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  Authentic play, a state of being, of belonging & insight O. Fred Donaldson & Michael Mendizza Something happens when adults step in and organize child's play. Kids stop calling the shots and negotiating the fouls. When adults set the schedule, play becomes practice. Neighborhood pick-up games disappear. Front and center, everyone is watching, try-outs, grades, grown-up rules and regulations. One wins. All the rest don't. What we call play has become a compulsive race for recognition, especially for the unbonded child the unsafe child, the child who doesn't know what it feels like to be unconditionally loved and accepted. Deep in our nature is another quality of play, an original play more fundamental than the games and rules we have invented. Original play is both an all-embracing vision of reality and a practice of kindness, which permeates all of one's relationships. To be in this state is to be in touch and to be touched deeply by our authentic human nature and the natural world. Original play cultivates a renewing sense of enchantment and engagement with the world. It develops calmness, awareness, and a flexible ability to handle stress, surprise, or challenges without aggression. The state of original play develops radically different behaviors than those encouraged by the dominant contest culture. The response is deeper, more universal and authentic. The limitations of our cultural identity drop away leaving the dynamic relationship of the two faces of God, exploring, learning together. Original play is an ecological intelligence. The sensitivity this play develops needs to be understood and integrated into all aspects of family, community and professional life. |
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