What's in the gallery?
We dissolve stuck and rewrite patterns. We apply radical playfulness to life (when we feel like it!), embarking on internal adventures (credo of Safety First). We have a fake band called Solved By Cake. We build invisible sanctuaries, invent words and worlds, breathe awe and wonder.
We are not impressed by monsters. Except when we are. We explore the connections between internal territories and surrounding environment to learn what marvelously supportive delicious space feels like, and how to take exquisite care of ourselves. We transform things.* We glow wild.**
* For example: Desire, fear, worry, pain-and-trauma, boundaries, that problematic word which rhymes with flaweductivity.
** Fair warning: Self-fluency has been known to lead to extremely subversive behavior, including treasuring yourself unconditionally, unapologetically taking up space, experiencing outrageously improbable levels of self-acceptance, and general rejoicing in aliveness.
What's in the gallery?
We dissolve stuck and rewrite patterns. We apply radical playfulness to life (when we feel like it!), embarking on internal adventures (credo of Safety First). We have a fake band called Solved By Cake. We build invisible sanctuaries, invent words and worlds, breathe awe and wonder.
We are not impressed by monsters. Except when we are. We explore the connections between internal territories and surrounding environment to learn what marvelously supportive delicious space feels like, and how to take exquisite care of ourselves. We transform things.* We glow wild.**
* For example: Desire, fear, worry, pain-and-trauma, boundaries, that problematic word which rhymes with flaweductivity.
** Fair warning: Self-fluency has been known to lead to extremely subversive behavior, including treasuring yourself unconditionally, unapologetically taking up space, experiencing outrageously improbable levels of self-acceptance, and general rejoicing in aliveness.
Generating perfect simple solutions (part 2?)
Yesterday I told you a long and complicated but also awesome story about a perfect simple solution.
And there were other things I wanted to tell you about perfect simple solutions and resolutions but I didn’t get around to any of it.
But really the main thing we should always be talking about is:
How do you set things up so that perfect simple solutions can show up?
And/or:
How to bring more of this mindful, creative, curious and playful approach* into daily life so we can get better at recognizing the perfect simple solutions that are already there…
* This approach = the stuff we talk about here. And work on indirectly + directly at Rally (Rally!).
So. Getting to perfect simple solutions.
Well, getting to them more easily.
Starting with a number of practices that I find crazy useful. In no particular order.
Try what appeals to you. Adapt as necessary. Discard what isn’t for you.
Twelve things you could try.
1. Ask for them. Regularly.
A regular practice of Very Personal Ads is a great way to get clarity on what you actually want.
(That is to say, what the real desires are that are hiding behind the perceived want).
It’s also a useful way to find out which parts of you are opposed to asking, to receiving support, to things working out. Resistance sucks, but at least you know where it’s coming from and what it has to say.
You’re learning more about your relationship with wanting these solutions, and that’s part of the solution too.
You could also do the asking in the style of Hello, Day. Except it would be Hello, Perfect Simple Solution.
2. Find the essence.
You could try setting aside designated time for examining the qualities and essence of what you want.
For example, I’m currently looking for a perfect simple solution to a semi-challenging something happening in my business.
What do I want from this solution?
Lightness. Relief. Sovereignty. For both sides to feel heard. Appreciation. Simplicity. Sustainability. Trust. Belonging.
So once I know that, I can mess around with bringing more of these qualities into how I want to approach the situation.
3. Ask the magic wand question.
The magic wand question solves all sorts of things, because it tells you what kind of a perfect simple solution you’re receptive to.
If I could wave a magic wand and solve this, would you take it?
Yes-but!
Yes-but I would want to know that this person would not resent me.
Yes-but I would want to know that I had expressed myself clearly.
That’s information I can use.
4. A love letter is a helpful thing.
You could write a love letter to the perfect simple solution.
Tell it what you know about it, what you want from it, what you’re working on.
5. More Shiva Nata, of course.
Maybe start with some Flip-its. Get creative.
