Play theory

Have I told you guys about Play Theory?

Because it is pretty awesome.

It's this club on campus that my friends happen to be starting, well...starting the USU chapter. They were in it down in LDS Business college.

Anyway, it is a club that is all about learning life skills, like happiness, through improv games.

Right up my alley, right?

So we have 4 principles that we focus on and learn about and practice through playing, they are as follows :

1. Be 100% present.
2. Let go and play.
3. Say yes, and...
4. Look outward.

Are these not great principles to live life by?

Be 100% present
I feel like this one is self explanatory. It is hard to accomplish much of anything, if you are not in the moment. You have to be aware of the now to enjoy the now.

Let go and play.
Seriously, stop taking yourself so seriously. Life is also meant to be enjoyed.

Say yes, and...
Don't always be the one to say no. Except what life throws you and the add to it.

Look Outward.
When you try to make others look good, you inadvertently make yourself look good.

Theses are just Mandy's translations of the principles, the real ones are much more eloquent.

But basically. I love play theory, and I am so glad I get to go play once a week. 

Why I loved Frozen

Okay, I know that there are a million posts out there about frozen and arguing what it is really saying to everyone.

But let me be annoying and throw one more out there.

I know that everyone has been claiming that frozen is pushing the "gay agenda". I'll be honest, the first, second and third time I saw it, I didn't jump to that conclusion.

I can plainly see how everyone is seeing that. And it is a completely valid perspective.

But I am looking through different eyes.

I saw a girl, who struggled with something that was part of her. She felt that she was not allowed to show it, she wasn't allowed to have it. If she just concealed it and ignored it, maybe it would go away. Maybe it wouldn't exist.

She finally hit a point where she let it out, and people reacted....let's say poorly...

So she ran away to be by herself so that she could be herself. She was finally allowed to feel things that were part of her.

This is what I saw because this is the battle I have fought with myself.

I have my own trials, as all of us do. But one thing that society and many of the people heavily involved in my life taught me was that I am not allowed feelings.

I am not allowed to be sad. I am not allowed to get angry. I am not allowed bad days. I am not allowed to be confused. I am not allowed to be frustrated. I am not allowed to be hurt.

Basically, if it was a negative emotion, it was not allowed.

So I learned to hide them.

"Conceal, don't feel. Don't let them know."

I was not allowed to have the emotions that are part of being human. So I tried to get rid of them. I tried to control them. If I could conceal them, they didn't exist. If I didn't feel them, they didn't matter.

But that doesn't work forever.

Eventually the human in me came out. I had a terrible year with a lot of problems. And these negative emotions started coming out.

I got sad. I got angry. I got frustrated. All because I was hurting.

And when they started coming out people who were in my life, even good friends, reacted...let's say poorly...

I began to be ostracized when I was trying to scream for help. So I "ran away". Metaphorically speaking, of course. I shut down. I turned all feelings off. Including happy ones.

However, we  as humans, don't work well when we simply don't feel. So I started staying in more and more. I skipped classes so I didn't have to be around people. Because when I was alone, I was allowed feelings again. That's when I could be angry or frustrated or sad or hurt or happy or accomplished or smart.

When I was alone, I could be me.

The difference between Elsa and I? No one came after me.

Well...false...ONE TIME, I had one friend who realized I was dangerously not okay, and he did come by and we went for a long drive. He was the only one.

And that was enough.

I decided somewhere that I should consider re-joining the human race.

But I was still hiding my "powers" or the negative emotions. I couldn't trust these new close friends with them yet.

Slowly, I let them know this and that, so that they could understand that I do have problems and struggles, I am just not allowed to show them.

One in particular (simply because I spent the most time around him, as we are attending the same school) learned a lot more and has been able to see a lot more than anyone else.

All of the sudden, I was allowed to have my "powers", that thing that was part of me. And because they were now allowed, I was able to start controlling them. I was able to work through and with them in a constructive manner.

That is why I loved Frozen.

And because all of us have those challenges that aren't always accepted, it strikes a chord in all of us.

I love that it was so beautifully done that everyone could start seeing and thinking and interpreting things about it.

It was wonderful.