Playfulness
Of the Importance of Being Playful
Sometimes a picture can encapsulate much more than words, and there is much to discover from self in observing what kind of feelings arise from observing and interacting with a picture.
And these feelings will change, just as you change your past when you remember it at different points in time, from various experiences standpoints.
Perhaps, some years earlier, the little blue bonnet boy on the picture would have heard something like the following
Don’t be fooled searching for a meek solace looking around for others equally or more pitiful. This time, you won’t find them, these others who are feeling the same way, because all you seem to reflect around you is that everyone is having fun, and you do not.
The crux of it is that you continue and you force yourself in a way that does not suit you well, because of the others ways of doing things. Or so it seems. What if that were not about the others at all?
Why not just listen to the playful child in you?
The one giggling around, yes, that very one tickling you, hinting at so many mischievous ideas to be enjoying the game, but in different ways, more suited to you.
Of course that may upset others, but what if it would not? Wouldn’t you take the chance?
And he would have let go of the igloo that the others were so engrossed in building, and without much fuss, would have played with the lone cat, and built his own sliding track in the snow. Snow was there, like the sun, shining for everyone all the same, so why should everyone configure it the same?
But now, this is a different voice that speaks, one who does not need to remind such things any longer. A voice for which it feels more natural to express the joy of the child, regardless of other’s interpretations or judgments.
Because that voice knows also that all interpretations are valid and are pieces of the same jigsaw puzzle.
All there is left is the joy of bringing these pieces together, and create new pictures.
So here are some pieces that Fiona and Dory have shared and assembled with Quintin…
Perhaps, if you allow yourself to see the symbols beyond the word, and let them tell you a story just for you, you will create your own version of the story. Feel free to share it 
Quintin : What did you see in the picture ?
Fiona : Playing in the snow, lots of things. I thought yes much better idea to play in the snow than trudge.
I really loved how you got the texture of the snow, on the tree on the far left particularly
Quintin : Yes, in the process, I had to focus more on depths and shadows than on colours
Fiona : I keep staring at the cat, a bit puzzled, also the way he is looking out of the picture
I mean the effect it has ; to feel some sort of response is required by the viewer
I find myself, and this isn’t that conscious, trying to discover the meaning of it
Quintin : The stares of the characters are all directed on the viewer, is that what you mean? I tend to do it unconsciously lots of time, but here feels a bit different, the scenery is more complex
Fiona : The one in the front, there is a question in his pose, and he is looking out at the viewer.
Quintin : It was not quite intended that way, but you’re right about it
Dory : oh lovely, a snow yurt!
Fiona : And he doesn’t know the answer either, is what i read ; but it doesn’t matter
Quintin : because there is not one fixed answer, you are right again
Dory : he looks full of fun and trust to me, no hands at the top of the helter skelter, huge smile, wide eyes
Dory : very serpentine, the snow path, reminds me of an octopus…
Quintin : yes, the form was the first that came, so I kept it, but did not know how I could make it believable. In the end, it was a matter of playing with depth and shadows that brought the reality of it 
Dory : Yes depth and shadow, and light
Also interesting that the lynx is taking the easy way across the top, but the blue hat one is going for the tricky roundabout way because it’s fun
I want to know where the little wooden bridge goes to behind the tree
Quintin : how I enjoy your different perspectives. And how do you see the background characters, around the igloo?
Dory : Getting my glasses, hang on…..
Quintin : Ahahahah
Dory : the guy on the right with the coffee and the wheelbarrow looks grounded in the real world, appreciating physical body and physical things like coffee
Fiona : the small one (on the left) wants to join in, a little bit nervous though, looks a bit mischievous
Dory : yes, a bit tentative
The one in the pink scarf is a bit cheeky
Fiona : pink scarf is in, boots and all
Dory : something strange about pink scarf girl ; half of her on the right is in shadow, but she is moving forceful out towards the left of the shadow, and yet her hands are still occupied on the shadow side. She’s halfway, or not sure where she wants to be
Quintin : perceptive Dory
Dory : there is a fish on the left coming out of a hole, under blue hat’s left foot
Fiona : a fish is there!
Quintin : Under the sleigh track ?
Dory : yes, a round dark hole, and his tail is in the hole and he is heading towards the left
Quintin : Do you recognize yourself in any one of them, one in particular, or different ones at different times?
Dory : I am all four of them
Quintin : Five? (the cat is part of the picture too )
Dory : Blue hat is interesting that he is seeing in two directions at the same time,
Fiona : most of the attention is on blue hat
Quintin : yes
Dory : well, he is very engaging in his excitement, but he is sort of lone in the image
Quintin : good point again
Dory : pink scarf keeps catching my eye, and the wheelbarrow man
Fiona : I like the cat, looks quite thoughtful, just watching
Quintin : I like the cat very much too
Dory : Also interesting is that the far land has no snow
Fiona : wheelbarrow man looks crafty, ahaha like he will get more hits than pink scarf
Dory : I just noticed he is looking at pink scarf!
