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Ron Hale-Evans
rwhe@ludism.org
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Lately I've gotten interested in something called Constructive Living (CL). Although CL is based mainly on two schools of Japanese psychotherapeutic practice, Morita and Naikan, Constructive Living is not psychotherapy; it's more of a philosophy of life with a therapeutic aspect, such as Stoicism.
I first came into contact with CL through the bestseller Book Lust by Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl, who reviewed two books by David K. Reynolds, the founder of Constructive Living: Even in Summer the Ice Doesn't Melt (1986) and Playing Ball on Running Water (1984). When I saw a copy of the latter in a used bookstore, I snatched it up, brought it home, and misplaced it immediately. Then, a few weeks ago, Amazon recommended Handbook for Constructive Living (2002) to me. I bought it, read it, and was glad it's the first book by Reynolds that I read, because it presents a much later, fuller, and better integrated version of his philosophy.
Nevertheless, I'm enjoying my refound copy of Playing Ball on Running Water, not least because, for me, the title combines a Ludist view of life as game (playing ball) with the familiar Heraclitean saying that you can't step into the same river twice. There is yet more ludic goodness in the chapter entitled "Exercises in Living--The Ball Game", particularly exercise 8, "Play a game". Reynolds really understands the Ludist idea of game as microcosm. He writes,
Any game that requires some attention and effort to play well will do. Avoid games of pure mindless chance. Appropriate table games include chess, checkers, Scrabble, bridge, and the like... As you would expect, the quality of your play is more important than the particular game you select...
Work hard at keeping your mind on the game. Play purposefully with an overall plan and specific tactics. Notice the sorts of things that distract you from attending to the game in each moment. Do you think too far ahead and miss the immediate opportunity? Do you get disgusted with yourself for missing the last play and so lose the next few plays? Do minor physical discomforts intrude on your attention? Do you get annoyed and distracted by your opponent's habits? Are you intimidated into self-consciousness and a self-defeating attitude by your opponent's style? Notice these mental slips, then bring your mind immediately back to the play at hand...
Attend to winning well or losing well with full attention. Continue playing ball even when the ball game is over. [pp.112-113]
Many of these faults are mine both in games and in life, and they're one reason I've never mastered any game, whether Chess, Go, or Focus. And to them I'll add one more, my most grievous fault: failure to see the whole board.
It's a good thing most of my gamer friends never read my blog; they already think I take gaming too seriously. The few who do read it probably agree with everything I've said here.
By the way, a while back I questioned why if there was a book called The Inner Game of Tennis, there wasn't an Inner Game of Hearts. It turns out there's an Inner Game of Chess, at least. It's not philosophical, though.
Entered 23:11 [/games/ludism] permalink
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