playful awakening - releasing the gift of play in your life

The idea to write this book came out of a sequence of happy coincidences. I was writing my Masters thesis at Karuna called 'The Role of Play in Awakening Being' when I realised this was the book I really wanted to write (as opposed to another book on play that I'd been trying to write for many years which had been like pulling teeth for me). At the same time, I wrote a review for the BADth journal on Laury Rappaport's fabulous book 'Focus-Oriented Art Therapy' (highly recommend it) published by Jessica Kingsley. I had added a short biography at the end of my review saying I was completing my thesis on Play and Awakening. Then I received an email from Jessica, out of the blue, inviting me to write the book for them...what a gift!

Naively, I thought I'd be able to translate the thesis of 15,000 words pretty easily into a book of 80,000...hmmmm....

I was struggling because I learnt to my cost that a book on play is not so easy to write. Where to start with such a vast, complex, multilayered subject. I went to see my beautiful friend Jo a Shamanic practitioner and through Shamanic journeying around the book I was told that I needed to find a 'dedicated space' in 'walking distance' where I could lay out the book because I was not seeing the pattern.

A room literally fell into my hands, in walking distance (5 steps to be precise) not from my home but from my therapy space in Dartington. I set to work writing out the overview of each chapter and sticking each to the walls. It didn't flow but if I moved this one, with that one...bingo! like a rubix cube.

I have had a great deal of help in writing this book. From many sources...and I am truly, truly grateful. Rob Preece suggested the name 'Playful Awakening', thanks Rob.