Clint Eastwood!

Remember when I used the magic of Clint Eastwood’s negotiating skills to get my monsters to backtrack on everything they believe in?

That was awesome.

So this week I accidentally used some Clint Eastwood negotiating with a contract.

Mainly because I was too stressed out about the proposal to write the proposal.

The silence was too much for them and they offered a counter-proposal without even getting the original proposal, and THIS proposal is awesome.

Thank you, Clint Eastwood.

The Playground calendar is here.

I actually cried when I saw the first one.

Tears of happy-delight and oh-the-cuteness, but also because it is the most beautiful, simple, glowing, play-filled physical thing that I have created.

I have been avoiding writing this week’s chicken.

I think it’s because I don’t want to remember the hard parts. There was a fair amount of hard.

Okay, permission to not have to name it all. I’ll chicken as a way to say: I am here.

Wow. I kind of don’t remember anything like this ever happening. Ever. Certainly not since I started chickening each Friday a hundred and seventy five weeks ago.

But I had a FANTASTIC week. To the point that all the good is just kind of blowing my mind right now. Usually I have to process the hard before getting to the point where I can remember good, but this week was all about the good.

Weird. Awesome-weird! I would not mind feeling this way more often!

We found our Flairground!

The Flairground!

MANY EXCLAMATION POINTS.

It’s where we’re doing Shivanauticon!

MORE EXCLAMATION POINTS.

And there might be a cotton candy machine!

I am completely baffled by the Friday!

Being sequestered at the Playground all week for Rally (Rally!) has been really intense. And time is all warped and makes funny sound effects now.

Mmmhmmmmmmmmm.

But we’re here.

And identity stuff, related to the anger and grief.

Because then Crusader Me, Impassioned Defender of the Weak and Vulnerable Everywhere makes her way to the front of the V, even though this also doesn’t help.

So then I also had to do a lot of negotiating with her, so that she could realize that we practice doing things differently now.

We are changing both the external and internal worlds (and our experience of them) through love and play instead of through anger and blame.

This is hard to remember.

The Shiva Nata workshop!.

We had two hours together yesterday, and they flew by.

So I will say this:

What lovely, fun, creative people! What joy to flail and sing and hum and twinkle together.

It was a beautiful studio and a beautiful time.

Plus there were sound effects, secret missions, a butt-monster and surprising hidden things about flags.

Thank you, Liz, for the stage and the ride. Thank you, Adrian for giving up your Thursday-off! Thank you, Lucy, for letting us use your studio and taking care of us. Thank you, past Rallions who added to the Playground-ey feel. Thank you, everyone who came. I love you all!

Also, thank you to Leni for saying this:

“You’re here! It’s like a Grateful Dead show and Christmas morning at the same time!”

So. I just finished teaching Crossing the Line (the password for this: haulaway), and it was a long and amazing eight day voyage that was secretly years and years in far-away lands. So that is the hard and good of this week.

And for our purposes it was the OLYMPICS. And they have just ended, and I am an exhausted, happy, proud, deliriously overjoyed athlete who is recovering because dude, the Olympics.

Finally.

After TWO consecutive Chickens that were both #168. Yes.

Okay! Here we are.