There’s an etch-a-sketch mounted on the wall of a Columbus coffee shop, with a carefully etched picture of leaves and flowers, and the words “Give Play a Chance.” I took a picture of it and texted it to Jane Gerdsen, Jed Dearing, and Aaron Wright, my co-collaborators in the Play Conference that took place at … Continue reading Give Play a Chance: A Reflection on the Play Conference
Author: KPB Stevens
Fully Alive! A Pilgrimage in Chicago to Learn Improv
A line of people stood looking at a small table. It was empty, but they’d been told that there was a television on it, and asked to describe that television. “Use the phrase, ’it is,’ at the start of your description,” John Poole told them. Hesitantly, people offered their phrases. “It is black. It is … Continue reading Fully Alive! A Pilgrimage in Chicago to Learn Improv
How Do We Live in a Way that Isn’t Arranged Around the Economy?
We treat the economy as if it were God. We try to appease it, worry that it will smite us, and don’t really understand it. We’ve built our ethical systems around it. This became abundantly clear to Methodist Theological School of Ohio professor Yvonne Zimmerman when she was studying the movement to end human trafficking. … Continue reading How Do We Live in a Way that Isn’t Arranged Around the Economy?
Trespasses
Trespass is a very old idea, and although it’s often seen negatively it can lead to beauty and revolutions in understanding. Sometimes we need other people to trespass into our private preserves of thought and belief, and into our carefully curated ways of doing things. In October of 2014, artists and writers came together in … Continue reading Trespasses
How Can We Cultivate a Culture of Reverence?
“Im not interested in longing to live in a world in which I already live.” Brad Modlin was reading from Maggie Nelson’s Bluets, a book about the color blue. The Ministerium of Ideas was meeting to examine the question of how we can cultivate a culture of reverence, and Brad was sharing an omnium-gatherum of … Continue reading How Can We Cultivate a Culture of Reverence?
KPB Stevens 