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Embracing Uncertainty

Hikaru Hie • January 29, 2024

Highlights from Our Workshop at the Learning Planet Festival

Hello beautiful playmates!


We recently hosted an incredible workshop in collaboration with the “Yes, And… Higher Education Network (YAHE).” Themed "Embrace Uncertainty & Tap Into Collective Creativity” Embracing Uncertainty," it brought educators worldwide together for a heartfelt exploration of our unpredictable world. It took place at the  Learning Planet Festival, a 4-day gathering of hundreds of organizations, programs and networks that are part of the growing Globalization at the Grassroots movement.


Held on January 26th, the workshop was a culmination of numerous meetings and meticulous preparations to bring our collective ideas to life. Educators from diverse backgrounds engaged in dialogues through enjoyable activities, expressing emotions with sounds and gestures, while we joyfully philosophized. We formed a shared language that transcended linguistic barriers as well as common categories and labels that often give us the illusion of certainty.


In the enchanting "Yes, And Story" activity, participants co-created moments filled with love and support. The workshop fostered a sense of safety, allowing everyone to express themselves freely, embrace a feeling of wholeness, and realize the spontaneous community that had blossomed during the workshop. Throughout the session, the focus was on co-creating shared thoughts and feelings related to the uncertainty we all experience.  We were able to embrace uncertainty through our collective creative activity.

The workshop successfully explored the powerful mindset generated by "Yes, And" and applied improvisation, providing insights applicable in various developmental learning settings. The depth of reflection at the end affirmed the accomplishment of our objective.


Reflection comments from some participants:

  • "As you know, I'm not the kind of person who finds it easy to play with others, and have a strong sense of ridicule... unless I'm performing! I find some activities with colleagues extremely embarrassing, and I hate to think such images are shared on video, but as I said today, it felt like a safe environment. I particularly liked to consider the collective story, a technique I use regularly in creative writing, from a different perspective (learning to deal with uncertainty)."
  • "It was a fun workshop! The experience is quite unique and gives me a new perspective about so many things."
  • "Although I don't do any formal teaching any more, I like to be informed about what responsible and creative educators are doing to deal with global concerns. I can also learn from workshops techniques I may be able to adapt and use myself!"

GPB Educators Salon

Date: February 8 (2nd Thursday of each month) 


Time: 7-8 am EST / 9-8 AST / 5:30 - 6:30 pm IST / 8-9 pm Malaysia/China / 9-10 pm JST Registration Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYod-6vqTgiE9CPvuzI5T9OIAesAypAGCWm


Yes And Higher Ed Network Monthly Gathering

Date: February 16 (3rd Friday of each month) Time: 7:00 PM EDT / 5:30 AM IST / 8 AM Malaysia/China / 9:00 AM pm JST/12:00 AM GMT                                                              


 Registration Link & Zoom Meeting                                                      https://us06web.zoom.us/j/94867118879   Meeting ID: 948 6711 8879


We look forward to continuing this transformative journey that creates a vibrant community of educators committed to fostering creativity, support, and growth all over the world!


Warmly,

Hikaru Hie, Co-Leader of GPB Japan and GPB's Educators Salon

Can you make a year end donation?

By Global Play Brigade • December 9, 2024
Your global organization/community really needs your help! A few small part-time salaries. Hosting our website, Mailchimp, our database, Zoom, a whole bunch of technology software. Our fabulous communications team, based in Nigeria. Non-profit status expenses. Social media marketing. Translation services. Our current tiny but powerful grassroots operation costs $115,000 US a year. So we're trying to come up with creative and organic ways to cover these costs. We started a Circle of Friends made up of folks who give between $2500 and $25K. We invite people to "pay whatever they can" for our free online events, if they can (but they don't have to!). We've got some wonderful sustainer friends who contribute between $5 to $250 monthly. Some business folks who have experienced the transformative power of play have given us between $5000 and $50,000 over the past few years. The leadership consultancy Performance of a Lifetime and the hub for performance activism the East Side Institute have been very generous with their dollars, their advice and their networks. We just got a small foundation grant which we're so excited about. And we love, love, love the numerous one-time donations between $1 and $100 made by our GPB supporters around the world. By the way, did you know that folks in the US can get a tax write-off for their contributions. Yep! That's the truth. And so we need your help more than ever. What an incredible year we've had; introducing the innovative and humanizing methodology of play to thousands of new people across the globe in the fields of mental health, education and grassroots activism. Graduating 13 brand new Global Play Brigade Ambassadors through the rigorous GPB Ambassador program. You all have helped make that happen; by volunteering, your participation, spreading the word, your showing up/taking risks/building this global community. And when you make a contribution (again, of ANY SIZE) before the end of 2024 you will receive your very own Global Play Brigade Gold Star! That's right folks. A gold star!