And make sure you’re messing up! Mistakes = yay!
6. Ask more questions.
Do some stone skipping.
What would bring more simplicity into this solution? What am I not seeing or remembering? If this could happen with more ease, what might that look like?
7. Exit as well as enter.
For example, you might do a Spangly Revue of what is working, as well as what you might try for next time.
Or imagine that you already have the perfect simple solution. What has changed? How are you feeling/thinking/walking/breathing given this new development?
8. Interact with the (totally legitimate) disbelief that a perfect simple solution exists.
You could talk with the monsters and walls.
Negotiate with the scared parts of you who are in resistance to the idea that perfect simple solutions could be available. Tell them about how Now Is Not Then.
9. Safe rooms!
Try making safe rooms for the parts of you who are still grieving over situations where they were not able to access perfect simple solutions or resolutions.
Acknowledge their pain. Find out how you can comfort them.
10. Talk to the version of you who has already figured this out.
Ask Slightly Future You what he/she knows about resolving this particular challenge.
11. Use a proxy!
If the situation needing a solution is complicated or painful, it might be helpful to invent a proxy to stand-in for the real thing that needs resolving.
12. Art of the OOD.
Use the OOD.
Make the perfect simple solution your Object of Desire.
Then solve for X.
As always, the important thing is not the techniques.
It’s about the approach.
People vary. What works for one person might not be your thing.
But the approach — being conscious, curious, playful, inquisitive, receptive and asking compassionate questions — will be the same. Try things!
You may have other stuff that works for you. And you’ll also probably discover new techniques or adapt these or invent your own.
And you’ll do it with curiosity, play, exploration, and a loving investigation of what you need.
I was going to give a bunch of examples for each of these, but then I remembered that you guys can do this on your own.
So let’s start coming up with examples and playing with the patterns.
Usual blanket-fort comment zen applies:
We all have our stuff. We let other people have their stuff. We take responsibility for our experience. We don’t tell each other what to do or how to feel. We remember that people vary. We’re here to play.
Love to the commenter mice, the Beloved Lurkers and everyone who reads.
Perfect Simple Solutions.
The perfect simple solution is a phrase I have borrowed from Hiro.
This phrase is actually a sort of perfect simple solution itself, in that it elegantly sums up its own magic in its name.
A perfect simple solution is perfect because of its simplicity. The unexpected, just-right thing that makes it all work.
Simple, elegant, efficient, harmonious, and sometimes right there in front of me.
Even more likely: I was just tripping over it and didn’t notice.
Perfect simple solutions: what I want from my Very Personal Ads and what I wish for in the bath. And one of the main reasons I do Shiva Nata.
This story starts with a list.
Last week I was rallying it up at Rally (Rally!), and one aspect of my project-like thing involved thinking about my relationship with my work space.
I was thinking about how much I adore the Playground. And also about what isn’t working there.
This resulted in a list (magic markers and construction paper) about all the things I wished could be changed:
- There’s not enough room in the Galley. If we have eight people at Rally and half of them are making tea, it’s cramped. But when we have sixteen people at Rally, it gets ridiculous.
- We need more projectizing space. And another desk. But before we move to a bigger building. We need it now.
- We need more storage space and it can’t be in my Quarters. We need storage in the Galley (but there’s no room in the Galley!) and also by the stage, for things I need while teaching.
- I don’t like the tall bookcase in my Dressing Room, but there’s nowhere else it can go!
- I can’t keep storing things behind the stage anymore.
- The Free Box isn’t working where it is. It needs a new home.
- We need a larger trash receptacle in the Galley.
- The Toy Shop needs a larger display stand but where are we going to find it?
Except the list was kind of stressing me out.
For one thing, it was kind of overwhelming.
I’m usually waxing rhapsodic about how the Playground is the most fun, sparkly, surprising, magical place I’ve ever been.
Which is pretty different — and so much better! — than my thoughts about all the other places I’ve worked or lived in my life.
It felt weird to be focusing on these things that aren’t working.
