I saw a man standing — glassy-eyed
And upward looking — at the side of the path.
There were a few things he said that I cannot
Be at all sure what they were.
But these came through clear and bold:

“I am OK.
It is your choice to believe me or not.
I do not wish to control what you think or
What you do with what I tell you.

May divine blessings go with you whether
You bless or curse me.

My belief is that this is what I can offer you.“

~ by Stan Stewart
Copyright © 2011 by muz4now, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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I know it is spring because I feel like I have cobwebs in my eyes, nose, and brain. I asked Stan this morning if he liked Spring.  I even noticed my tone was a little sour when the question came out of my mouth. I also noticed that I felt a bit lifted by his answer. Turns out his favorite season is Fall.  So is mine.  I feel a little bah humbug about Spring, the same way folks feel about Christmas (which by the way, I Love!). I know. I know. Things are popping out of the ground, birds are singing, trees getting ready to burst, and all that good stuff.

I am suspicious it has to do with work. The sense that it is time to get moving again, after the long winter’s nap kind of thing. The other day I practically closed my eyes while walking from the car to the back porch for fear that all the fallen branches, leaves, peeling paint, splintering wood of the deck, would somehow reach out, grab and strangle me. See, it is the work thing. I can’t enjoy the season because I think I now have to work harder, do more, accomplish something.

This accomplish something thought has had a hold of me for quite awhile. I think it relaxes a bit more in the Autumn and Winter. As I feel it waking up from its slumber it scares me. Maybe this is the year I don’t have to invite it in? Maybe this year, this new season, there can be a chance for a springing up and over the old. I can land on the other side of it and with eyes forward keep walking-not look back.

This kind of talk always sounds good and makes me feel like an athlete after a good motivational speech from a coach. I feel focused, ready, at the top of my game. Of course it is still early in the morning and my coffee is still hot!

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…

20-some people sitting in a circle.  Each one draws a card.  Well, not everyone.  There are 21 cards.  Round cards.  The InterPlay Inspiration Deck.

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.

Anita and I will be heading to Oakland, California tomorrow, to join with other InterPlay leaders in a day of play, reunion, and celebration on Saturday.  I enjoy playing with other people who like to play.  I’m really looking forward to some (Inter)Play.

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.