thank you for responding to my comment and I like your additional thoughts. I am recent to my awareness of you and your philosophical ponderings and appreciate the way you think deeply. Logophile that I am, I also how you appreciate, consider and use words - when you used 'recombobulate' it struck such a cord. My mother used to say that she was "feeling discombobulated" and I loved how it sounded, such a burbly word, and knew that she meant she felt off kilter. I never heard it used anywhere else and did not give it much thought until your use 'recombobulate' (as happens when in the flow) both orally and in writing which led me to look deeper at the root of these words, to discover that they are of the pseudo-Latinate fanciful 19th century American word coinages. You take me down paths I enjoy! With gratitude, Mary Lou
I have considered myself a word nerd for a long time... logophile I don't think encapsulates my personal relationship with words - because I really don't like all words (I wish I did) - some give me positive physical reactions while others the opposite... I think it is my my autistic experience of language that maybe means I don't just hear words but feel them.
I also like how words feel in the mouth when using them - recombobulating and discombobulating are most definitely fit that category... apparently some USA airports have recombobulation rooms to use just after flying - or I read that somewhere and it just stuck - that this word is something more of us need.
This last few years I am finding I am inventing more and more words to try and find the perfect fit for what I mean... the purpose is not necessarily for these words to catch on... but to give me an opportunity to say - when I use this one word in a sentence, it means ALL OF THIS...
Every word is a story.
As a bilingual (who was forced to learn Swedish as an adult to live here in Sweden) I am also acutely aware of the baggage each word has - and that different languages, cultures and people have different things packed in their word luggage. So some words in English when used in Swedish (despite being almost similar) had very different weight - and this realisation took me down a completely new path of thinking about words - and is the reason that when I write books I start with a list of words and how I use them in the book - to avoid misunderstandings - but at the same time acknowledging that others will read my words in completely different ways than what I wrote them.
I am reminded specifically of 2 children who exhibited what would be chthonic play and how the attentiveness of the adults around them allowed that play to be healthy or unhealthy. In the first case a 4-year-old child was standing on the edge of a platform on a climbing structure and claiming that he was going to jump and kill himself. Without context for this declaration, I was deeply concerned for the mental health of this child. In deeper investigation with both the child and his parents I learned that he, had listened to an audio recording of Les Miserables with his parents, including discussions of the story, and was imitating Javert on the bridge, preparing to jump. The second case was another 4-year-old whose play involved, among other themes that were quite dark, constructing gatling guns out of large blocks and shooting all of the children and adults around him. Again, my concern was heightened. Inquiries with his parents revealed that he had been permitted to watch Youtube videos without any oversight and had been algorithmically led into content that was developmentally inappropriate, especially without supportive guidance to help understand that to which he had been exposed. The Javert child was reenacting a story for which he had some level of contextual understanding and was exploring for himself. Gatlin child was reenacting content for which he had only his own self to digest and turned it to expressions of violence against others. What I am noticing mostly about these two examples is the level of guidance offered by the adults in these two children's lives: how one family was completely engaged and helped the child understand and safely explore the dark and the other family was essentially unaware of what their child was integrating and how it turned into rage against the world.
So, to your original question - I do think that thinking about play in these three realms can help break down normative ideas of play, yet they do overlap. Magical play, unicorns, fairies, superheroes, etc., are in the realm of 'ouranic play'. Play that involves real life experiences, whether they be social play explorations, science/nature play, etc. fall under 'earth play'. Play that is also magical though may be perceived as sinister (devils, trolls, etc.) is of the chthonic expression. the lines between these types of play blur and sometimes overlap, depending on understanding and knowledge.
there is always overlapping, for sure... but I think also all that play whether it be earth experiences or unicorns will be ouranic because they are all desired and admired by the adults...
I think it is much smaller play that is the earth play - everyday small moments that are so ordinary that they don't get noticed as play - such as idly moving feet a little while waiting in line, twirling hair, swinging legs under the kitchen table, positioning ourselves gently on the toilet to create different acoustic sounds...
Of course sometimes the divine visits the earth and those edges blur and the lines between the three become more uncertain - everyday invisible play is a bit bigger and louder than usual and is noticed - either in ways we approve of or disapprove of - depending on whether it borders chthonic or ouranic.