Also, compiling these wishes was made more depressing by the several unexpected business expenses from in the past month, so this is sadly very much not the time to go out and acquire new furnishings.
We’d have to make do somehow.
It was definitely time for some perfect simple solutions.
I made the request. We’re going to need a perfect simple solution. Possibly several!
And decided to make that my intention for our Shiva Nata session: to see the patterns and find the solutions.
Except then I totally forgot that this was going to be my intention and decided to play with something else. Something about trust. Which turned out to be its own perfect simple solution.
We did ten minutes of insanely insane Shiva Nata and I could actually feel my brain reordering itself for the rest of the day. The zap-hum of repatterning.
Anyway. That was Wednesday.
On Thursday the patterns were clear.
The thing about Shiva Nata is that it will show you the patterns. That’s what it does. You just have to challenge yourself and pay attention.
So here’s what I got:
I dislike making do. I am very good at making do.
Those two exit in a sort of symbiotic loop.
That loop, and the related pain, is a pattern at the core of the patterns that are leaving. The ones I’m done with.
The new patterns coming in to replace it have to do with:
a) being okay with the solutions being easy,
b) being okay with solutions making themselves known,
c) solutions showing up when I need them,
d) having a new relationship with asking for and receiving help.
And on Friday morning the perfect simple solution was there.
It was such a fabulous and typically shivanautical moment.
I woke up and knew exactly where everything needed to go.
The table in the Galley could become an additional desk in the Treasure Room.
(This actually created two new projectizing places: the new desk, and then a perfect little cozy blanket-fort-able area between that desk and the other table.)
The Clown Chest could go to the Galley, giving us more storage and a place for the tea kettle and additional water dispenser.
The bookshelf in my office could go next to the stage and behind the flip chart, with a curtain.
The blue chest from the Treasure Room could go into my Dressing Room instead. The Free Box could go to the open Galley.
I already had everything I needed. Just in the wrong configuration.
Now there’s so much room in the Galley: it’s open and spacious! There’s way more storage, in all the places where I need it. And my Dressing Room feels like me again.
Oh, and then I happened to go next door…
And there were two places having giant sales. So I picked up the just-right trash receptacle and the display for the Toy Shop at half price.
It was that kind of day. Perfect simple solutions everywhere!
And not just perfect for me, but the kind of sovereign and harmonious thing that ends up being the best thing for all parties involved.
Everyone who comes to Rally Rally! will benefit from these changes. And the changes are more congruent with the personality, culture, purpose and essence of the playful place that houses them.
Do you see how great?! Seriously, the whole thing was AMAZING.
It was as if the entire Playground got this awesome makeover, just by rearranging the elements.
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow I’ll talk about establishing a practice of investigating and looking for perfect simple solutions.
Today I just want to sit at the Playground and breathe in the new.
Play with me! And blanket fort comment zen…
This is hard stuff. There’s nothing more painful than being in that tight, scary place when you need the solutions and they aren’t coming.
And then the resistance keeps tightening on itself. It sucks. I’m sorry.
My gwish for you is that this practice brings you ease. But I also totally get that before the ease there might be a lot of gunk to work through. It’s hard.
We can play with asking for perfect simple solutions.
We can play with noticing patterns without judging ourselves for having the patterns.
We can throw things into the pot.
As always, we let people have their own experience, we take responsibility for our experience and we don’t tell each other what to do or how to feel.
xox
p.s. If you want to mess around some more with this thing that is perfect simple solutions, come to a Rally in 2012. I actually have something that might be a perfect simple solution for this — will tell you about it later this week.
Very Personal Ads #115: because wheeeee toast!
Personal ads. They’re … personal! Very.
Each week I write these VPAs to practice asking for what I want. And to get clarity on what that really is, even when asking feels conflicted.
I always get useful information about my relationship with various aspects of the ask. Join in if you like!
Usually it’s very difficult for me to know what to ask for. This is a lovely ritual but not necessarily always an easy practice.
