10
Jan
Serious Play: A Lifelong Tool for Growth, Learning, and Connection
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By
Sevastra
Serious play is a concept that integrates the creativity and openness of play with structured objectives to foster innovation, collaboration, and learning. While the term itself has gained prominence in recent years, the underlying ideas have deep roots in history, psychology, and education. Serious play builds on the understanding that play is not just for leisure but is fundamental to human development, learning, and creativity.
Historical Origins of Serious Play
Ancient and Cultural Roots:The idea of play as a vital element of life can be traced to ancient cultures where play was part of rituals, storytelling, and community bonding. Johan Huizinga’s seminal work, Homo Ludens (1938), posited that play is central to the development of culture and society, highlighting its role in creativity, problem-solving, and the evolution of human thought.
Educational Foundations:
Friedrich Froebel, the founder of the kindergarten movement in the 19th century, emphasized the role of play in early childhood education. Froebel...
10
Jan
What Erodes Empathy?
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By
Watching the devastating scenes of California’s fires is gut-wrenching. People are losing their homes, their communities, and their deep connections to places where they’ve raised children, looked out for neighbours, and woven lives filled with shared memories and care. These aren’t just structures burning—they are pieces of identity, history, and belonging reduced to ash.
As I watch live coverage on YouTube, my attention is drawn to the comments section, and I find myself praying that these responses are the work of bots and not real humans. The words scrolling across my screen are fueled by political division, blame, and even justification for others’ suffering. How have we arrived at this point where such callousness feels so ordinary?
This morning, as I feel overwhelmed by my own long to-do list, my thoughts turn to the residents of California and Tibet—where a catastrophic earthquake has destroyed remote villages. These disasters bring to mind the...
28
Dec
The Quiet Complexity of Motherhood
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By
Motherhood has brought everything I’ve studied into a new light. It’s one thing to understand attachment from a scientific or theoretical perspective; it’s another to live it, moment by moment, with all the joys, challenges, and quiet triumphs it brings.
One book that has kept me company during this transition is Naomi Stadlen’s How Mothers Love: And How Relationships Are Born. It’s not a guidebook or a parenting manual. Instead, it’s a deeply empathetic exploration of motherhood as a relationship—one filled with subtle, unseen moments of love and connection.
https://www.amazon.com/How-Mothers-Love-Relationships-Born/dp/0749952199?crid=80V2MHYYPQ2E&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Qj7FIi0oYZPB7atqVkIVLIoIycC-9dhPuIuBTBUjDmA.etl8yAzk7dxcD_CUxX7tKHM4zl8cYShkeKddf1AoBOg&dib_tag=se&keywords=How+mothers+love+Naomi+Stadlen&qid=1736545104&sprefix=how+mothers+love+naomi+stadlen%2Cspecialty-aps%2C203&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=foreverbluepl-20&linkId=3b57b5e0b3a91492bcc919d84aefa95f&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
I wanted to share a few insights from the book that have resonated with me, both as someone who studies attachment and as a new mother navigating this role.
Motherhood is often romanticised as a universal, selfless experience, but beneath this idealised image lies a rich and complex reality. Naomi Stadlen’s How Mothers Love: And How Relationships Are Born provides a deeply empathetic exploration...
28
Dec
Therapy as Transformation: Confronting the Absurd and Embracing Growth
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By
Therapy is often misconstrued as a process aimed solely at symptom reduction—quieting the anxiety, softening the sadness, or calming the restless mind. While these outcomes are undeniably important, therapy, when viewed through an existential lens, offers so much more. It is a profound journey into the core of one’s existence, fostering transformation rather than merely treating discomfort.
Drawing from the existential philosophy of thinkers like Albert Camus, therapy can be seen as a method of confronting the “uncontrollability of existence”—those fears, desires, and uncertainties that underlie human suffering. As people feel safe enough to explore their depths, they begin to unveil aspects of themselves that both torment and potentially liberate them (K. Schneider, 2016). These primordial undercurrents—related to freedom, isolation, and the search for meaning—are at the heart of the transformative power of therapy.
Therapy as a Confrontation with the Absurd
Albert Camus famously described the absurd as the tension between humanity’s relentless...
19
Nov
The Shadow of Avoidance: A Reflection on Conflict and Authenticity in Relationships
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By
Human relationships are often shaped by the unresolved complexities that arise when conflict is avoided. This avoidance—so deeply ingrained and habitual—does not just shape the dynamics between individuals; it reveals a painful truth about the fragility of connection when discomfort is perpetually evaded.
Some individuals live in a carefully constructed fantasy, one where everything is "picture perfect." On the surface, this fantasy appears harmonious, even desirable. But underneath lies a chasm of unspoken intergenerational tensions, unmet needs, and unacknowledged truths. True connection, however, requires confrontation—not for the sake of discord, but for the sake of growth, truth, and intimacy. To avoid conflict is to avoid the essence of life itself: the struggles, the contradictions, and the ongoing negotiation of what it means to be human.
I have encountered this dynamic firsthand in a deeply personal relationship, where conflict avoidance has created an unbridgeable gulf. Whenever I have tried to address the tensions,...