We read "The Body Keeps the Score" by Bessel Van Der Kolk, MD. It is basically about being traumatized and getting treatment to recover.
One of the treatments discussed is participating in a play. Pretending to be a princess or a knight or the best candidate for the public office is a fundamental human ability. A good pretence carried out mentally amounts to a simulation. Hunting deer or championships or husbanding can be carried out in pretence, alone at home or on a stage or elsewhere.
I turned to my Kindle and downloaded the highlights file from reading the book several years ago. It is located on the "Go to" tab and the command to send the file to my email is at the very end of the "Notes" choice, not the Contents section. A friend and a withit PhD mentioned how much she got from reading the highlights I posted yesterday from Charlotte Beck's "Everyday Zen". Reading through the highlights from Van Der Kolk's book makes me suspect that as much or more can be picked up from the highlights from "The Body Keeps the Score."
Link to highlights from The Body Keeps the Score:
https://sites.google.com/site/kirbyvariety/the-body-keeps-the-score-notes
The whole book is available in Kindle format. Chapter 20 "Finding Your Voice: Communal Rhythms and Theater" is especially relevant to the power of pretending.