This week, thanks to the insane Shiva Nata we did all week at Rally (Rally!) and at the Shivanautical Academy Training the week before, I have more ideas and wishes than I know what to do with.
And they’re all equally beautiful and exciting.
So. I’m going to choose a few for this week and assume fractal flowers.*
* Through interacting with these five items, I’m actually sneakily and secretly working on ALL of them.
Thing 1: a throne! Or at least a really kooky and ridiculous chair.
Here’s what I want:
Having the Shopkeeper Hat and related rituals has changed everything for me.
The Toy Shop is happy, I’m happy, everyone is happy!
And all sorts of fun little customs have come into being. Because the hat is just that fabulous.
But maybe there should also be some sort of spatial orientation element for this time in which Buying Things From The Toy Shop Can Happen.
What if there were a crazy chair for me to sit in during Shopkeeper Hat time?! Maybe with a pocket to hold my shopkeeper clipboard. Or I could hide it underneath.
So now I need the most ridiculous, outlandish or noticeable chair ever. Also it would be cool if it were super high or super low or otherwise oddly set up.
Ways this could work:
I don’t know yet!
Maybe someone I know has one or makes something like this or knows a guy who knows a guy.
Maybe it will just find us.
I am putting out the ask. And also, of course, the meta-ask, which is for me to feel comfortable having this new development.
My commitment.
To stay connected to the qualities of what I want:
Play! Freedom. Experimentation. Structure. Form. Creativity. Presence. Flow. Zaniness. Possibility.
I might also make a tiny toy representation of a kooky chair-throne, as a symbol.
Thing 2: Sleep!
Here’s what I want:
Napping and snoozing and early to bed.
Ways this could work:
Long walks. Sleepy tea. Ten breaths. Yoga nidra. Doing Hello, Resting & Recovery in the same way that I do Hello, Day or Hello, Month.
My commitment.
To sit in the rainbow hammock. To close my eyes. To hug Scootch.
Thing 3: replacing the video clip on the Shiva Nata site
Here’s what I want:
The sample “see what this looks like” 30 second video on the Shiva Nata site is about five years old.
It desperately needs to be updated.
I’ve been putting it off due to BEING CRAZY BUSY, but have finally reached the point where the incongruence (there is this thing from then that does not match the culture of what is now) is physically painful to me.
So it has to change. And soon.
This is slightly stressing me out because it means finding a location (the Playground not being right for a variety of reasons that I’m not going to go into at the moment). And finding someone who can do it.
I’d also like to shoot a series of tiny super-short video clips about some of the items in the Toy Shop.
So this is a complicated ask. I’m asking for courage and right timing. I’m asking for a person who can help me. And I’m asking for the right place to do it in. And for me to resolve any residual personal stuck related to this.
Ways this could work:
There might be someone in Portland, Seattle or the general area who could do this.
One option: we could do it as a trade for a Rally? Have people apply?
I can also ask around in the roller derby world.
If you are thinking ohmygod this is meeeeeeeee, can you email the First Mate with details and information about why this would be perfect for you/us? Thank you!
My commitment.
To do the work. To plant the seeds. To throw it into the pot. To process the process.
Yes.
Thing 4: To un-whisper.
Here’s what I want:
We have been super-quietly shhhhhhh whisper-brunching Crossing the Line: the 8 Day Voyage (password: haulaway).
And it’s time to move from whisper-brunch into actual brunch.
Which means writing about it and writing the actual page instead of the whisper page.
Oh, and I would also really like for the last person to sign up for the Great Ducking Out 2011, so we can close that up and open registration for — oh, wow — 2012. Thank you!
Ways this could work:
Using Shiva Nata and systems and the OOD.
With lots of love and support from the various allies of this Program.
My commitment.
To skip some stones.
To ask ten times why.
To pay attention to what I need in order to make this the most amazing eight day adventure (and beyond) that has ever happened, which I am already convinced it will be.
