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Writer's pictureeastonstandard

Day 12: Treasure at the Center



Well well - happy EVENING of Day 12!


You may have noticed, today's post is coming quite a bit later in the day than I had been releasing these prompts up until now. This was on purpose - as the RIPPLES from yesterday led me directly to today's prompt, REST.


Where did my RIPPLES bring me yesterday? When I last checked-in, I had just gone through a period of struggle with my daily creating and post writing and was noticing RIPPLES from a lot of emotional clearing the day before. This led me to choose my explorer / observer personalities which are where I locate my calmest play-moments that feel like a hammock to fall in to. The challenge became how to engage these personalities from within indoor apartment space, so that I could honor my RIPPLE asking me to take it easy for the day. So I went in search and found:

  1. A new zen-garden feeling virtual space (explorer / observer / storyteller)

  2. A ripple from Day 9, Instrument : a white pumpkin (explorer / artist-creator)

These became my RIPPLE drops for the day, and off I went.


"Spiritfarer is an indie adventure game developed by Thunder Lotus Games. It was released on 18th August 2020 (my actual birthday?!) for PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. In the game you play as Stella, ferrymaster to the deceased, a Spiritfarer. Build a boat to explore the world, then befriend and care for spirits before finally releasing them into the afterlife."


This game is a quick way for my explorer personality to take the wheel (literally - I'm driving the ship!) and get lost in a mystical world of color and soothing sounds, filled with calming repetitive activities that feel meditative paired with a narrative that pushes my observer personality into thought provoking spaces - (can you tell yet that I love that kind of thing?)


But OK OK ANOTHER RIPPLE I remember how not great I felt this morning from getting lost in this world for too long. So, time to change it up and let another play personality have some time. My artist-creator is feeling a little taxed with the daily creation of play-prompt graphics and fun visuals, and is maybe a little frustrated at the responsiblity of it all. This is a particularly strong indicator that I NEED PLAY HERE and I mean real deep play that is not connected to deadlines (even when personal). This is where I like to set little RIPPLE gifts, from my past self to my future. Back on Day 9 Instrument, I was doing some grocery shopping when I noticed a particularly white pumpkin with a sweet curly stem that really felt seasonal to me. Funny enough, I'm not a big pumpkin carver (mess I don't always feel like cleaning) but hey, maybe this is a blank canvas for later or a gift to my collector self. Sure enough, I saw this yesterday through the lens of my artist-creator and so I decided to pick it up and do a drawing, to see if i could let a pattern ripple down and around a pumpkin as a challenging canvas. Here's what happened!


So Where's the Treasure....?


This is what I was thinking about last night as I was falling asleep, and what I spent this morning feeling. My inventorying told me that I felt distinctly calmer than I had the day before, that I had a new ripple of wanting to change up my posting time- that it feels right to post when my play has come to completion- coming through, and that what I found after all of the ups and downs of the RIPPLES is a sense of REST. And isn't that true, that after a ripple a lake returns to a state of calm - of REST.



Rest It Up


"He that can take rest is greater than he that can take cities." - Benjamin Franklin

Rest is really truly as much a part of play as playing is. I think of REST as another Liminal Place signifier- an in between point where you are able to incorporate, rejuvenate, orient, and choose your next direction.


For today's thought provoking metaphor, Imagine a dog park. Animals are a really great reference point for the observation of simplified, organic Play. When two dogs are playing, at some point or another, each dog takes a pause from the game. This sometimes happens when boundaries are discovered, when physical rest is needed, or when another interest is discovered and pursued. REST is part of the ebb and flow of truly playing. It is the state in which the feedback loop of a ripple can be acknowledged, processed, and incorporated into next action. On top of that, it's what recharges us! It can feel easy to dismiss, but I truly think that the greatest leaders are ones who are rested enough to be the ones to lead. When we are rested, we make our most grounded and impactful decisions. It's in states of stress, of fight or flight that IQs literally drop and emotional decision making takes over, leading to quick decisions and reactionary consequences. REST is necessary, and can be playful in how we access it. It helps us build understanding of our own boundaries, awareness of other players' boundaries, to recharge and incorporate ripple feedback for learning (you're building new neural pathways!) and let's you choose the clearest path forward with new spaces and tools. See what i did there - expanding all this under the umbrella of our over-theme for week 2?

Today we are starting late! 6:30pm EST beginning Play time means you have a full 24hrs until the next play prompt drops. I'm playing around with after-work after-dinner timing to see how well these posts do, gather some ripples, and pick my next play path forward tomorrow.


I am wishing you an evening of rest filled Play! Jumping off points below. I am looking forward to seeing how you are incorporating your expanding play knowledge into rest this evening, or tomorrow before 6pm so throw an @ on your IG stories and posts!











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