- In the Dentist Office - wherein
I discover the Inner Playground: (mp3)
- The Inner Playground -
defined
- My Inner Inner City
- My Own Private Hollywood
- Part Two: Games for the
Inner Player
- Freeze Tag
- Mother May I
- Simon Says
- Part Three: Building an Inner Playground
- The Inner Seesaw
- My Inner Swingset
- Part Four: Introducing Serious and Silly
- Serious and Silly (mp3)
- Kick the Can
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Date: 95-06-26 00:18:34 EDT
From: The major
To: The Oaqui
(for Reb
Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)
Of all the players on my inner playground, Serious and Silly are
the best known. They've played together for years. They understand
each other intimately. They can play the most complicated games
you can imagine. And, from time to time, they can really play beautifully
together. There's one particular game that they can never play
particularly well. Yet they play it almost all the time, and seem
to really enjoy it. It's a variation of hide-and-seek and peek-a-boo
and achieving enlightenment.
Typically, Silly suggests the game. Serious always wants to be
Seeker. This, actually, is a good arrangement. Serious is an expert
at keeping rules and being fair and defining what's off limits.
Silly, on the other hand, is remarkably good at being the Hider.
Next they decide on Home Base. The inner playground is full of
potential home bases and hiding places, from Toe to Tongue, Throat
to Lung. Silly usually picks the Nose.
Silly will play Hider, and Serious, as we already predicted, will
play Seeker. Serious focuses all attention on being the breather,
the nostril, the sensor of the air. And then begins to count (backwards,
by primes, from 97). Silly is supposed to be hiding by the time
Serious reaches zero. Despite years of practice, Serious just can't
ignore Silly for the whole count. So, as usual, Serious has to
start over again several times before Silly is really ready to
hide.
Finally, Serious completes the count. At last, the moment of truth.
Serious, in a blink of the inner eye, reaches the unavoidable conclusion
that Silly is definitely hiding. At this point, the game almost
always breaks down. It's just too much for both of them. For Silly,
hiding is fun, but only for a little while. And for Serious, just
the thought of being all alone, leaving Home, without Silly...it's
almost too frightening. Even Serious doesn't want to have to be
that serious.
Fortunately, both Serious and Silly have had a lifetime to play.
All it takes to get Silly out of hiding is someone to say "Allee
Allee Oxen Free." I don't know why they keep on playing Hide and
Seek. Tag is a much better game for both of them. They'd never
have to be apart. And, together, they could even find other players
to play with.
I tried to ask them once, when I thought they were between games.
And they started running after me, yelling "You're IT." |