To celebrate its existence joyfully and unapologetically. Possibly by eating toast.
To throw confetti for everyone who is coming. Hooray!
Thing 5: a toaster!
Here’s what I want:
The Playground needs a toaster for the Galley.
Preferably the pop-up kind because wheeeee! toast!
But a toaster-oven type of thing could work as well.
It would be fun if it were a bright cheery color, but not a dealbreaker.
Ways this could work:
Someone might have one and want to donate it.
We might find one somewhere.
Maybe Freecycle or something.
Or we could discover the perfect one and it would just work out.
(Suggestions are welcome if you happen to have thoughts about special toasters that I should get to know).
My commitment.
To stay receptive to finding what I want in unusual ways and/or places.
To be appreciative of the process. To welcome the toaster warmly into the Playground.
To eat toast!
Which I will do right now. For luck!
Also, when we do get a toaster someone needs to get us this. Bonjour!
Thing 6: support for Jen!
Here’s what I want:
Jen Louden, who is an amazing teacher and also my lovely friend and colleague and companion-in-silly-dances, is running a program called Teach Now.
She wants loving attention and right people for her sweet thing, and I want that for her too.
Ways this could work:
I’m going to tell you about it and you can take a look!
My commitment.
To love Jen and wish all the best GWISHES (goal-wishes) for her and for her program. Yay!
Progress report on past Very Personal Ads.
Just to update you on what’s happened since last time.
I asked for peacefulness in this time of pain, for anyone who wants it.
And while I can’t know about those people and their experience, it was very helpful for me to have asked that for myself.
Then I wanted a gumball machine for the Playground, and I have since handed that project over to the First Mate. We’ll probably go with something on eBay if nothing else turns up.
The next ask was about making separations, and that went reasonably well.
There was a request about restocking the Toy Shop, which I’m beginning to do. Slowly, slowly.
And I wanted the superpower of implementation, and YES YES YES YES! It showed up at Rally. Rally!
Also, I’ve made several VPA requests for more costumes for the Playground’s Costumery. And guess what?
On Friday the Oregon Children’s Theater had a giant costume sale. With whiskey. Because what is better than costumes and whiskey AT THE SAME TIME?! Nothing.
I went with Chuck and Marisa and Tereza, and it was incredible.
Comment zen. Here’s what I’d love today.
Things that are welcome! Your own personal ads, small or large. Updates on past ones if you like.
Leave your gwishes! Throw things in the pot!
Things we try to keep away from: the word “manifest”, telling people how they should be asking for things, unsolicited advice.
VPA amnesty applies, of course. Leave yours any time between now and next Sunday (or whenever, really) — it’s all fine by us!
xox
Friday Chicken #164: wait, HOW many playful koooshhuns?
In which I cover the good stuff and the hard stuff in my week, trying for the non-preachy, non-annoying side of ritual and self-reflection.
And you get to join in if you feel like it.
Man. It is blowing my mind that we are already at Friday.
This week has been intense.
But here we are.
Let’s see what happened.
The hard stuff
Slept through the entire weekend.
This is mostly a good thing, because I needed it.
And really, after the wonderful and packed insanity of the Shiva Nata training, I really needed all the recovery I could get.
Alas it was too short, as restorative periods of time go. And I have no idea what happened on the weekend because I was asleep for pretty much the entire time.
Oh my goodness this week was so FULL.
Full of marvelous. But still just really full.
I didn’t get enough time to myself.
And I didn’t get nearly enough time to assimilate and consolidate, so that’s really what I’m craving now.
No dance class for three days!
Usually during Rally I just turn my world upside down and get to dance classes at weird and uncomfortable hours.
This time I decided that I really just wanted to be fully present with rallying, and went cold turkey on my addiction.
I still made sure I got high, medium, low and negative-ten-to-the-negative-tenth-power impact aerobic activity every day.
There was lots of Shiva Nata (fast and slow), tramping, walking, stretching, some weight training and, of course, old Turkish lady yoga.
