Playing in the Snow

Wow, did we have a great snow storm. The snow was perfect; deep, fluffy and very white. We had a ball sledding in it, walking through the woods in it and falling in it. It was fun, it was safe and inspired a lot of full body laughs. God it is great to play and have fun.

Hop to It

Ok, how much fun could I have wearing a black suit? Here was the idea. What if we showed up at the center of commerce in a major city and started playing hopscotch? Would people join in? Would I get arrested? Could we help people smile a bit more? So we did it. See for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lXH2TxcX3E

I Lost My Sense of Play

When you start feeling angry or frustrated, it is a sure sign that you have lost your sense of play. Last night I was teaching an MBA class on presentation skills. Early on in the night I found myself feeling angry at a few students as I watched them perform well below their potential --either because they hadn't prepared or because they adopted a somewhat silly approach to the assignment.

When I find myself playing the anger game it usually catches me unaware, it's unintentional - mostly a response to a situation. When I'm angry, I never feel that I am operating as my best self. It's almost as if I've lost a bit of control and I worry that I may say something that I will regret.

So this morning I've decided to play a new game as it relates to teaching this class. The game I'm going to start playing is the "Committed but Detached" game. In this game, while I'm committed to my students growth, I'm detached from how they choose to engage in class. It is a reminder to me to not take their level of participation personally. It's not that I'm lowering my expectations, I'm just choosing to adopt a new approach when my expectations aren't met. It also helps me to stop feeling responsible for the actions of others.

I invite you to play the Committed but Detached game along with me. Playing this game will allow you to keep giving 100% while providing a well-needed buffer between you and the responses of others.

The Fun Theory

Evan and I received the same YouTube clip from 4 different people within the same week. You may have seen it too. It shows how given the choice, most people in this subway station take the escalator up vs. taking the stairs. Then a change is made to the stairs -- they are ingeniously turned into piano steps so when people walk on them they play a note. (Anyone who has ever seen the movie Big remembers the scene of "Tom Hanks" playing chopsticks in FAO Schwarz.) The YouTube video shows how 66% more people start to take the stairs when walking up them becomes fun.

This clip is connected to this initiative Volkswagen has created called The Fun Theory. It is dedicated to the idea that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people's behavior for the better. Of course, Evan and I would say that the easiest way to change your own behavior is to start making things fun for yourself. That's the who idea behind our Games for the Day. They enable you to build your own piano keys for whatever set of steps you need to climb. Are you interested in walking through life making music?

How Far?

We were jumping off sand dunes on the coast in San Francisco --and would you believe that it was part of an exercise for a class I was taking in graduate school?! I was throwing myself in the air and out on the dunes time and time again. It was a blast.

Then as I ran and tossed myself out as far as I could go, I must have said out loud “I want to go soooo far.” One of the facilitators heard me and asked ,“do you mean on this dune or in life?”. At that moment I had meant on the dune, but as he asked me, it struck me that this was how I felt about my life.

I loved the sense of freedom, joy, and experimentation I was feeling on the dune and yes -- this is what I imagined for my life. I did want to see how far I could fly on the dune and I was excited to see how far I could fly in life.

The class I was taking was called: Releasing the Spirit of Play. My professor, Thomy Barton, opened a door for me in 1983 that has brought you and me to this blog. For in Play, I found the pathway to flying in life – and for dealing with the tumbling in life. These days we are in the flying mode; throwing ourselves more fully into play than ever before -- re-connected to that day on the dune, the joy of going far -- with a huge smile on our faces.

Welcome to our blog.

Let’s see how far we can go together!

evan marcus