Play

The idea of play is interesting to me. Recently I had a discussion with an acquaintance who is going to be able to work directly with some ancient materials and he said, "I can't wait till I get to play with them" then corrected himself to say, "I mean, work with." But I think what he really did mean was play. I think the best work happens when it is play.

Mr Music give me examples of this in several areas. We were recently in Williamsburg and he got his hands on the harpsichord and was playing it, you can tell it is playing and not any sort of formal making music. Sheer enjoyment and his head is obviously somewhere in the playing.  (thanks to Miss Language for the video) He is also the best at his sports when he PLAYS them and as his mom I can tell the difference between him trying to score in whatever game or just playing... and he does so much better when he can get his head in that place of enjoyment. 

One of Miss Dog Lover's doctors has introduced us to the idea of flow theory. One researcher gives these conditions for flow, which I think is like play, to exist: 

1. Knowing what to do
2. Knowing how to do it
3. Knowing how well you are doing
4. Knowing where to go (if navigation is involved)
5. High perceived challenges
6. High perceived skills
7. Freedom from distractions

Think about it these conditions and play the next time you watch sports, or an academic at his labor of love, or a musician, or a toddler doing a shape sorter - or the same toddler once he has mastered the shape sorter and no longer has any interest in it. I am glad God has made us with abilities and interests and the ability to enjoy using our abilities. What are some areas you hit a flow state in?

One-word Quotes

Yesterday at a meal it came up that one of Miss Language's friends has just watched (sit down here) The Princess Bride for the first time. (fan yourself and recover a bit. I know. Poor deprived young adult.)

Anyhow.

We all started quoting the movie and of course came to "Inconceivable." And we began to wonder what other one-word quotes are famous. We came up with a few but I am curious about what you will come up with.

The follow-up question is this, Do one-word quotes exist in books, too? Or do they need the inflection etc of a song or movie? The only contender we came up with was So (or more accurately Hwaet), although I thought the So could be just as well Vonnegut as Beowulf. 

The final tunnel in this rabbit trail was one-word tags: Mr Music suggested for example that there is really only one place to go from "Ishmael."

Anyone here want to contribute to this discussion?  :)

Fall Fun

One of my recent resolutions is to have fun. Here are a few pictures of playing around in the past weeks. First, my good buddy Melrose visited the museum with us.

And I went on an acorn hat floating adventure, twice, actually. This picture is from the second time. They are little coracles, like in the book A String in the Harp.

I picked some colorful leaves, ironed them dry, and then mod-podged them to preserve the colors. They look like they are just permanently wet. Since the non-stop rain the past few days has brought down ALL the leaves, and kept them wet, I have to wonder why I bothered.  :-P

And a fun little acorn hat craft. I colored inside with markers and then filled them with white glue. This is how they looked halfway dry. Now they are shiny and the color is more intense. I'll take some photos when I do some more. :)

I am glad I can enjoy God's world.