But I missed my class. And I missed jumping around. And I missed that glorious thing that is big, crazy movement.
And it’s going to hurt tomorrow.
A deficiency of something I needed.
With the resulting depletion.
And the (somewhat astonishing) amount of time it took me to realize what was going on.
I still want something I can’t have.
So there’s that.
Associated grumblethrum monsters have a lot to say about that, so we’re in ongoing negotiations.
And now I need to sleep for about two weeks straight.
Half the monsters say I-told-you-so, and the other half are just snickering because they think the idea of being able to rest before all that stuff is done is so unacceptable that it’s actually funny.
We’ll see how that goes. Onward to the good!
The good stuff
Rally! Rally! Rally! Rally! Ohmygod.
All Rallies are special and different and unexpected and delight-filled.
But this one was just out of control. In the best possible way. Rally! Rally!
Fifteen of us. Not counting assorted duck co-teachers, rabbits, butt-monsters, owls, an Anna-Tiger and a very opinionated Schmoppet.
We giggled and flailed and hummed and discovered things and kind of fell in love with each other.
It was a magical, magical, magical Rally Rally!. And it gave birth to all sorts of brand new rallying traditions and customs.
I am floating on happy.
The epiphanies have been massive and life-changing.
Between all the Shiva Nata we did at the training, and all the Shiva Nata we did at Rally, it’s like all of my inside workings are getting reconfigured.
But in a really great way where everything is better now.
The things I know about my project and my world and the incredibly subversive culture I’m in the process of growing/planting — this is huge.
I don’t even know how to begin to describe the things I realized and understood during this Rally, but YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!
Like that.
Things that make me happy.
Guess what I found out?
That two different shivanauts from my Shiva Nata training had already each taught their first classes in the first two days after the training!
And had fun doing it too.
Yay!
Incredible shivanautical experiences.
Like the class where we played Count the Count.
We came up with a number, a noun and an adjective to associate with each hand position.
Then we alternated between multiplying and adding these together in various combinations and sequences while doing the movements.
Also we did this in the voice of the Count from Sesame Street:
Eight Loud mugs! Seven Comforting Butt-monsters! Seeeeeeeeeks Pirate Fairy Doors! Five Loving Monkeys! Four Accepting Lamps! Threeeeeee Playful Cushions! Two Spontaneous Tassels! Vun Delight-filled Wheel! Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ahhhhhhh chhhsphbpflw!
And then we did Level 3 where you name each position in four different ways.
So if you’re starting at 2:7:
Two-seven, Twenty seven, Nine, Fourteen.
Get it? So each number got four variations. And then of course you do sixteen movements to return to the starting position, so you have to speak sixty four number combinations to get there.
Also we were doing this just unbelievably fast.
The side effects were MANY and also kind of crazy. But again, it was really really great.
Singing!
This Rally ended up with lots of spontaneous singing, and we had a little song circle.
The singing was absolutely amazing.
I mean, there’s always (optional, obviously!) singing at Rally to some extent, but this was a very song-filled Rally.
Creative bursts!
Of play!
I got more done this week than I’ve ever gotten done ever. Like, in my life.
And I’m at Rally every month, so I’m already used to getting ridiculous amounts of things done. This was a whole new level of done-getting.
Systems fixes and perfect simple solutions.
Like finding the exact right tiny cash register on ebay.
Or fixing the avatar problems in the Chattery!
Hooray.
A super fun photo shoot with Kylie.
Because Kylie was at Rally!
We went to the park and took a million trillion pictures. In costume, of course. And despite the fact that I have way too many kinds of stuck around being photographed, I enjoyed every bit of it.
This is the second time we’ve had a photographer at Rally, and both times it has been a blast.
And maybe I’ll even show you some of the pictures too.
The new cherry red decorative happiness in my dressing room.
My pirate queen quarters at the Playground have become my dressing room.
But there was this really ugly door.
And now there is bright red molding that goes around the doorframe, and now my door is beautiful and cheery, and the entire room has somehow completely been transformed because of it.
