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"“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
― Søren Kierkegaard"
Day 6 is here folks! How were your Mondays? I hope that everyone enjoyed playing around the theme of FUN yesterday. Was anyone surprised at their fun? Frustrated?
Soooo you've probably caught on by now that I start each post with questions back to you. What I'm doing here in asking you these questions is carving out some time for us to go backwards, for integration. Part of how we can utilize play for our largest benefit is by taking the time to integrate how it felt, what we discovered, and how we feel now so that we can best choose our paths forward. This is all sneakily a part of mindfulness and brings me to today's prompt: REFLECTIVE.
As DeKoven says, "It's always about noticing where you are, where you're going. It's a journey. And the more you notice, the more present you are; and the more present you are, the closer you are; to your self, to life, to the world."
So today, we will be using play to practice mindfulness in 3 parts:
> Mind : What thoughts am I thinking while playing? Are these useful to me, or can I acknowledge them and let them go to return more fully to the present moment?
> Body: How does my body feel in this moment? What physical sensations am I experiencing?
> Spirit: Am I feeling invigorated by this activity? Drained? Does it feel like play, or work? Somewhere in the middle?
Today I challenge you to be your most reflective play self. And this can be as long or short of a check in as you would like. like 30 seconds quick, or the duration of your Play. If you check in with yourself at the beginning and think "hmmm I'm not really FEELING kinesthetic today..... but i DO feel like making an art piece" THEN HEY GO FOR IT! That is an important piece of self reflection. The point of this month is to get in touch with your play, so adapt however you feel called to. Maybe you discovered over the past 5 days that you have actually been longing for another type of play, something beyond your first week personality. Then jump on over to it! I'm glad you are listening to your inner promptings and figuring out what is right for you. I can safely say that I am feeling both of those things right now ;)
Overall, let your reflections be loose and responsive. Don't like something? Try it another way! That's the beauty of all this - it is entirely whatever you want and need it to be. At the end of the day, we are here to infuse the world around us with our playfulness! This is all part of our continued FLOW, baby.
"We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity."
- Paulo Coehlo, The Alchemist
You see, when kept in balance REFLECTIVITY and FLOW are entirely complimentary. The pairing of the two can be likened to a skilled dance between two partners, both reliant on the subtle strength of the other in order to not fall. Should one overpower the other, the self is put in danger. FLOW that overpowers psychological reflectivity creates dangers of overindulgence in Play, while REFLECTIVITY that overpowers flow threatens the ability to Play fully, freely, and flexibly.
Today - be REFLECTIVE in your Play! Tomorrow we will be putting it to good use.
Check out the panels below for your jumping off points, and please be sure to tag me @eastonsmith in your posts so I can cheer you on in your Play!
Have a suggestion or feedback for our challenge so far? This is a living art piece and it is open to your feedback! You can get in touch with me by heading to the "ABOUT" page on this website! I'd love to hear from you :)