ShowSight January 2019

Playing Games But With A Serious Goal BY MICHELLE SCOTT

M a n y p e o p l e t h i n k there is little value in playing games. I’m not really into games but I play one of those simple games where you have a list of things to find. I started playing it years ago because I was bored—and it has nev- er been good for me to be bored!

my ideas and think a little outside the box (not that thinking inside the box has ever been a strong point for me, lol). I don’t care about my standings or other player’s scores, I have a score I want to reach on each board and if I can’t then I try to figure out what’s going on in the back of my mind that’s distracting me. The whole process helps me to understand myself better and helps me to develop mindfulness. So, challenge yourself, push your boundaries and have fun—play a game. A recent discussion on size had me thinking about this post and I thought I would share it again. A 15.5 inch Poodle, a 24 inch Poodle, and a 30 inch Poodle are in your ring—they are all Standards and must be judged on the floor—how are you going to handle that? Will you be able to overlook the differences in their size and judge them against the breed standard? I recently heard of a 19 inch Standard Poodle being excused from the ring because of its small size—that should never happen! Personally, I’d like to see the Medium Poodle size added, like many other countries in the world. There is too big a gap between Minis and Standards, and the Medium Poodle fills it beautifully. We have one breed standard for the three varieties of Poodles...a good Poodle should be a good Poodle. Let’s say you have a beautiful Poodle in your ring that is every inch a Miniature Poodle but because it’s slightly over 15 inch tall our

I quickly realized that it actually challenged my percep- tions! In a “room” full of objects I might be asked to find an umbrella—my mind would immediately bring up an image and it was seldom what was presented on the page....open vs. closed, orientation/location, colour, etc. It made me realize how my preconceived ideas could make it more difficult to see what was in front of me. The second thing I noticed was how my mind could get stuck on a word or object. When the list had bow in it, was I looking for a bow or a bow? A compass used in navigation or a compass used in math? A bat or a bat? It helped me to expand

“I DON’T CARE ABOUT MY STANDINGS OR OTHER PLAYER’S SCORES, I HAVE A SCORE I WANT TO REACH ON EACH BOARD AND IF I CAN’T THEN I TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE BACK OF MY MIND THAT’S DISTRACTING ME.”

122 • S how S ight M agazine , J anuary 2019

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