David Read Johnson: The Playspace is the river… the stream that arises from repetition and proximity…

Artwork: "Arising", Gabrielle Tamaya (artist)
"this is what developmental transformations is: throwing sticks in the river, building castles at the edge of the incoming tide, throwing ourselves out toward the other, and having everything carried away." ~ David Read Johnson
all these crossings, 
or transactions, 
between the banks of the river,
between myself and the proximal other, 
which are the actions of our everyday lives, 
are not intended to intensify the stream
but rather to triumph over it, 
to bridge it, 
to nullify it, 
to deny it, 
to diminish it.
these responses to proximity: 
withdrawal, 
freezing, 
and transaction, 
are the challenges we face in our work in the playspace, 
for these are the ways of 
leaving the playspace.
the playspace is the place 
where all the possible responses to encounter
with the other, 
all the possible transactions with the world, 
are thrown into the river, 
and allowed to sink or float away, 
rather than thrown at each other.
they reach down, 
grab a piece of the shore, 
a rock, 
a stick....
and throw it into the river, 
to watch it sink 
or float down the river 

sex and aggression are instincts
yes 
but really they are not desires
for desire is of the river, 

no sexual and aggressive acts 
are the intolerance of desire, 
they are the wish to end desire, 
to reach the other shore and to land, 
they are bridges
and landings
and invasions
of the other.
in fact the playspace is the river......
the stream that arises 
from repetition and proximity..... 
so in the playspace we enact
a murder that is not a murder, 
a touch that is not a touch, 
a death that is not a death, 
one can only say that death is moving between us, 
that hate 
or love 
or control 
or submission is flowing between us ...... 
all in a lateral movement.
and ironically, 
we do what every child does when they arrive at the riverbank....
and then they throw another one again.... 

at the ocean shore
where we take stones 
and throw them in the water 
or build castles at the edge 
and watch them be taken.....
"in the end we seek an embodied encounter with the other in which there is equanimity about the turbulence and impermanence of experience in proximity to another, and this is just another way of speaking about presence." ~ David Read Johnson
Being in Proximity to the Other
David Read Johnson
Apr 17 2004
https://2d452806-f22e-460a-bd3c-544fc604efea.filesusr.com/ugd/242f9d_392d9081f2954edba919f4756f03e215.pdf
What is Developmental Transformations (DvT)?
https://primediscrepancy.wixsite.com/dvt40/about

Developmental Transformations Library
https://primediscrepancy.wixsite.com/dvt40/library
Excerpt (Part 3)

Artwork: Unknown Title, Anna Rémich (source)

DEPARTURES, DAMS, AND TRANSACTIONS

if the turbulence that arises 
when my encounter with the other 
becomes too intimate, 
first, 
let me withdraw, 
gain distance from this awful proximity
i have stumbled into, 
move away from the other shore
till it recedes in the distance, 
as stream becomes lake becomes sea. 

let me avert my gaze, 
let me move to the other side of the room, 
let me speak of other things,
let me speak of things, 
let me raise problems, 
let me fall silent, 
let me turn off the light, 
let me leave, 
oh, 
door, 
taxi, 
internet, 
airplane, 
the sweetness of departure!

or perhaps i am not able to leave,
or do not want to leave, 
but simply want to dam up this rushing stream! 

yes, to STOP IT! 
hell, why let it go on! 

let my body be still, 
let me break these relentless arms of the clock
to let time stand still, 

so yes 
let him hold me, 
kiss me, 
know me, 
only my hand 
or my face
or my mind 
or my vagina 
will go numb, 
limp, 
dead, 
for Him, 
because any movement on my part will reveal my choice, 
my endlessly repeating choice,
which is freedom
which is difference
which is the stream,
so i cannot allow this to begin, 
no let me remain frozen in his sweet embrace, 
and tell you, 
each time,
of my sorrow.

or perhaps a third urge arises, 
not to depart from or stop the stream, 
but to cross over to the other shore! 

to overcome this river which suddenly
becomes an obstacle to me, 
which means to deny the river, 
in order to TOUCH 
or rather to HAVE, 
the other. 

And so a transaction occurs between us, 

with grasping
and clinging
and other forms of possession, 

with hitting 
and killing 
and other forms of aggression and violence,
 
with stimulating 
and rubbing 
and other forms of sexual contact, 

with dominating 
and controlling
and other forms of oppression and submission, 

with performing 
and exhibiting
and pleasing 
and cajoling, 

and with saving, 
caring 
and hugging 
and other forms of nurturing, 

all these things 
which we do to
and with each other.

all these crossings, 
or transactions, 
between the banks of the river,
between myself and the proximal other, 
which are the actions of our everyday lives, 
are not intended to intensify the stream
but rather to triumph over it, 
to bridge it, 
to nullify it, 
to deny it, 
to diminish it. 

sex and aggression are instincts
yes 
but really they are not desires
for desire is of the river, 

no sexual and aggressive acts 
are the intolerance of desire, 
they are the wish to end desire, 
to reach the other shore and to land, 
they are bridges
and landings
and invasions
of the other.

these responses to proximity: 
withdrawal, 
freezing, 
and transaction, 
are the challenges we face in our work in the playspace, 
for these are the ways of 
leaving the playspace.

Artwork: “Arising”, Gabrielle Tamaya (artist)

THE PLAYSPACE

so what indeed do we do
down at the riverbank
if we are not allowed to
withdraw from it, 
dam it up, 
or cross to the other shore?.....

this is the same question as what is the playspace.....?

in the playspace we may portray 
withdrawal, 
becoming frozen, 
and all the transactions of 
possession, 
aggression, 
sexuality, 
nurturing, 
that is we enact
the very same things that people do, 
or want to do, 
or shouldn't do, 
in normal space-time, 

so how do these play enactments differ from real transactions?
Perhaps real transactions, 
which go from me to you, 
or you to me, 
are different than playspace enactments
in that the playspace does not extend 
from one shore to the other, 
but moves laterally, 
along the river....

not from me to you
but from upstream to downstream....

in fact the playspace is the river......
the stream that arises 
from repetition and proximity..... 
so in the playspace we enact
a murder that is not a murder, 
a touch that is not a touch, 
a death that is not a death, 
one can only say that death is moving between us, 
that hate 
or love 
or control 
or submission is flowing between us ...... 
all in a lateral movement.

the playspace is sideways, 
and in this sideways can go 
kissing, 
and hitting 
and loving 
and holding, 
passing by us through us, 
as we move closer to each other,
the imagination arises out of each act not done, 

no, 
turned to the side, 
this is why real transactions
end in consequences and hurt feelings, 
retributions, 
and resentments, 
while playspace enactments dissipate and transform, 
for they are moving downriver

it is this laterality that underlies
the three conditions of the playspace,
mutuality because it goes between, 
restraint from harm because it passes by
instead of coming toward, 
discrepancy
because the lateral movement separates me from you, 
discrepancy because of difference itself.

the playspace is the place 
where all the possible responses to encounter
with the other, 
all the possible transactions with the world, 
are thrown into the river, 
and allowed to sink or float away, 
rather than thrown at each other.

and ironically, 
we do what every child does when they arrive at the riverbank....
they reach down, 
grab a piece of the shore, 
a rock, 
a stick....
and throw it into the river, 
to watch it sink 
or float down the river 
and then they throw another one again.... 

at the ocean shore
where we take stones 
and throw them in the water 
or build castles at the edge 
and watch them be taken.....

the playspace lies
at the edge of the water as shore 
or self sinks down into the stream....
transitional space....

real space lies away from the water, 
for protection, 
we build our real castles away 
from the risk of flooding, 
our real world is to be preserved, 
held onto,

as we hold onto our possessions, 
our children, 
our spouses, 
our savings, 
our careers, 
ourselves....

in contrast we build sandcastles
near the water's edge, 
on the incoming tide, 
in order to fight for survival,
and in order to lose that fight as sea
claims our magnificent accomplishment.....
and so in a similar way, 
we allow our playspace 
to claim the magnificent accomplishments of the self......

in the work we do
we take pieces of ourselves
and throw them into the space between us
and the client,
over and over again,
and let them float away, 

only to look down
and find another piece, 
even shinier or smoother than the previous one, 
and throw it out, 
hoping perhaps 
to delay its demise by skipping it once or twice 
or many times more.

this is what developmental transformations is: 
throwing sticks in the river, 
building castles at the edge of the incoming tide, 
throwing ourselves out toward the other, 
and having everything carried away.

Artwork: Unknown Title, Anna Levytska (artist)

CONCLUSION

so our work appears to be 
about repetition and proximity, 
we engage our bodies 
in an encounter 
with our clients, 
we engage in repetitions
of bodies 
and images 
and personas 
and movements 
and ideas, 

whatever it is, 

and we progressively 
move closer into proximal space 
while at the same time 
trying not to 
freeze, 
flee, 
or engage in transactions 
across this uprising stream 
of difference, 
of turbulence, 
of feeling, 
of life 
that rises between us. 

Indeed, 
these are the ways that the client 
exits the playspace, 
and when this occurs, 
we must back away temporarily, 
and then make our approach again.

in the end 
we seek an embodied encounter 
with the other 
in which
there is equanimity 
about the turbulence 
and impermanence of experience 
in proximity to another, 

and this is just another way of speaking 
about presence.

in the end
developmental transformations 
comes down to this:
repetition and proximity, 
to play at the shore, 
until it is time to go home
and wash off our feet, 
sit down for dinner, 
tidy our rooms, 
and go to bed 
after saying our prayers, 
and so on, 
over and over again, 

as each departure 
becomes a return; 

the hand that tucked me into bed 
lives in my hand, 
as I put adam to sleep, 
again and again, 

and the sun sets, 
and then rises again, 
it moves away, 
and comes back to us, 
day after day, 
again and again, 

being the earth's eternal attempt
to free itself from the sun, 
foiled again, 
and that is time 
and that is our life, 
and it is both fact 
and illusion, 

in the end 
there is only repetition and proximity, 
that is,
time and space, 
all the rest seems
to follow on from there.
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