"Who
are we, who is each of us if not a combinatoria of experiences,
information, books we have read, things imagined? Each life is an
encyclopedia, ... and everything can be constantly shuffled and
reordered in every way conceivable." –––– Italo Calvino
Lately,
I have become obsessed with tangram puzzles. I think that the challenge
to make endless configurations with a limited number of shapes is good
training for coping with the uncertainty of the times. The more I work
with them, the more clearly I see the inner patterns of various shapes,
and the possible ways the smaller shapes fit into the bigger picture.
That gives me a powerful metaphor for handling experience: finding the
“fit.”
The seven pieces can be rearranged to form thousands of shapes. They have long been used in storytelling and I am using the pieces on an overhead projector for some of my preschool stories.
I’ve
been playing tangram games with my 4 yr old, Jordan. (There are a
number of free tangram apps for the iPhone and iPad. But I also like
having the pieces in hand and shifting them across a table-top into
various forms.) I
notice that he is noticing patterns more frequently now. It may be a
simple developmental step - the sort of thing you expect at his age -
but it may be the tangram effect. Anyway, the other day, we were playing
ball in the backyard, when he announces “One plus one plus one plus one
is four.” I agreed, and showed him my four fingers as example. But he
pointed behind me to a row of 4 tall pine trees standing in the
distance. “See?” He says. “One plus one plus one plus one.”
This
morning, in the kitchen, (we are often in the kitchen circa 7am) he
starts counting the rectangles inset in the kitchen cabinets: "One, two,
three....” all the way to 12. We spent some time working with the
pattern: how many rows? How many in each row? etc.. The tangram effect.
I
find the tangram effect in the combinatorics of storytelling. Certain
arrangements of short stores can form larger story shapes, entire
programs. The same stories can be re-assembled with different elements
emphasized for various intentions. Telling stories is a puzzling
business. We tease out meanings and possibilities, finding the fit for
the story.
Recently,
as I was lying in bed, I felt a mild oceanic sense of being a small
piece fit into the cosmic shape of the Universe. (An echo of Bucky
Fuller here.) It was somewhat thrilling, but also empowering and
reassuring. I felt as if the “I” that was thinking was in a much greater
position than the mere “I” that was lying in bed. I felt I could
incorporate everyone and everything else into my sense of Self. It is an
exercise I intend to repeat until, as with tangrams, I can sense the
fit all around me.
I believe that in dreams---thoughts, images, experiences, from the near past, from the deep past---are shuffled and reshuffled---to make stories---aren't dreams stories????
ReplyDeleteJoy