David posted this J.P. Carse quote in the comments to the Practice of Play:
Surprise causes finite play to end;
it is the reason for infinite play to continue.To be prepared against surprise is to be trained.
To be prepared for surprise is to be educated.
thanks a ton for those quotes, they’ve inspired me to alter a practice of mine. i frequently notice when i get “knocked off track”… when i’m in the flow and then all of a sudden i am not connected anymore. usually i ponder the shift, the cause for the shift, the disruption that has occured in me, the emotion that i may now be stuck on, etc.
my new practice is that i am now first noting that i am surprised… and then i reflect on how the infinite play can continue from this moment of surprise. that which follows still looks the same in my practice (same questions, similar avenues explored)… but instead of walking into the reflection with the taste of disruption on my toungue, i now walk in with the wonder of surprise in my spirit.
thank you for this gift, david.
you can do what you do seriously, bcause you must do it, because you must survive to the end, and you are afraid of dying and other consequences. or, you can do everthing you do playfully, always knowing you have a choice, having no need to survive the way you are,allowing every element of the play to transform you, taking pleasure in every surprise you meet.