play – Juanita Collins

May 22, 2014

In the Spirit of Play (or how I spent my April allowance)

Last January I posted my about word for the year: PLAY!

So, in the spirit of that resolution, I spent almost my entire April allowance on playful inspiration: books!

I want to knit something bigger than a sock or a hat, but I know myself…I will make the front of something, or a sleeve, and then put the project away. Why? Because I just hate sewing the seams. I actually have an entire knitted sweater – front, back and two sleeves sitting in my basket. It’s been sitting in my basket since…um…gah! I am embarrassed to say it: about 1998. Needless to say, it no longer fits. But the yarn is good! It was expensive! So I’m in the process of unraveling the entire thing so that I can make something lovely with it. Knitted tops with no side seams! Yay!

Prairie Children and their Quilts because I love anything to do with history and story-telling, and I’ve also become fascinated with miniature quilts. AND Mastering Quilt Marking because I want to expand my hand quilting beyond using purchased templates. I’d love to quilt some of the beautiful, intricate feathers & fans etc. I have the skill to do the hand quilting, but lack the technique of how to get the markings onto the quilt top. Maybe I can practice on a miniature quilt! Boo yah!

Bread from Sourdough to Rye because I’ve been given the wonderful gift of heritage Yukon sourdough starter (read all about it here – it’s a cool story!) and I’ve been experimenting with baking bread. This book also has breads from all over the world, from challah to chapatti! And The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook by Jaden Hair because I follow her blog, which is all about yummy Asian-style cooking. (And Jaden is also a quilter, so duh….)

And then BONUS! Look what my extraordinarily fabulous son of mine sent me for Mother’s Day!

All the indoor rainy-day bases are covered! Over the next couple of months I’ll be saving my allowance for outside play…new hiking boots and a day pack.

A spending allowance is built into our retirement budget.. I’ll post about it soon!

How did you spend your allowance last month?

January 1, 2014

Cheers for a Playful 2014!

Hello and Happy New Year!

Have you ever chosen a word
just one single word
to guide you through the year?

For the last couple of years I’ve held the word balance close to my heart. It was the word that helped me to navigate a very busy life: teaching up to 5 dance classes per week, directing a dance troupe, choreographing and producing shows while managing to have a family life and working a 9-5 day job (phew!)

Balance was the word that got me through to the other side of menopausal depression. I was out of balance physically, emotionally and hormonally. Searching for and maintaining balance was the lifeline that I clung to and the rope I hauled myself up by. It kept me secure during the heartache of deciding to let go of my dance troupe and students. I kept it in the front of my mind during my weight loss journey (65 pounds!). It was the word that taught me to put health and happiness above productivity.

Balance guided me through the waters of deciding to retire relatively young; to move to a new town and seek out new adventures.

Balance: what a beautiful word!

But now it’s time for a new word to live by. It’s time to get out of the box and…

PLAY!

This year I am going to play in my kitchen and learn to bake a cake from scratch. Specifically, some of the Chatelaine cakes. Yum!

…and I will experiment creating delicious meals from all over the globe: India, Japan, Italy, Thailand…! No fear in the kitchen will be my new motto – play with those spices, Nita! Try it out!

In my Creativity room I will play in the sewing nook, on the yoga mat, in-front-of the dance mirror and with words at my laptop.

My body will become stronger as I play outdoors, exploring local walking and hiking trails with Kelly and Sammy. We’ll take our bikes out and explore some of the country roads.

I will play in the garden, discovering all the wonders of living in a zone 5 gardening region.

I vow to put myself “out there” and be open to meeting new friends, getting involved in the community somehow (music? theater? dance?)

My friend Melissa at 100 Billion Stars puts it brilliantly (you can read her entire blog post here):

Play is a way of making room for our potential. It isn’t about pretending to be something we hope to be one day. It isn’t about presenting a different face to the world, trying on masks and personae. It’s about being authentic and true to ourselves in an atmosphere without judgment or rules. It’s from this place that growth begins, releasing the possibilities that have been lying dormant all our lives.

So here I am this morning, wishing you all a wonderful year of play and a hell of a good time doing it!

No fear! Have fun!

PLAY!

(these wonderful family photos were taken by Heather Jones of hpj photography at our Fox Lake cabin last September. We had so much fun!)

July 11, 2013

Play Ball!

So there I am, minding my own business…

enjoying the day…

when suddenly Sam gets an idea!

“Ball!” thinks Sam

And off he goes to look for it.

Wanna play? yeah, yeah, yeah? wanna play? Ball?

Playing ball with Sam requires two balls. One for Sam and one for me.

First, I chuck the ball with the chucker…

Then Sam and I both take off running after it.

Sam gets there first. He drops his ball and picks up mine.

Then he chews on it until I arrive. Then I chuck the ball again and we repeat several times until we are both tired of running after the ball.

We win!

May 21, 2013

Play!

Melissa at 100 Billion Stars writes wonderful, inspiring blog posts. Her last one was about giving ourselves permission to play.

This is something near and dear to my heart. There are so many ways to be creative and let your playful side out. You can dance, sing, twirl and move all by yourself in your living room. You can surround yourself with fabric and start cutting and sewing without any rules or idea of where you might end up. You can play tag with your dog or bounce a piece of yarn with your cat. You can write a letter or a poem or a crazy song. Whatever you do, just let your imagination be in charge for once. Just for once! let go of rules and expectations and create something simply for the sake of playing.

I find myself missing the creativity and playfulness of teaching dance. I feel like my brain and my body are a bit mushy from the lack of it, and I am starting to think about teaching again in some fashion. And so I am taking Melissa’s advice and I am going to play with dance this coming weekend. I have asked my little friend Jade if she would like to learn to dance with veils. (well, actually I asked Jade’s mother and she said yes, lol!) Jade is 7 years old.

Here is a picture of me at age 7:

I am going to pick Jade and her 4-year-old sister up on Saturday and we are going to have a play date. I don’t have any child-sized veils for them…I might need to cut one of mine in half. I will have to dig them out and have a look-see. We are going to have so much fun! Silly, goofy fun and Jade will learn some dance at the same time.

I will leave you with a video of my old dance troupe Saba Middle Eastern Dance Ensemble (who I miss playing with very much) performing a piece that I choreographed for them for Rockin’ the Casbah a couple of years ago. This is women’s Gulf dance and it is all about play. I had so much fun choreographing this piece and I hope you have fun watching it! In fact, if it inspires you to get up and dance along with us, go for it!

How are you going to play today?