A-Playful-Path_DeKoven-web

Playing Inside
A playful path takes you wherever you want to take it.
A few years ago, I decided to find out if I could take it inside the same way I
took it out, playing with my imagined selves like I play with others, reaching
playfully into my very soul.
The older we get, the more we have to play with, inside. Memories upon
memories, books, songs, movies, TV shows, things we’ve seen on the computer,
games we’ve played. No wonder we don’t want to leave. And now
that we have computers, there’s still more to play with, still inside, screened
off, but connected to worlds and worlds.
So many things to play with, to remember, to think about, to bring back to
mind, so much to play with that it sometimes seems that there is hardly any
room, anywhere, to imagine anything else.
But a playful path, no matter where it takes you, must, ultimately, take you
beyond remembered things, beyond the familiar, the recognizable, beyond
the screen, even when you’re playing inside.
Luckily, your imagination is at least as big as you imagine it to be. There’s
always room. You can build a new place. A playground. A sacred ground,
wholly your own, where even the most intricately delicate of imaginary delights
are as permanent as you are.
So, that’s what I did. I pretended a playground. My own, personal, inner playground.
You might consider taking a similar journey, but, of course, your
own, in your own inner playground - the one that you imagine into being. I
started my journey in a dentist’s office, and ended up making it the appendix
for this book. To be taken as an example. And then to be taken wherever
you want to go with it.
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