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I run around getting rugs from the cleaners, vacuuming, getting last minute gifts for my sister and others. I make sure to have energy for the solstice celebration at Queen Anne Christian church with Krista. When I enter, the room is dimly lit, the small stage to the left edged with boughs and white lights as are the balconies to my right.

The Solstice InterPlay has already started, an enveloping music with a moderate pulse filling the room as people walk creatively, greeting each other with smiles and big hugs. I am grateful to slide off my shoes feeling the angst of the day drain away as I do. When I join the group, it is enough to feel the generous spirits of those I meet for my heart to open.

Krista is grounded as she leads us in WSR, singing phrases, babbling and dances on behalf of our partners. I feel safe with this kind of leadership and become more grounded myself, more willing to risk being who I am, not who I think others might expect me to be.

Somewhere in here, Krista mentions how life and death are part of nature’s cycle of life and that the solstice celebrates the part of the cycle where the night begins to lessen, and the light of day increase.
We do a singing spiral dance that ends up with singing some words of love while facing the passing circle of people. The room seems filled with a grounded joy as I looked at those lovely faces opposite me.

At some point, we dance a dance on behalf of our partner. I share my concern with my partner, and her dance is full of answers for me. Take time, all the time I need to discern, attend the concern, hold it gently, then let it go, let it go. These answers are just what I needed to hear and warmth spreads across my chest. Ah, the physicality of grace.

Krista and the Solstice IP grounds me, helping me hold the still center and reminds me how being part of a community means being with those who are part of it, during good times and bad times, in sickness and in health.

During the fundraiser InterPlay Seattle Giving Wings Member, Patricia Tyllia shared this story about why she is committed to giving to InterPlay.

“A free will donation is one that comes voluntarily from the heart.  As a kid growing up my family donated to the Catholic Church because that what members in good standing did.  As an adult, I kept giving and going because it was the thing to do.  My neighbors gave so I gave.

    In my forties the lack of inclusive language and feminine pronouns in the liturgy started making me cry. I left the church and felt free, free. I didn’t donate to any church. 

    Then my husband died and I was alone and lonely.  A friend brought me to Seattle First Baptist for a class on what archetypal symbols were.  After the class I heard the men in the church choir singing with so much tenderness in their voices I just sat down and cried.  I so longed for a good man’s tenderness. 

    Timidly I began attending services.  Retired ministers in the congregation would stop by and see how I was doing, introduce me to the people I sat with.  I kept going to the church.  After five years the church was voting on the yearly budget.  The entire congregation was voting.  This never happened in the Catholic Church.  Wow!  For the first time in my life, I wanted to be part of deciding where the money went.   To vote, I had to formally join so I did with glee.  After the budget discussion I wanted to donate my share, take care of my responsibilities.  I wrote out a check.

    When I turned sixty, I found InterPlay at the Women’s Convocation where Betsy was dancing and Krista taught a class. They and their dances said sheer delight was to be honored in our bodies.  I fell in love with InterPlay.  I signed up for every class I could get not caring if it was for leadership or just learning the forms, I had to be around people who practiced InterPlay.

    Five years later I was sitting at my table writing my donation check to SFB.  I began fantasizing about a church where my body could dance down the aisle, could swing its hips, and sway its arms because the body was part of the sacred.  

    Wait a minute.  I did have such a place.  It was InterPlay where they not only welcomed my body and its movements but they actually believed in the physicality of grace.  That was my body church.  My heart just filled with gratitude.  Quick as that, I made out my check for InterPlay and ran to the fundraiser going on and gave my check to Theron.  I felt good.  I was doing my job.  I was taking care of my beloved InterPlay.  Now that’ a free will donation!”  Patricia Tyllia

And here are some more fun photos from the event.  It was a beautiful evening celebrating our community!

The InterPlay Seattle Sounding Board sharing our hopes and dreams for InterPlay Seattle.

Theron Shaw inviting us to remember how InterPlay touches our lives.

Renewing Friendships

Good food! Good fun! Thanks to Sheila McCarthy and Joy Fry

Side by Side with Krista Harris and Masankho Banda

Here is Krista Harris’s report on Masankho’s week at Hamilton Middle School:

Masankho Banda, international InterPlayer and African dancer-drummer-storyteller was an artist-in-residence at Seattle’s Hamilton International Middle School for six days in late October.  The residency was funded by the Hamilton Parent Teacher Student Association, by InterPlay Seattle, and by  the University United Church of Christ.

