METHOD AGING
and
The Infinite Game
by
Charles Webb
SMASHWORDS EDITION
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Copyright © 2011 by Charles Webb
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
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You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Traditional folk saying
Hey…I just taught my old dog how to stand on his head…never could do that before!
Overheard at the park this morning
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Author's Note
Many readers of the first edition of this book, which was entitled Method Aging and Improvisational Longevity, commented that its approach to reality handling, and the techniques described to accomplish these maneuvers, dovetailed remarkably well - spookily well even - with the infinite game play of Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility By James P. Carse - an extraordinary book, which "changes everything" about the way our doings in the world can be viewed. For these readers, the Method Aging and other Cinemorphic procedures presented here came to be viewed as important tools in the infinite game players' toolbox - tools that also changed the way they viewed, and interacted with, their world. I hope that this also becomes the case for those new to Method Aging. CW
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1.
"YOU"
How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?
Satchel Paige
Who or what are "you"? How old are "you"…really?
"You" are a bodymind, not a body with a mind or vice versa. Things that influence either, influence both…powerfully.
"You" are a verb, not a noun. "You" are fluid, constantly changing…at every level. The static "you" is a persistent illusion.
"You"… "Your self", persona, ego…”who you are”…however named, is a construct that is formed by the interaction of genetics, imprinting, conditioning and learning. "You" have little input into this process until after "you" have been thoroughly shaped by "your" parents, peers, culture.
Now consider that this "you" that "you" now seem to be is, actually, very much like a fictitious character that may appear in a novel, play or movie and may be re-written, re-produced and re-performed, using the techniques of those media…
…but, back to "your" age for the moment. "You" are both very old and very young. Scientists say "you" are made of stardust. That makes "you" billions of years old. On the other hand, "your" emotional age in an unhappy state of consciousness could be that of a screaming baby. "Your" functional age is defined as a combination and interaction of the chronological, physiological, psychological, and emotional ages of "you". This is an approximation of "your" age based on what physical and mental activities "you" can do on most days.
"Your" age is indeterminate. Remember…"you" are a verb not a noun…"you" have no fixed age. Think of "your" age as an improvisation…an intentional but unpredictable movement of "your" bodymind…not how many years "you" have been kicking around the planet.
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2.
"ME"
Who is it dragging this corpse around?
Zen Koan
I come from a long line of eccentric southern doctors. I "assisted" my father in surgery when I was ten. I was supposed to be the next eccentric southern doctor in the family, but decided against it. I broke the mold for the first time, I guess, by refusing to play the part…the next "Dr. Webb"…into which I had been cast at birth.
My academic background is first in philosophy then experimental psychology then research psychobiology. After receiving my M.S. and completing Ph.D. coursework, I began to find the prospect of a life in academia stifling. I had been using film techniques and a motion picture camera in my research and had really gotten into the medium in its own right by that time. I took the camera home, made a small film based on a short story by Kafka, and never really looked back. I was invited to join a newly formed film and TV production company, which I did. This was in the late 60’s. I have been involved in one aspect or another in film and video production ever sense, operating my own company since the late 70s.
I had dabbled with the idea of using method acting and other cinematic and theatrical techniques as a way to "re-create" someone in "real" life and deal with individual problems, both psychological and physical, for years…since the early 70s when I took part in an ongoing actors/directors workshop and really began to see the power of cinematic/theatrical manipulation. By the early 90s this approach had gone through quite a gestation period and it was time to use it. On myself.
At this point, although I was still quasi-functional and financially successful, I was grossly overweight and addicted to alcohol, cocaine and cigarettes. Then a close friend, business associate and big time drinking and coking buddy of mine dropped dead of a heart attack. This woke me up. I decided to re-write and re-direct myself. I checked into hospital to de-tox and walked out a different character. I got a new wardrobe, dropped out of film for awhile and got involved in a restaurant-nightclub project, ate differently and "acted" differently. I knew I had to do this or die. I was able to write the booze and coke out of my character description…15 years ago…and do the same with cigarettes, which was much harder, a few years later.
My wife, especially, and close friends provided the support group/audience/cheerleader/coach component of the equation which is so important for the success of a major re-write.
The name Cinemorphics became an obvious choice for this approach.
Since that time I have developed and effectively practiced Cinemorphics with a number of individuals and small groups. Quite a bit of informally assembled material having to do with the development of Cinemorphics may be found at: http://cinemorphics.blogspot.com/.
Since I did not die of drink and drugs, and am inevitably getting older now I am currently concentration on using Cinemorphics as an approach to the "problem" of aging. These new explorations are the subject of this book.
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