I made friends with someone recently who cares deeply about
the process of dying. Her background is hospice
care (among other interests) and she keeps a blog that is about “the spiritual practice of contemplating death as
a way of living life more fully.”
Most people would not put “death” in the same category as “play”
but in talking with my new acquaintance one day I discovered the two go hand-in-hand. As I
described PlayFull to her, her eyes lit up because she instantly saw how the
process of dying (and the practice of being a companion to someone in their
dying) was an intrinsically playful process.
Play, at its fullest, is a vulnerable practice. It involves
a posture of openness in which we let another see our real self, with no
pretension, no hypocrisy, no concern for image. We play when we come to the
place where we say, “I don’t have anything to lose! I may as well be myself and
embrace the joy, freedom and grace of doing so. I have space to play and
imagine.”
In that light, it could be said that those who are at their
most helpless are those who can truly play. This, I believe, is why my friend saw
play as something that coincides with her calling to come alongside those who
are near death. She experiences her vocation in hospice care as playful.
On Saturday, she forwarded a link to me on Twitter. She drew my attention to a game someone has developed that helps people open up to talk freely
about end-of-life questions. The game is called “My Gift of Grace”.
An article in The Huffington Post explains the game in
further detail:
“The game doesn't have winners or losers. Instead, it uses
cards divided into questions, statements and activities. To start the game,
each player fills out a card that has a question…or statement…, then uses those
to start conversations with family and friends. The game ends with
"action" cards, which double as magnets, and act as reminders…”
"’A lot of people think a game about death and dying
sounds sad and scary, but our experience is the more you do it, the more it
allows you to be joyful about day-to-day life,’ said Jehlen, 42, who tested the
game by playing it with colleagues, and sought the input of chaplains and
health-care workers.”
A cardiac surgeon who was interviewed for the article says this about approaching the topic of death from a playful angle: “’What I see, particularly with some
people in the aging population, is that if you approach a conversation about
the end of life it brings up a wall. So if instead what you are doing is
playing a game and talking about things or activities that are important in
their lives and coming at it from the direction of letting family know about
their desires, it bridges a gap. Some people need a nudge.’”
Mindfulness about the process of dying can encourage us to “carry
ourselves more lightly.” It puts all lesser challenges into perspective and
thus deepens an appreciation for life. Considering end-of-life questions,
surprisingly, can help us live more playfully.
-Troy
No comments:
Post a Comment