The Magic of Flow (Game)

 Unexpectedly, I hosted my first Flow Game last night. 

I say ‘unexpectedly’ because the circle that was gathering had already begun to form in the fall. Three ‘forces of nature’ women and I had been meeting since September, to get to know one another, to listen as women of prayer for what Spirit might invite in our midst. [To be transparent, the three of them are much more comfortable with the language ‘women of prayer’ than I am. I am a woman of prayer, but I’m a shy Quaker-Presbyterian about it. I don’t think of myself out loud that way. If I were to claim scriptural warrant, I would point to the ‘let your prayer happen in the closeness of your closet, not out in the street’ verse.] December 1st was our first ‘official’ women-healing-women circle, a gathering to which friends and family would be invited as well. The first Thursday of the month is our current anticipation of gathering times, so February 2nd will be the next one. So this was already a circle-in-formation, not called ‘for’ a Flow Game. 

I had sat with an anticipation of the circle all day, wondering whether I should craft a light agenda or just show up and see what would happen. A little heavy in my sense of responsibility, but predictable there. I’m the circle-holder of the group, in formal terms. I’ve trained and held circle for over a decade now. Circle being circle, of course we all co-create the space. Three of us met 45 minutes before the circle was to open, so to collaborate on expectations and harvest-hopes. Before I had arrived, I had been gathering the mobile cart of circle supplies, musing, even worrying.  It suddenly arose in my awareness: I could bring the Flow Game cards. The board itself wasn’t really necessary, nor did I have to “call the Flow Game” to make use of the directions, the cards. At the church, as the leaders gathered, I had the circle set up, with each deck of cards in their appropriate directional space, sorted out by the compass on my phone. We did decide together to try the Flow Game practice, just one round, after some opening and writing time.

The circle opened with a gentle check-in, then led to 5 minutes of journaling, to arrive. Folks knew that each needed to have a question she wanted to ask Godde/the Universe/Spirit by the conclusion of the journaling time. One sister had brought beautiful journals for each of us. When the writing time concluded, I welcomed us back into the center and gave a minimal Flow Game introduction, with focus on how ‘a round’ or ‘a turn’ would work. One of the leader-sisters volunteered to go first.

The magic unfolded beautifully. Each read her question into the room, then rolled the die. She chose a card from that deck (two community, one leadership, two vision), reading the card aloud before responding to it. I had a 5 minute ‘mini-sand-timer,’ which kept the timing even/equal, as well as attentive to our intention to circle for only an hour. 

I delighted in each round, feeling the energy of the room rise, attune, open. After each had taken her turn, we drew the circle to a close with a final check-in, then a passing of the prayer candle (now blown out, to signify conclusion). Folks were kind enough to pose for a group-selfie.

I drove home in silence, full and smiling. I was stunned at how effortless it felt. I was aware that my tendency to think of the Game as a new ‘tool’ with its own lineage and history had limited me from even thinking of it in a pick-up circle like this. (Inheritance from a previous circle community in which honoring the lineage is fiercely required, with penalty if one does not). I had been thinking of how to call a Flow Game, with whom, when. Isolated. Insular to the lineage. And that’s still a viable conversation within me. But the practice of hosting meaningful conversations happens and will happen with and without the Game itself. My sacred work had led me to hosting a circle last night, with friends-sisters. The practice of flow called the Game into the circle as well.

It seems so obvious now, to simply show up and respond to invitation with this Game-Presence newly in my soul-space. AND I feel much more grounded now to “call a Flow Game” with others in my past-present communities. Whoever shows up are the right folks. However long we stay is how long it lasts.

The magic of Flow (Game).