Last Friday at Boston Warm, we had a party: there were red-clothed tables, a community-decorated Christmas tree, a Christmas movie, hand-decorated cookies, all of it. It was such a joyful and relaxing moment as a community. As always, my favorite moment was our Uno game (shout out to Junior for winning four games in a row)! I’ve often found that when we play Uno, the game brings us together, and there is tangible relaxation in the atmosphere. We can all focus on flexing our skills. Overshadowed by fun and friendly competition, our differences are minimized. This focus on play is also part of what makes drama therapy effective.

As adults, we are constantly called to work, to focus, to be productive; we don’t usually leave much room for our inner child to express itself. As humans, though, we are naturally-creative, playful beings; and so intentionally engaging in play is inherently healing to the spirit. The structure of a game also allows for community building. Because the rules of real life are so often subject to the painful social games and structures we live within, we usually experience each other within an alienating web of power dynamics, which hinders authentic connection. When we play games, a new structure emerges to replace this: a game-structure, in which we can experience each other more like equals, as teammates, as a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Uno is a time where we learn more about each other’s competitive natures, our joy, our capacity for adaptation, and how we manage disappointment. It’s fun. I think that, ultimately, fun might be one of the greatest purposes behind arts-based therapies. I deeply believe that abundance follows bliss, that joy is a sure signpost leading towards our highest purpose. We can always trust joy as a messenger from spirit, reminding us who we really are.

–Emilie Alex