more decks!). This is life changing, I swear it is!  But don’t just believe me, try it for yourself!

connect

Posted by Anita Bondi on November 22, 2011 under Anita Bondi | 4 Comments to Read

Day 2 of interesting ways to use the InterPlay Inspiration Deck

Last week I brought the idea of connection to my InterPlay class.  Phil Porter introduced the idea of small circles of connection  a few years ago and I love to play with it often when leading groups.

Finish this sentence: I belong to a small circle of people who ________?  Some answers from last week’s class:

• wear hats all year long
• have my own website
• have red hair
• would not be caught dead without lipstick

From the ridiculous to the sublime these are the ways we connect with one another, find our intersections, or lack thereof.

Using the InterPlay Inspiration Deck, I asked the group to each pick a card. I invited them to hold loosely and lightly the question: Is there something that could help me feel more connected to myself and to others? Something that would aid and guide me when I am feeling stuck or scared in my relationship to myself or others?

Here are a few of the cards that were chosen:

• following and leading
• stillness
• improvise

I led the group through a variety of experiences using movement, noticing and contact.

Everyone had profound noticings about how to use their particular card to help them have more of what they want and desire in connection to themselves and those around them.

I will share some of my own. I used the closed eyes shuffle approach to choose my card. I got Following and Leading. The first exercise we did was a solo dance in our own small dance bubble. This was followed by a medium dance bubble solo dance and then a large bubble solo dance. The medium and large bubbles overlapped with other people’s bubbles which helped to begin the investigation of connecting with others. At first I was unsure about how to do following and leading with myself. Within minutes though I was filled with ideas: use my right side to lead and my left to follow, set up a pattern and follow it, take something in the room and follow that, use my feet to lead and my hands to follow. And when the dance bubbles overlapped I had even more fun following and leading with the bodies I came in contact with (whether they were actually aware of me or not!)

Some of my noticings about following and leading:

1. setting up something very simple and repetitive works best. (this is so helpful in marriage, child rearing, and most interactions)
2. it is impossible to follow and lead at the same time. (this is so helpful in marriage, child rearing, and most interactions)
3. when I am not clearly leading nor passionately following the dance falls apart. (this is so helpful in marriage, child rearing, and most interactions)

Now it is your turn. Get your own deck and explore the possibilities!