Higher Thought: The Family Game
My friend Anne Weiss is a brilliant singer-songwriter, poet, and music teacher. I gifted her with a special kid-friendly Higher Thought deck so that she could play with her five-year-old daughter, Ajuna (whom Anne feels is too young for a stoner card game). I removed all questions that had anything to do with weed or sex, and I placed the denuded deck into a cute little pouch-like bag bearing no illustrations of cannabis.
However, Anne did give me permission to leave in all the really deep questions. She was confident Ajuna could handle them and would enjoy them.
A week or so later Anne reported to me that she and Ajuna were loving the game. When they drew the question, Is everything ultimately forgivable? Why, or why not? Ajuna answered smartly, “No!”
“No? What’s not forgivable?” asked Anne.
“That’s easy!” shot back Ajuna. “Donald Trump!”
I feel you, Ajuna. Trump is a toxic waste dump of a man. (Could that be a twitter meme? #ToxicWasteTrump.)
But I took a stoned walk the other night and was graced with a revealed truth, which was this: At bottom, my heart’s desire is to forgive everyone and everything.
Whether my ego feels safe enough to allow that is a different question.
(As my friend Mark Welch put it during a recent Higher Thought Zoom game, “The ego is a traffic cop between love and survival.” To which Mark’s friend Michael replied, “Asian philosophy would say that the ego presents itself as the traffic cop but isn’t one really.”)
Actually, at the time it was revealed unto me, I generalized my truth. That is, I felt certain that it’s not just true for me, but for everyone.
At bottom, everyone’s hearts’ desire is to forgive everyone and everything. I still believe that, and I am not stoned.
Cross-Generational Camaraderie
I’m so happy that Anne successfully plays the game with her daughter. Meanwhile, Susan reports that her 94-year-old friend Raoul (who does not get stoned) also enjoys Higher Thought. Maybe we should try and get him and Ajuna together on Zoom and see what happens.
They’d definitely have stuff to talk about. Someone could draw a card, and away they’d go. (Probably it would be Raoul to draw the card; I don’t think Ajuna reads that much just yet, though I could be wrong – she’s a little precocious.)
Reasons to Get Higher Thought as a Hanukkah or Christmas Gift
Higher Thought is the perfect Zoom party game. It’s also the perfect small-circle game. Either way, it brings connection.
It’s not just a pot party. It’s a pod party!
It’s not only a fun, inexpensive, tasteful Hanukkah or Christmas gift. It’s something you can actually DO on Hanukkah or Christmas! Even with your family. Can you imagine?
No paraphernalia required. Play stoned or unstoned.
Generate warm feelings. Lighten up the conversation. LIGHT UP the conversation!
Shift the mood a little bit …
[…] Conversation on this level can be a portal that opens into a space of shared wonder at this mysterious human life. And in that space, sometimes – quite often, actually – our hearts spontaneously sync into communion. […]