...Affordances...

At this point in the course we have been focusing a lot on the various different things that afford an occupation. Christiansen & Townsend (2010) explain the things that afford an occupation, “Affordances are environmental properties that both induce and support goal-directed behaviour” (p.22); this is saying that social, cultural, and physical factors impact on a person’s experience of an occupation. Applying this to my chosen occupation there are many of these different factors that impact on the reasons for doing it and there are others that arise through doing the occupation, I will discuss this further relating to key affordances addressed in this course. 

One of the affordances that is obvious when I play cards is that of communication. This includes the connections and relationships made with those I play with, the enjoyment and laughter that comes out of playing cards as well as the kind hearted banter that arise. Law (2002) states, “Through participation, we acquire skills and competencies, connect with others and our communities, and find purpose and meaning in life” (p. 640); this is an evident part of the communication that occurs during playing cards, through the roles assumed (teacher-student, competitors), the playing skills learned from others and ourselves through playing (verbal and non-verbal), also finding meaning in our life through the enjoyment and challenge of the game as well as the relationships built with those we play with.

Another main affordance that I experience while playing cards is of links with memories and history of the activity. For example every time I play a game of ‘5-3-2’ I think of when I first learned how to play it in Fiji, and of all the people that were there, and of the memories of how much fun we had playing it. Another game ‘Liverpool Rummy’ always brings back memories of being outdoors in summer with the whole family for hours on end.

References:

Christiansen, C.H. & Townsend, E.A. (2010). Introduction to occupation: The art and science of living (2^nd Ed.). USA: Pearson.

Law, M. (2002). Participation in the occupations of everyday life, 2002 Distinguished Scholar Lecture. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 56, 640-649.