I want to invite everyone to participate in another round of Around The Circle, Filling In The Blanks, an exercise first introduced to me by theater-maker Deb Margolin.
This time, I invite you to imagine all of us who read this newsletter sitting in a circle in a park. We are sitting on the grass, or on a blanket on the grass, or on a sweatshirt on the grass. The weather is characteristic of this time of year — warm, or cold, or foggy, or sunny. You look up and see the tops of trees and the sky. You look down and see your hands on the grass. You look around and see us all sitting in this circle, people you know and people you don’t know.
I start to tell you: for nearly all of my life, I have lived within walking distance of a public park. I learned to ride a bike between two trees in Golden Gate Park. I used to spend sacred afternoons in Golden Gate Park’s Rose Garden, eating dried mango, watching people walk by, smelling flowers, and dozing.
On the day my grandpa died, while I was on my gap year in Italy, I asked my mom what I should do to feel better. She told me there was no easy answer, and that I had to decide to do whatever felt best in that moment. After we hung up the Skype call, I asked a few friends if they wanted to get gelato. We went to a nearby park and I ate the gelato with a small wooden spoon, staring at plants and sculptures, thinking about my grandpa.
Go ahead, imagine us in the circle. Imagine being in the park, even if you haven’t been to a park in years, imagine yourself in whatever place comes to mind when I say, “Imagine being in the park.”
For each blank, I’ve filled in my answer. In the box that reads “Your answer,” I encourage you to type in your answer, starting with the beginning of the sentence and concluding with your own words. You should always be writing a full sentence. Write whatever comes to your mind first. All answers are anonymous. If you’re not sure what to write, I encourage you to say the beginning of the sentence out loud, and finish it out loud, and then write down what you say.
I’ll share the Filled In Blanks with everyone who reads this newsletter next Friday. For your answers to be included, please complete the form by Thursday, May 29th. There are ten questions.
Welcome to the park. Around The Circle, Filling In The Blanks — begin by clicking here.
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