homo ludens

i went from reading about homo sapiens sapiens, the doubly wise (hu)man to reading about homo luden, (hu)man the player. in johan huizinga's book (homo ludens), he says play can be a learning tool, societal game, leisure activity, competition and sport. but when the "players" are named as unequal or dehumanized altogether, the play can become war. war games evolve when one side is deemed evil - terrorists, savage beasts, islamo-fascists, etc.

i have been playing with the concept of duality lately. ela has invented a new musical sculpture called the "metalphor" in which this long string instrument emits both rising and descending tones simultaneously when we roll metal spheres across the strings....an aural metaphor to encourage playing with the full range.

here in the west we have challenges with obesity, depression and road rage, while others are starving, hoping just to live and walking hours just for dirty water or limited supplies. but the extremes are right here within me just as intensely! ....one moment feeling deep love for my partner and in the next feeling intense anger like a magnet flipping, the humbling push pull of relationships. feels clear to me that keeping everything in play keeps us together.

what if we all decided to keep everything in play? fair play infused with compassion, forgiveness, justice and grace as we play with all this pain, joy, sadness, anger, possibility. what if we all played more often with the idea that everything could play out in a most surprising and beauty way. that is the ball i will toss into play today.

today i can't quit hearing the phrase "islamo fascists" in my head. so this is the new propaganda i'm putting out in this game of life.

once upon a time 50,000 people were killed in the middle east. they became "isomorphic familiars". (isomorphic familiars, isomorphic familiars, isomorphic familiars.....)
they adopted 50,000 people on earth to love with wild abandon. each night while these 50,000 people slept or took a moment of silence, these isomorphic familiars would embrace them and whisper one or two words in their ear... just what each person needed to hear. "...like a note from a great harp, the frail wave came to our lips as one or two honest words." (antonio machado in his "it's possible" poem)

you know what they said.




here are some pictures earth angels in flight (from an aerial interplay workshop), a schilling (shy-ling) harmonica angel (makes a beautiful noise!) and a recycled mandala angel.




here are some sites that totally made me smile or laugh out loud in delight. check them out to excite your endorphins!

stickwork.net/dougherty/main.html

video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2942922314315974986

ebaumsworld.com/flash/honda-ad.html

thesultanselephant.com/gallery/large_image_pages/W2H0834.php