Elements of a Rule of Life: Play

What are the elements of a "Rule of Life"?  In the monastic tradition, monks and nuns abide by a particular "way of life" as they join with a particular monastic community.  What might be the "Christian Way of Life"?  Or, what would be the elements of a "way of life"?  It is also something that people often work on as they engage in Spiritual Direction or engage upon a discernment process.  What are the elements of a "way of life"?

One often overlooked element of a way of life is the element of "Play".

More on "Ways of life" in later posts.

Check out this interesting article on "Women at Play" in today's New York Times.  How is "play" an important element of a "way of life"?

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Caution: Women Playing

“I DON’T wear shorts in public!” shouted Sophie Franks Staub, a rangy 41-year-old stay-at-home mother, from her spot on a sand court on Pier 25 in Hudson River Park. Yet she was indeed wearing them, as were two dozen other women in their 30s and 40s, all barefoot as they learned to play beach volleyball on a buttery night in July.

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Richard Perry/The New York Times

It was the latest “play date” offered by a group called Mice at Play, which seeks to bring play and fun into the lives of overscheduled New York women. Past events have included a bartending course, a Harlem Renaissance theme night, trapeze lessons, a “survival skill” hike, a burlesque class and, perhaps inevitably, pole dancing.

“I needed an impetus to remember how to do stuff,” said Ms. Franks Staub, a frequent attendee. “I used to do stuff, and then I had kids, and I stopped.”


Read more HERE