Blog on … and on … and on …

Quote of the day

In her Exchange article, "The Spirit of Adult Play" Bonnie Neugebauer observes that many must relearn the joys of playfulness. To do so, she suggests, they must be willing to spend freely, to squander, to waste (if you will), to be extravagant with their:

Time — Play must exist in a context of timelessness. The process is valued beyond the outcome of the play, so it must be possible to continue the experience across blocks of time, even across days and weeks. The play must find its own end, just as it found its own beginning….

Sense of Self — Play requires that one forget oneself. If self-conscious about their play, about how others will view either their play or the products of their play, children and adults are crippled. Their play is distorted by other consciousness.

Sense of Order — Play demands a certain amount of chaos. There must be room for using things and doing things in new ways. Play equipment and space must be flexible to meet the changing needs of the players. There must be storage for uncompleted play, and respect for unfinished spaces. Players require a degree of uncertainty and support for taking risks. Play is nurtured when there is no labeling of wrong and right. 

Joy — Play without enjoyment is just plain hard work. Players need to laugh, and boast, and practice. There are many choices to be made, and each is a challenge. Play brings out the best in each of us. [From CCIE]

(I wonder, early this morning as I read this: is blogging a form of adult playfulness?)

I have been reading past posts on my blog, and I must say I have learned a lot about the process of my own self-alteration these past couple of years. In each post I recognized the feelings and experiences of those times I wrote about, and was amazed to see how awareness, understanding, and, subsequently, alteration took one tiny step after another, often with regressions along the way. However, as I read the thread and noticed the incremental changes, I felt a stirring within, and became filled with renewed hope and appreciation for the work I am constantly, relentlessly doing on myself. Indeed, I realized, I am saving my life!

For example, back in January, 2007 I wrote about a dream I had when I said to a Tarot Card reader: 

Trying to please my mother was like having a stone around my heart.

As I read that early this morning, I realized it has taken me all of two years to dislodge that very stone from around my heart, and toss it away – and I noticed that part of the process continued in July 2007, when I was able to consider kicking the habit - which really began with awareness from my dream in January, and continued while hiking up by Hadrian's Wall earlier that same July. You see? A thread … of healing. I connected it all to the way I am physically shedding pounds of weight from my body these past six months. Lightening my heart as more and more I discover with joy that I no longer have to please my mother. It was a useless task anyway, for it was simply impossible to accomplish! But, more than that. I no longer feel that need gnawing at my soul. The need that I try to fill with unnecessary food. Hunger for acknowledgment is being replaced with learning how to enjoy life and loving.
  • Blog on I must! 
  • I want to blog on, for this is the way I discover … uncover my Self. 
  • I love to blog on. 
  • For I need to record things, speak, see, and understand them with a witness. 
A year ago at Mining Nuggets: When I was 25: