The Frost Cats

One provocation that is well loved at TPH is face painting. We tend to offer it at least two times a week- almost always in the afternoon. There is something very satisfying about face paint. You can literally paint on a new face and try on a new role. If you don't like it? Wash it off and start over again.



We've had many different faces over the last few months but today marked a pivotal change in face painting for me. WK and MR became... The Frost Cats. In case you didn't know, Frost Cats only go out in the snow. They have little, pointy ears and very big, fluffy tails. They are a little devious, too.



MR and WK quickly latched ok to their new roles- communicating through odd scratchings in the air and dreadful sounding meows. Frost Cats are not the fuzzy, warm kittens you may believe them to be after all. But this is exactly why I love face paint (and costumes for that matter!).



They allow us to access little parts of us that might otherwise be hidden. Perhaps they are even hidden to us until the mask comes on. As many of you know, I'm an avid gamer. One thing I love about games is the way you can become someone else- if only for a moment. A game I recently played for the first time- Fiasco- is heavy on role playing. It pushed me to my limit and demanded that I let go of my inhibitions and simply enjoy the moment. It also, believe it or not, made me more confident.


So much of our self identity is built in these moments of play. We try on new faces or attitudes. We figure out more about the pieces of the puzzle that make up our self. We find out what works and what doesn't. Then we reflect and we grow. It's funny how something as simple as face paint can be part of a job so huge.