And … playing live at the meme beach house it’s the Fake Band of the Week!
My brother and I have this thing where we come up with ridiculous band names and then say in this really pretentious, knowing tone, “Oh, well, you know, it’s just one guy.”
This week’s band comes to us from TJ. Yes, the same TJ who got me to write about the 30 things I love right now. He’s everywhere.
Chaos and Glorious Hats
They’re playing in town all week. Except that it’s really just one guy.
(Not to be confused with a different show called Chaos and The Glorious Hats which is what happens when Chaos appears with a separate group. Which is also just one guy.)
You know what else I loved this week?
“They sat their asses down, didn’t they?”
And:
“Right now I’m leaning towards ‘schripituality.’”
Announcement time!
Picture me wearing that crazy hat…
- Reminder: Rally prices have to go up in 2012. Sooner than it sounds. And Rallies are filling up fast. So take a look at the SCHEDULE for this new year and make a Gwish about when/how.
- The whisper-brunch is happening for Crossing the Line: the 8 Day Voyage! (password: haulaway). I recommend signing up before I have a chance to write the copy for this. The bonuses are better that way.
- If you don’t have an iPhone, go to a bar and befriend someone who does. And then make them get the Shiva Nata iPhone app so you can flail around fabulously while they’re in the bathroom.
I think that’s everything. If not, I’ll let you know in the Very Personal Ads over the weekend.
That’s it for me …
And of course you can join in my Friday ritual right here in the comments if you feel like it.
Yes? Anything hard and/or good happen in your week?
And, as always, have a glorrrrrrrrrrrrious day, a restful weekend and a happy week to come. Shabbat shalom.
p.s. It’s okay if it’s not Friday anymore. There’s complete chicken amnesty — you can join in whenever (or not) and it’s no big deal.
The Book of Superpowers.
So a while ago I wrote about superpowers.
Actually, I write about superpowers kind of a lot. Remember Joseph? That kid was the best.
Superpowers are important.
When we’re rallying it up at Rally (Rally!), we invent/invoke superpowers all the time.
Usually while we’re Schmurphling, which involves throwing things (badly) and also butt-monsters.
Anyway, I need to tell you about this so that I can describe this new and marvelous thing that is the Book of Superpowers.
Or possibly the Anthology of Superpowers. It has not been decided yet.
Local customs regarding superpowers….
In my mostly-imaginary cultural tour guide to the fascinating world of the Playground, there would definitely be a very thorough and ever-expanding section about local customs.
So pretend this is the section about Superpowers.
As you might imagine, there are certain agreed-upon conventions of this process of naming superpowers at Rally.
Here they are:
- You can always declare silent retreat! You don’t have to come up with superpowers.
- Superpowers are not finite. If someone else names a superpower that you would like to have, you can have it too. There is enough for everyone.
- No, really. Consciously deciding to bring the power that someone else asked for into your life/space/force-field does not in any way diminish their power.
- There is no limit on how many superpowers you can have. Lovingly examine the internal rules that say if you have X, you have to give up Y.
- We always invoke the superpower of being able to believe that you’re allowed to have more superpowers!
- If you don’t want anyone to know what superpowers you desire, you can secretly think of superpowers and throw them into the pot. Or bring them to the fountain.
And there are always bonus superpowers for anyone who wants…
In fact, let’s name some superpowers right now.
Because then it will be even more awesome when I tell you the next part.
These are just SOME of the superpowers we have called upon at this September Rally (Rally #13!).
And we’re not even done. We have all of today. With another two rounds of madcap Shivanauttery, not to mention the Final Chickening.
But here are some.
“The superpower I’d like to have right now is…”
- To make myself perfectly understood at all times.
- To know everything there is to know about the healing properties of sparkles…
- Being receptive to what is already there.
- Ignoring what other people think.
- The power of being able to talk to plants and receive their truth and believe everything they say.
- Super visual clarity: to see into the heart of the matter without obfuscations.