Drummers in concert

Masankho taught five energetic classes each day, teaching students songs, dances, drumming patterns, and stories about his native culture of Malawi.

Hamilton middle school students were enthusiastic participants, and the week-long residency culminated in two performances for the school.

Masankho loves teaching African arts to students and believes that this is a vital way to help them embody global interconnection. He is grateful to InterPlay Seattle for sponsoring his visit to Seattle.

STORIES OF THE HEART
In preparation for our fundraiser on October 24th the InterPlay Seattle Sounding Board wanted to begin to share our stories about how InterPlay impacts us. Check them out! And join us for our Free FUN-draising Event!
Stories of the Heart:
Ways that InterPlay is Changing the World – in Seattle and Beyond
With Masankho Banda of Malawi & InterPlay Seattle
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
6:30-8:30 pm
at Queen Anne Christian Church

A FREE FUNDRAISING EVENT!
Finger foods and nibbles provided!

- The InterPlay Seattle Sounding Board:

Betsey Beckman, Sharie Bowman,
Steve Condit, Joy Fry, Carol Hamilton, Ingrid Hurlen & Sheila McCarthy

Here are some stories from the Board about why we InterPlay.  We would love to hear your stories too!  Please add your comments to our post!

“Finding our full dancing selves – rich with new life and body wisdom. I really see the development of these forms in bringing fullness into each person’s performance. Incorporating dance when there were only words before – words when there was only dance. The spirit rises up and through a body that is dancing, singing, telling one’s story. I am so inspired by this process of discovery.”
From journal entry June 9, 1993 (my first InterPlay experience at St. Dorothy’s Rest) – Ingrid

I have been InterPlaying for nearly 20 years. It has informed every part of my life and work. That is why I believe passionately in nurturing and furthering InterPlay’s growth as a tool for many to discover the beauty of one’s bodyspirit and full expression of their embodied stories. Whether as a support group for those more fragile in body and spirit or as a means to create inspiring performances – InterPlay can change the world incrementally and exponentially, one playful experience at a time. – Ingrid Hurlen

I love that InterPlay is improvisational. Moving, dancing, singing, and sharing our stories “in the moment” teaches us to trust that we have all that we need. Playing with it all through our bodies is so honest and surprising and full of fresh wisdom. Getting out of our overworked heads and in to that place where we allow our bodies to lead is just magical. – Sheila McCarthy

“Who am I beyond all of the voices of what I should and ought to be? I love to move my body. I like to play hard. I don’t want to sit still anymore. I like to sing. Talking is becoming easier since I’ve learned to babble. My body loves to lie on the earth, sit by the ocean, walk in the arboretum, put my feet in a creek. I want to embrace more of what I enjoy on the planet…take more time for those things that fill me…love more often…life, people, places, experiences…”
From my InterPlay Leadership Program writings from 2003 – Sharie

Nine years later… I notice that one of the most profound principles of InterPlay for me has been creating my life based on the question, “Who or what creates grace for me?” I now have the courage to love more fully and have relationships that are grace-filled! Those grace-filled relationships have motivated me to want to create events for others to have the opportunity to know that feeling of acceptance and love too! InterPlay has helped me be able to say, “Yes!” to life and to take actions to create because I’ve learned that even when things seem overwhelming or challenging at first…I know how to say to myself, “I can do that!” - Sharie Bowman

InterPlay is a wonderful way to access the wisdom my body has to offer me. Using InterPlay forms to play with others is fun and gives me a window into their lives that I might not otherwise be privileged to witness. I appreciate that in InterPlay we are invited to “look for the good”. Finding InterPlay in 2006 was truly a homecoming for me and I am passionate about sharing its heart and soul with others. – Joy Fry

InterPlay makes me feel alive, connected, and affirming of movement, storytelling, music and engagement. When I experience the creativity in others and in myself that comes from the simple yet profound activities of an InterPlay class or workshop, I am renewed in spirit and body. One highlight for me this year was following Trish Watts to the view park on Queen Anne hill where we played with the sculpture, each other, and celebrated the 80th birthday of Richard with each other and strangers who joined us in song and sharing of our gifts. InterPlay is a practice of profound living that makes me deeply happy to be with others who also find joy in such life giving experiences. – Carol Hamilton