And thank you so much for these fabulous examples of chthonic play - and proving that they were not behaviours but play responses to experiences - one that had been supported by adults and one that had not. They certainly provide the motivation that it is SO important that we pause a moment to find out what is actually happening - and not to respond with fear and control but to respond with curiosity and kindness - so that the play needs can be met without detrimental impacts on others.
thank you for responding to my comment and I like your additional thoughts. I am recent to my awareness of you and your philosophical ponderings and appreciate the way you think deeply. Logophile that I am, I also how you appreciate, consider and use words - when you used 'recombobulate' it struck such a cord. My mother used to say that she was "feeling discombobulated" and I loved how it sounded, such a burbly word, and knew that she meant she felt off kilter. I never heard it used anywhere else and did not give it much thought until your use 'recombobulate' (as happens when in the flow) both orally and in writing which led me to look deeper at the root of these words, to discover that they are of the pseudo-Latinate fanciful 19th century American word coinages. You take me down paths I enjoy! With gratitude, Mary Lou
I have considered myself a word nerd for a long time... logophile I don't think encapsulates my personal relationship with words - because I really don't like all words (I wish I did) - some give me positive physical reactions while others the opposite... I think it is my my autistic experience of language that maybe means I don't just hear words but feel them.
I also like how words feel in the mouth when using them - recombobulating and discombobulating are most definitely fit that category... apparently some USA airports have recombobulation rooms to use just after flying - or I read that somewhere and it just stuck - that this word is something more of us need.
This last few years I am finding I am inventing more and more words to try and find the perfect fit for what I mean... the purpose is not necessarily for these words to catch on... but to give me an opportunity to say - when I use this one word in a sentence, it means ALL OF THIS...
Every word is a story.
As a bilingual (who was forced to learn Swedish as an adult to live here in Sweden) I am also acutely aware of the baggage each word has - and that different languages, cultures and people have different things packed in their word luggage. So some words in English when used in Swedish (despite being almost similar) had very different weight - and this realisation took me down a completely new path of thinking about words - and is the reason that when I write books I start with a list of words and how I use them in the book - to avoid misunderstandings - but at the same time acknowledging that others will read my words in completely different ways than what I wrote them.
I am reminded specifically of 2 children who exhibited what would be chthonic play and how the attentiveness of the adults around them allowed that play to be healthy or unhealthy. In the first case a 4-year-old child was standing on the edge of a platform on a climbing structure and claiming that he was going to jump and kill himself. Without context for this declaration, I was deeply concerned for the mental health of this child. In deeper investigation with both the child and his parents I learned that he, had listened to an audio recording of Les Miserables with his parents, including discussions of the story, and was imitating Javert on the bridge, preparing to jump. The second case was another 4-year-old whose play involved, among other themes that were quite dark, constructing gatling guns out of large blocks and shooting all of the children and adults around him. Again, my concern was heightened. Inquiries with his parents revealed that he had been permitted to watch Youtube videos without any oversight and had been algorithmically led into content that was developmentally inappropriate, especially without supportive guidance to help understand that to which he had been exposed. The Javert child was reenacting a story for which he had some level of contextual understanding and was exploring for himself. Gatlin child was reenacting content for which he had only his own self to digest and turned it to expressions of violence against others. What I am noticing mostly about these two examples is the level of guidance offered by the adults in these two children's lives: how one family was completely engaged and helped the child understand and safely explore the dark and the other family was essentially unaware of what their child was integrating and how it turned into rage against the world.
So, to your original question - I do think that thinking about play in these three realms can help break down normative ideas of play, yet they do overlap. Magical play, unicorns, fairies, superheroes, etc., are in the realm of 'ouranic play'. Play that involves real life experiences, whether they be social play explorations, science/nature play, etc. fall under 'earth play'. Play that is also magical though may be perceived as sinister (devils, trolls, etc.) is of the chthonic expression. the lines between these types of play blur and sometimes overlap, depending on understanding and knowledge.
there is always overlapping, for sure... but I think also all that play whether it be earth experiences or unicorns will be ouranic because they are all desired and admired by the adults...
I think it is much smaller play that is the earth play - everyday small moments that are so ordinary that they don't get noticed as play - such as idly moving feet a little while waiting in line, twirling hair, swinging legs under the kitchen table, positioning ourselves gently on the toilet to create different acoustic sounds...
Of course sometimes the divine visits the earth and those edges blur and the lines between the three become more uncertain - everyday invisible play is a bit bigger and louder than usual and is noticed - either in ways we approve of or disapprove of - depending on whether it borders chthonic or ouranic.
And thank you so much for these fabulous examples of chthonic play - and proving that they were not behaviours but play responses to experiences - one that had been supported by adults and one that had not. They certainly provide the motivation that it is SO important that we pause a moment to find out what is actually happening - and not to respond with fear and control but to respond with curiosity and kindness - so that the play needs can be met without detrimental impacts on others.