GPB Changemakers Play Festival

By Global Play Brigade • December 6, 2024
The Global Play Brigade is obsessed. We’re playfully obsessed with helping to bring the creative, innovative, disruptive and transformative power of play into areas of mainstream life that are in dire need of creativity, innovation, disruption and transformation.  So in 2024, we decided to create themes for our global gatherings as a way to focus our collective efforts on particular aspects of our lives/world where integrating PLAY could make a significant difference. Here’s how! In March we explored PLAY for mental health at our global gathering across borders. With the rise in mental illness and distress across all cultures, we sorely need new approaches and practices to support people in need. In June, we experimented with PLAY for learning and education for all ages with our festival of Playtelligence. Traditional and out-dated approaches to education are limiting students, teachers and parents in creativity, critical thinking and social cohesion. And a few weeks ago, our November Changemakers Play Festival introduced PLAY for professional development to changemakers to continue to grow their social missions. It was designed not just to utilize play methodology for skills like communication, collaboration, innovation and leadership, but also to consider weaving play into the fabric of social activism— a field that also needs innovation and fresh thinking, now more than ever. 200 people from 30 countries gathered on Zoom. Buoyed by a new (amazing!) translation software program (that we taught participants how to use on-the-spot), we welcomed activists from as far and wide as Australia, Venezuela, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa, Ghana, Serbia, Japan, India, Italy, Canada, Nigeria, Argentina and the US, to name just a few of the nations present. Leaders and team members from over 40 different organizations participated. And what a rich diversity of organizations they were! Gender equality groups from The Netherlands, Spain and Nigeria. Environmental organizations from Nigeria and the US. University programs and educators from Pakistan, Canada, Belgrade and Argentina. Mental health hotlines and programs from the US, South Africa and the UK. Youth development programs from Pittsburgh, US and Lagos, Nigeria. Anti-poverty and Sustainability projects from Ghana to Nigeria, and senior citizen centers and organizations from New Zealand to the US. The Changemakers Festival was hosted by the vibrant and talented Mamiko Miyamoto from Japan, the academic powerhouse Jorge Burciaga Montoya from Mexico, the passionate performance activist Ruben Reyes Jiron from Nicaragua/Spain and of course our wonderful and esteemed Executive Director, Rita Ezenwa-Okoro. In her welcoming remarks, she commented; “ It is through playing together that we can build communities across borders and barriers and discover the possibilities of co-creating and renewing our world.” The 200 participants were hard at work and play exploring new possibilities. Rita’s words resonated throughout the event, fueling every conversation and session. A truly gifted and multilingual and cross cultural Brigadier/Facilitator volunteer team designed and presented 10 workshops in both English and Spanish (with additional languages through the translation tool we mentioned above!). The workshops covered so much interactive ground: Conversations, Teamwork and Collaboration, Creative Campaigning, Powergames in the workplace, Presentations and communication, Navigating uncertainty, Co-creating Freedom, Cultivating resilience, and the power of Storytelling. A special shout out to the Global Play Brigadiers who produced and presented at this special gathering: Alex Sutherland, Aylwyn Walsh, Barbara Ann Michaels, Cathy Salit, Chidinma Osigwe, Daniel Maposa, Diane Whitehouse, Hikaru Hie, Jordan Hirsch, Jorge Burciaga Montoya, Kahlil Bagatsing, Mamiko Miyamoto, Manolo Lopez, Marko Vučetić, Martha McCoy, Miguel Cortes, Pelemo Nyajo, Raquell Holmes, Rick Horner, Rita Ezenwa-Okoro, Ruben Reyes Jiron, Sarah Filman, Sean Kwan, Susan Hillyard, Victoria Hogg, Yvette Alcott, and Zara Barryte. And special thanks to our partner organization Freedom Festival!
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