I love InterPlay! I love laughing at myself. I love “exforming” all the beauty and struggles of my life. I love the tangible, kinesthetic support of creative community. I love the sneaky-deep qualities of InterPlay in all kinds of settings: church conferences, ministry gatherings, retreats, SpiritPlay classes, even on the prayer DVD’s I’ve been publishing -whee! I love InterPlay! – Betsey Beckman

As this year’s InterPlay Life Practice Program has gotten underway I have gained a deeper appreciation for the first InterPlay Tool, “Easy Focus”. To illustrate the concept of “easy focus” on a body level we often use our hands to create fake binoculars for ourselves and find one thing in the room to look really closely at and study hard. Try that now. What did you notice in the rest of your body from using “hard focus”? Then after a little while remove the “binoculars” and let go of the “hard focus” and allow yourself to take in the entire room while still having your eyes resting on the object of previous focus. And just notice what happens in your body. I notice that the item that had my full attention sort of fades into the full “landscape” of the room and my body relaxes a bit.

As I reflect on this exercise, I realize how important knowing about and practicing “easy focus” has become to me. Many times in my own life I have focused on my own self-judged inadequacies. For example if I put my attention on how messy my car seems to get no matter how many times I clean it up, and let that be the point of my life that I focus on and judge myself about, then I could see myself as a big failure! When I broaden my focus and see that my messy car is a result of living a fun and full life with lots of wonderful people in it…then the messy car sort of fades into the landscape of my life.

The truth is in much of our lives we need to have a “hard focus”. It allows us to accomplish tasks and pay attention to details that need to be handled like paying bills! It is fun to explore the parts of our lives that need more focus as well as the parts that need an easier focus. Simply paying attention allows for new possibilities and choices to emerge.

In InterPlay we often play with our focus through the medium of dance. Sometimes we focus on allowing a particular body part to initiate our movement. The dance becomes very engaging to witness as the mover experiments with the infinite possible ways to move that body part and how the rest of the body comes along with it. Try it now…focus on your elbow and let it dance. Notice how the rest of the body moves because of the focused attention. Now do a dance focused on your knee and notice. Then allow the focus to move from knee to elbow and back and forth. What did you notice?

As I continue to play with “easy and hard focus”…I notice that things that seem to be opposites don’t cause as much stress in my body. Whenever I feel conflicted about something I get muscles spasms in my neck that give me a headache. I notice that simply stepping back from labels like liberal and conservative or Christian and Buddhist or shy and extroverted allows more room to have all of myself and my muscles begin to relax. I don’t have to split off and give myself a label from either side…I just take it in with an easier focus knowing that one end of the polarity is not all that I am. When I do this I find I have a feeling of confidence about the uniqueness of who I am in my body and I move through my relationships with more ease. I don’t have to have small categories to fit everyone into understand them. I can step back and allow myself to see the beauty of each unique bodyspirit.

In InterPlay we get lots of opportunities to flow between a “hard focused” concentration on a particular form and a more easy focus where the body integrates all of the skills it has been playing with and turns them into a little moment of grace and art! Ultimately the art we are creating with all of our “hard and easy focus” and opposites is our own life. As we learn to practice “easy focus” we are able to take in more of life in a way that is full of love for all that is!  Wheeee!!!!

Lindsey Gregerson, a participant in the InterPlay Next Gen Leaders: Art for Social Change program from the Seattle area wrote this article about her experience this summer in Oakland.

Recovering Serious Person

“To stress and seriousness I say WHEEEEEE! As a recovering serious person, I have known and practiced good self-care. You almost have to in order to survive your serious life. I love a good bubble bath, supportive conversations, some yoga and meditation.  It’s all good stuff, but for me these things are mostly just antidotes for the underlying problem – too much seriousness and an overactive focuser.

And then I discovered the InterPlay cure – a playful way of life. InterPlay has a way of helping you tap into your creative playful spirit, shed old body grooves (ways of being), and connect with others in new and different ways using movement, storytelling, voice, contact, and stillness. This powerful cure is leading me to less agenda and more freedom to be with the beauty of the moment.

