Through a Jungian Lens

Playing for all he’s worth

I’ve been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to play with my youngest grandson for the past five days. He’s just three years old and he uses as many of his hours as possible in play. Most of those hours were spent with me while mother and grandmother had time for other things.

It didn’t take long for me to lose many decades of structured life as I became his partner in play. He was a good teacher and I was his willing student. And in the process of shared play, a bond of trust was built that allowed me to become the leader and use my life experience to guide the play to the practice of new skills and the gaining of new knowledge.

The greatest gift that my grandson gave me was time spent out of my head. For the time he was here in my home, I spent time on little things such as building towers with blocks, racing and crashing toy cars, doing and re-doing jigsaw puzzles, playing in the snow, going for walks and sled rides, reading story books and wrestling that involved a lot of tickling. It was a time for imagination to run wild and free, a time for male bonding, mentoring, modelling and simply being “pépére.”

Today’s photo is different from the usual fare offered here.  The photo was taken with my camera while my wife and I were on stage with our students, singing.  Sometimes it is important to simply “play.”  I use music as part of my teaching of English as a second language.  It is about motivation, authentic language and having fun.  This is vital as I found out yesterday when one of these students asked me if the end of the world was near.  The fears are high with all of the events of the past two weeks.  The question was asked in terms of the often heard end of the world talk surrounding the Mayan calendar.

My response?  Well, I have to admit that I don’t believe in any of these predictions.  Life happens, shit happens, babies are born, people die, people play.  I don’t hold with an exterior dark and evil other that will wipe out humanity on a particular calendar date.  For me, such beliefs are projections of the collective unconscious.  Holding these beliefs is more about being defeated than being vitally alive.  So, to answer the question of my response, I told them that it was superstition and was not truth or fact.  With question period finished I taught them a new song, an exercise in listening to discover the words using only their ears.  We play together and learn together knowing that there are too many days where learning and life will be painful.