Can you “play” your way to contentment?
Some say Interplay, a concept that began 20 years ago in California, can do wonders for the mind and body.
Feel accepted, not stressed.
Mary Alice Long of Langley will teach Interplay classes in April at Sound Holistic Health in Everett and at a workshop in Mukilteo.
Interplay is a way to see the good around you.
“It’s a way to create and find ease in your life,” Long said. “A way to be satisfied in the moment with what is in your life, instead of yearning for what you don’t have.”
It’s about the ordinary becoming the extraordinary, she said.
Members of the Mukilteo Arts Guild recently invited Long to a meeting. Long led the group in word play, movement, improvisation and visualization.
It was two hours of audience participation, said Christine Awad Schmalz.
“All my senses were working at warp speed,” she said. “I cannot remember when I have felt so connected with a room full of people in such a short period of time.”
She said she felt transcended from dreary surroundings to a beautiful space in her mind.
Long received a doctorate in clinical psychology in 1997 at Pacifica Graduate Institute in California. She worked as a nurse and social worker before starting a private practice in psychotherapy and arts-based treatment. She is influenced by the work of Carl Jung (1875-1961), the Swiss psychiatrist who founded the analytical school of psychology.
In 1987, she was a surrogate mother for a childless couple. She is writing her memoir, called “I Would Have Named Him Peter.”
Raised in Ballard, she moved to Langley in 2002, eager to get back to the Northwest. She urged her husband, Michael, a watercolorist, to try painting on Whidbey Island.
The mother of three is a writer, leads workshops and works with clients, both individually and in groups.
Her friend, Harriet Platts, is also in the Interplay community. Platts said Long is a bright, passionate visionary, storyteller and writer.
“She’s perceptive, sensitive and caring as an Interplay teacher and leader,” Platts said. “In the last year, she’s demonstrated an unwavering commitment to build connections in her community through networking with local arts professionals and nonprofit organizations.”
For more information about Long’s classes, visit maryalicelong.com.
Online, read her reflections on life.
“Today, as I watch the leaves flying in all directions, I find myself reflecting on life at 55,” Long writes. “Life’s flow has changed for me. Rushing has been replaced with a calmness that insists on pulling yet another book off the shelf.”
Long said she is good at asking and answering questions.
“Taking a look at my background you can see evidence of my interest in research and falling into rabbit holes. Writing provides me with ample opportunity to find the answer to multiple questions every day. What is that word’s etymology? What is the opposite of ‘madonna’? What authors mention circles as themes in their works?”
Growing up, she took dance classes and surrounded herself with friends in the arts. Adventurous, she moved away from home at age 16.
Long found her way, and contentment, through dance, theater and storytelling.
Her business name sums up her philosophy — Play Equals Peace.
Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451, oharran@heraldnet.com.
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