About This Issue

One of the articles in Play & Humor (IC#13)
Originally published in Spring 1986 on page 1
Copyright (c)1986, 1997 by Context Institute

THIS ISSUE has a lot of topics. It is about exploration, creativity, releasing pain, the unexpected, creating tension, risk-taking, whole-person learning, spontaneity, interpersonal relationships, wonderment, healing, fantasy, paradox, incongruity – and just plain fun. All these and more are elements of PLAY & HUMOR.

In a machine, "play" refers to some kind of looseness in the structure, and so it is in our lives, as well. When we play, we loosen up our mental structures. We accept more and judge less, and in so doing, we open ourselves to all kinds of newness.

In previous issues of IN CONTEXT we have explored (indeed played with) many different forms of newness emerging in the world around us. Now we want to chase our own tail by playfully exploring the process of playful exploration.

This issue is not an exhaustive survey (it makes me tired just to think of that!), nor is it a compendium of witty things. It is rather a small bouquet picked from vast meadows of wildflowers. If it reminds you of your own fertile soil, it will have done its work well.