Fiona : yes Dory, I thought that about far land too
Dory : actually the quiet one is interesting, looks like she’s getting a lot done, but without a big fuss
Quintin : quiet one is? the one on the left?
Dory : yes
Fiona : she looks giggly
Quintin : okay ; blue hat, pink scarf, quiet one, wheelbarrow man and the cat
Dory : she’s giggling at all the fuss, she’s quite happy just doing whatever she’s doing
Wheelbarrow man is connected to both the yurt and the far land
The snow path doesn’t have to be there at all, the hairpin bend etc
Fiona : Little tree growing or little plants…
It’s a riddle
Dory : blue hat could be over on the yurt side too if he wanted to be, but he wants to do the crazy switchback anyway
Quintin : Excellent points You have connected marvelously, both of you!
Dory : cool eh! that was fun
Quintin : That’s the point 
10 Comments
Feeling drawn again to wheelbarrow man; he seems to have a wonderful balance with his feet firmly in his physical world….until the devil-may-care excitment of blue hat calls me again….(I’m laughing at seeing the (gold) fish on bluehat’s side)…hhm, maybe I am still pink scarf today, goldfishing from one character to another willy nilly…..but! it matters not, we are all playing
It is clear to me now that the little goldfish, covered in a coating of white snow, is key to the whole image. I hope someone realises this before the poor thing perishes. It is a fish out of water and faces many dangers. Is the cat looking at it? Will the key be lost forever? Or are there plenty more keys in the sea? or snow? See? It is often the way that the small and seemingly insignificant is actually of profound importance. (feel free to delete this Eric, or post it twice, whatever you like)
hhmm Franci, I want an eyes avatar too! Being goldfish is key! The key will never be lost forever now we have the pen thingies, we can create keys all over the place, and snow-goldfish, or even sea parrots…..there are no limits to what we can playfully create!
Now you make me think I wanted to revamp a bit that platypy gold-catfish of yesterday
Stay tuned
EDIT: Here it is, just click on the icon on the right…
It was Dory who first spotted the little goldfish and pointed it out enthusiastically to the others. Even Quintin, who was nearby and had practically stomped on it with his big boots, had not noticed it. Fiona got quite a surprise. She’d had a dream recently where a beautiful goldfish was killed by her black cat. In her dream she went searching for another goldfish, and since then they had been on her mind alot.
So Fiona picked up the little fish tenderly and was overjoyed to find it was still alive. For a moment she felt anxious. The last goldfish she had cared for, not the dream one but a real life one, had got sick and died. Clearly goldfish were not her forte.
Not to worry, she decided. Her friend Dory was excellent at researching interesting stuff on the internet. Perhaps if she could be dragged away from her new pen thingy she might research goldfish. Fiona thought there was a high probability of this as Dory seemed sure that the little goldfish was some sort of a “key”.
Fiona’s dreams about goldfishes made Quintin ponder a while, and he remembered that Chinese were among the first to domesticate the little coloured carps in their ponds, for the fish was an auspicious symbol.
The gold-like colour was even more desirable than the common silver one (like the snow one in the picture, shaped as a wiggly key or bottle opener), but yellow was a royal colour too, and as such, reserved to the emperor.
As a matter of fact, the Chinese words for “gold fish” are 金鱼 (jin yú), which is pronounced like 金余, or “excess of gold/riches”.
No wonder then, that for such an abundance of riches, a small attention span is golden, and key. A blessing in disguise.
Another thing about the goldfish, is that it’s oftentimes confined in a small bowl of water, and may represent wishes for a more extended spiritual freedom…
But the bowl is perhaps only a shell and it’s all just a matter of perspective (an image Quintin had seen some time ago on Aimée’s blog, whose essence animal is a sailfish, she’d said) ?
And of course, the fish is a Christian symbol, which was featured in Philip K. Dick’s VALIS, but that would be another story altogether…
And after all, he thought, Quintin interest wasn’t much for gilt; he preferred the playful striped clownfish…
How funny he suddenly remembered that yú, could be 鱼 the fish, 余 the excess, the riches, or… 愚 yú the fool, the dolt… or drôle
Fiona was quite impressed with all the things Quintin knew. Hmmph, she thought, all I saw was a little fish which needed saving.
She didn’t like creeping though, and Quintin might become insufferable if he knew she thought he was clever, so she just said “that’s quite interesting Quintin, better watch where you walk in future though” when he shared his thoughts with the others.
Dory was late again. She found the portal in the glass bowl. AHAHAHAHAH this is funny
I don’t mind creeping, you’re both VERY entertaining!
OK… I was feeling a bit constrained and upset. A friend at work had just told me about his divorce procedure and his fight with his wife (future ex) and he also told me about his parents who were dead… phiew.
Just checked out the site for new comments on Malvina’s Story and had this random link to the playfulness article
it’s a great reminder >:D<
A cool reminder about the value of playfulness (and a reminder to do some more group sketches sometime soon