- Power, strength and balance.
- To be able to communicate my New York elbows without having to explain!
- The ability to start anything I’m afraid of (just to start!).
- To be in many places at once.
- Instant relaxation!
- To remember to take care of myself while traveling.
- Internal earplugs for all internal chatter — they also keep out other people’s stuff.
- A force field accessory that allows in those select few ideas that will make my project easier and keeps out the ones that will make it harder.
- Transposition! Switching places with people when it’s mutually beneficial and agreed-upon.
- I can instantly appear anywhere someone is talking about me.
- Unstoppable serenity!
- To conjure a bubble of silence and darkness at will — no sensory input!
- Agility.
- Overnight recovery.
- Instant awesome hairdo change at will!
- Always knowing what to do next.
- To really and truly believe in my superpowers.
Here’s the neat part.
And not just from this Rally, but from every Rally we’ve had.
The superpowers we call on end up coming true in some weird and unlikely way.
Or sometimes in a really obvious way (because epiphanies are stooopid!).
And sometimes even in a literal and immediate way.
The person who asked for balance and strength discovered the next morning that it was suddenly WAY easier to get up the stairs in his chair.
The person who asked for the ability to fall asleep instantly got her wish the very next night.
The person from two Rallies ago who channeled the superpower of being able to appreciate softness ended up filling her house with cushions after Rally, and now she really does appreciate softness.
Some powers take longer to figure out. But it’s always neat to name them and watch them float around the Playground like buoyant, colorful, happy bubbles.
So. The Anthology of Superpowers.
It’s so much fun to discover what superpowers people think of, crave, desire, invent, and gwish into being.
And not just fun, but often really moving or inspiring.
So I am collecting.
And we are going to make a giant binder at Rally.
With one or two powers to a page. And maybe illustrations, if people feel like illustrating.
Until we have a massive accumulation of collective superpowers to flip through, read and choose from. And add to!
I am very excited about this. It will be the companion book to the PLUM (the Playground User Manual) and to the Book of Yum (the growing compendium of good things to eat in the neighborhood).
Also one day it might be another coloring book. We’ll see.
Superpowers help.
This particular Rally isn’t even over yet, but the results, realizations, epiphanies and surprises people are already having this week are shiny and amazing.
Including:
- The person who discovered their book. Discovery!
- “Oh! I can nap on my issues instead of napping to avoid them: napping can be a way of planting solutions!”
- Someone finished a project on the first day that she’d thought would take her all week!
- “The realization that the thing I thought I hate most is sometimes also the thing I crave/need.”
- “Some desires that I thought were paradoxical can actually help each other out. They can co-exist!”
- After a day of interacting with some walls and creatively sneaking around the stuck, one woman then accomplished “a year’s worth of personal growth and about six weeks of project work in about two hours”
Yes, Rally is outrageously great for so many reasons. But you know what really helps? All the superpowers floating around.
And the way the naming of the powers you want lets you identify the ones you already have.
Play with me! And comment zen for today…
If you would like to invent and invoke superpowers and list them here, you are welcome to. That would be awesome.
If you would like to take any of the superpowers that I mentioned, go for it. There is enough to go around.
If you would like to say “SILENT RETREAT!!!”, just because you can, that’s cool too.
We all have our stuff. We let everyone have their stuff. We don’t tell each other what to do or how to feel. We play.
Tiny Rally-related postscripts!
- If you’re longing to escape American Thanksgiving, there’s 1 spot left for the extra-long Great Ducking Out Rally. Next week we’ll probably open registration for November 2012.
- According to a note from the First Mate, 2012 Rallies are filling up. The ones closest to getting slapped with an orange SOLD OUT sticker: January, March, April and June.
- The list of dates for the 2012 Rallies: on the Rally page. Rally! Prices go up in January.
- If you need a Stowawayship Scholarship-ship, go here.
I think that’s everything!
Love, as always, to the commenter mice, the Beloved Lurkers and everyone who reads.