The Importance of Play

One evening I came home to an strange looking green paste in a bowl on our kitchen counter. Steph explained that we were now almost out of parmesan cheese because Emma and Aspen had decided to take the entire container of parmesan cheese and to mix it with a can of enchilada sauce.

On another occasion while I was busy watching Grant Emma decided to make herself a buttered graham cracker. For those who are unfamiliar with this tasty dessert, it consists of 1 part cracker and about 3 parts butter-thus leaving you unsure if there is actually a graham cracker at all in the mountain of butter. Also to prepare this dish properly you should scoop out the butter with your hands. To top it off you should throw the butter-buried graham cracker in a large cup of water.

Next to sibling quarrels the messy or sometimes even dangerous consequences of children playing is one of the greatest challenges of a parent. And yet, play is so important. I recently read The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt. In the book Haidt discusses the role of play in our evolution and how, like most things in evolution, play is one of those great trade-offs between risk and reward. Play, he explained, is a necessary part of understanding the world we live in. Among our ancient ancestors it's true children who were too reckless or excessive in their play were endangered and potentially didn't survive but those who didn't play didn't learn about their world and consequently didn't survive either. Play is a child's path of discovery, a delicate balance between the dangers of exploration with the need to comprehend their world.

Admittedly this doesn't always console me when I'm cleaning up my daughters latest concoction or fishing in my son's mouth to remove whatever mysterious object he's found on the floor. But recognizing they are following the instincts that will help them learn and understand their world I do find added patience and a greater willingness to accept the occassional mess. I also find a bit of excitement in how I can channel that desire into more productive and safe paths so that they can cultivate a desire to learn throughout their lives.

First Church-The Salt Lake Unitarians

This Sunday I decided to do something I had never done before-attend the Sunday worship services of another Church. I chose to attend the Unitarian church and I had a wonderful time. As I walked into the chapel, which they have named First Church, I was impressed with how beautiful and pristine all the windows and perfectly white walls were. The service began with announcements and they were honoring teachers and in particular giving thanks to all those who had taught the classes for the preceding year. After that they had a very short lamp lighting ceremony that some of the younger kids led. It was admittedly a little cheesy but I really liked the message of the simple chant that, if I recall correctly, was "let this lamp represent the light of truth, the warmth of love and the energy to put it into action" complete with movements made by the kids as they gave the chant. Then the children left for their classes while the adults stayed to listen to the sermon of the Unitarian reverend. Since we were honoring teachers he decided to talk about learning from the teachers in nature.

Admittedly all the things taught in the sermon I didn't agree with. He obviously supports vegetarianism that while I can certainly see the philosophical argument for I don't think I'll ever fully embrace. (My philosophical justication I guess would be that without meat I'd probably commit suicide so it's either me or them and philosophically I always support saving the life of a human over an animal;). But the beautiful thing is that I knew it was an environment where I wasn't expected to accept everything. As a women who talked to me after the meeting explained, "We don't have any dogma here. We have Christians, Buddhists and even atheists and what you believe is up to you. We're just here to have dialogue and have a community."

However there were many things the sermon expressed that I sympathized with. He explained how observing the natural world, for example, should make us more accepting of same-sex unions. He explained how over 450 species of animals have been observed engaged in homosexuality. These animals are not excluded or shunned by others of their species. He also explained how sadly even animals, like humans, can be caged into acting or thinking dogmatically. He shared the example of a circus bear that spent much of his life restricted to a 9 foot square cage and once taken to a large zoo with a spacious area it spent it's life pacing the same area of 9 feet by 9 feet-never wandering beyond the barriers that it had accepted even when they were now no more than an illusion. All in all I found the talk refreshing and inciteful.

At the end of the service I was introduced to a few people, including the reverend of the congregation. I can honestly say the emotions I felt during the meeting, being introduced to the members there, and on reflection afterwards were the emotions I would have once called 'the Spirit'. It was a wonderful feeling, one that reinforced my belief that spirituality is ultimately the experience of when the music playing within us individually finds a melodic harmony with the music playing with those around us.

Steph's Amazing Cake Decorating

On Emma's birthday this year Steph decided to make a special birthday cake. Later she also took a cake decorating class. Today I thought I'd show off some of her impressive creations. Warning, hunger and craving for delicious sugar-packed cake will undoubtedly ensue. Also before you ask, yes, that first doll is actually wearing a cake.






Uh, yeah that last one didn't quite make it to picture time.

The Men Who Stare At Goats

When I saw the preview for 'The Men Who Stare At Goats' I had zero desire to see it. I thought the title was terrible and the goat plopping over with George Clooney staring at it was doing very little to reel me in. However I happened upon a podcast where the author of the book-which the movie is only 'loosely' based on- was being interviewed and I was intrigued by the subject matter. I decided to get the book at the library and once I started it I couldn't put it down-a rarity for me with any book.

The Men Who Stare At Goats is about the military's involvement in researching paranormal superpowers. That's right, our government, if you can believe it, wasting money on things that make absolutely no sense. The book details the governments investigation into psychic spies, subliminal mind control and killing animals by staring at them among other things.

Admittedly at times the author, Jon Ronson, I think tried to suggest a connection between these government activities and a host of other things that seemed a little far-fetched even though it made for interesting reading. For example, he writes about how a psychic spy trained by the military began training others and how one of these trainees eventually announced the arrival of a giant object accompanying the comet Hale-Bopp. He suggests this announcement inspired the Heaven's Gate cult mass suicide. He also discussed how Al Quaida is apparently looking into paranormal powers now as well. I hope this latter rumor is true. The more time terrorists spend investigating how to control our minds with silent messages and how to develop the power to harm people by staring at them the less they'll have to learn how to actually do something that might actually hurt someone.

All and all though it was a fun ride, leaving you fascinated at how individuals who have risen to the height of power can still be duped by psychics and paranormal gurus. Though eerily enough it's funny to see yourself asking-I wonder if that could really work? And if, by the way, the subliminal invisible message I wrote in white font between paragraphs is leaving you with an uncontrollable urge to send me loads of cash please let me know-preferably in a letter stuffed with loads of cash;).