This was all a recent discovery for me while spending two incredible weeks with young artists and activists learning about InterPlay in the context of a larger discussion around using art for social change.  This program was called Next Gen Leaders: Art for Social Change, led by InterPlay co-founders Cynthia Winton-Henry and Phil Porter, and the vibrant young InterPlay leader Amy Shoemaker.

When you are serious a lot of the time, you tend to take yourself a little too seriously.  And don’t get me wrong, there are things in this world worth taking seriously that need our full attention and loads of collective energy; but my chronic seriousness and perpetual abundant work load is not just about transforming the world for good. For me it is also about trying to create a life of certainty and predictability and finding too much of my value in my achievements. With enough planning, careful calculation, and hard work, life will go as planned, right…?

And then I met improvisation. Spontaneous expression is part enthralling, part terrifying. It makes me feel vulnerable, but teaches me to trust and appreciate myself and whatever comes out. InterPlay provides a safe space just to try some stuff with no guarantees of it being any good, but without any value system by which to judge it. It gives me the courage to be imperfect and just to be who I am. To play, dance, sing, talk and create in the presence of a witness or a group of witnesses doesn’t have to be frightening. For it is openness to vulnerability that births the beauty of love, belonging, creativity, joy, and deep relationship. And to feel vulnerable means that I am alive.”

A recent Life Practice Program graduate, Beth Sarver, wrote these comments about her experience of participating in the Life Practice Program in Seattle.

The Interplay Life Practice Program came into my life at the most perfect time. The forms and methods that I learned have expanded my work, my mothering skills and most awesomely I have experienced a cosmic shift in my spiritual life. I have always been a storyteller, performer, dancer, singer and creative person… but now I have experienced the potency of prayers lifted through dance and the power of laughing til I cry and wailing until I sigh and say “Wheeeee!” I have had a lot of dynamic learning experiences in my life, but none would compare with the richness that has come into every facet of my life after completing this program. I am humbled by the life changing power of play. I am transformed by the empowering surge of energy that exforms through movement and stillness, story and song. This training catalyzed my heart, mind, body and spirit. I look forward to the Leadership program and continuing to grow the interplay modalities on behalf of folks with disabilities and youth in crisis.

Our Seattle Friday Morning Class has been a time of joyful connections. Players find ways to support each other inside and outside of class. Some class members continue in the fun and creative spirit by gathering for lunch after class. Joy Fry shares her experience in this poem.

Friends
out to lunch
after Friday morning InterPlay,
slide into playful Southern drawl.

Gem sisters
delighting in one another
*Opal * Ruby * Sapphire * Pearl*
Our waitress *Amber* joins in.

We are nourished!

A fundraising event to honor the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers on Mother’s Day was also born out of connections made in our Friday Morning Class.  Elizabeth and Lorraine created a fun and meaningful event that included showing the movie about the grandmothers along with a wing blessing and a water blessing by Lorraine Bayes.

Let the connections made in Friday Morning Class continue to flourish and nourish!

My four “20 something” children suggested that we needed some new holiday traditions that involved more than opening presents on Christmas morning. The gift that they decided to give each other was “ecstatic following”. Each person in our family came up with an idea for a family activity on Christmas weekend. The gift from everyone else was to show up, be present, and participate without complaining.

This was not as easy as it might seem! Ice skating for the first time in 35 years (and I was lousy at it then) was a bit of a challenge for me. Then there was the cookie baking and decorating.  Nothing makes me swear faster than a rolling pin with dough stuck to it!  And my son had never attempted to decorate anything with frosting in his life.  It was also a dangerous activity after taking twenty years olds to the Picasso exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum. Those Picasso inspired Gingerbread men had uniquely placed anatomically correct parts! Laughter ensued…and their father decided that some of the Gingerbread men needed another layer of clothing before delivering them for Christmas gifts.

The weekend turned into a very memorable time.  Our whole family found ways to interact and enjoy each other. Occassionally I had to remind them and myself that the gift we  were giving each other was “ecstatic following”. It was just the right reminder to support us to show up for activities when they weren’t our  first choice.   I wish I had known about InterPlay’s ideas of “following and leading” when they were younger. What a miraculous and delightful gift!

Ecstatic Following!!!!