TEXT: Dear Poppy, 
   
  a solo roleplaying game about someone who has changed 
  by Jeeyon Shim 
   
  Note: Game play for Dear Poppy takes at least seven 
  non-contiguous weeks. All photos and images by 
  Jeeyon Shim. 
   
  Game materials: 
  -
  potting soil  
  -
  small seed pot with good drainage 
  -
  seeds  
  -
  instructions for planting them 
  -
  water 
  -
  loose paper 
  -
  small journal  
  -
  pen or pencil 
   
  You loved someone, and one day they 
  changed.  
   
  Who were they? (Circle one.) 
  your friend 
  your lover 
  your child 
   
  Where you would normally meet them - 
  at their home, in bed next to you, in their 
  own room - you instead find a small 
  cluster of seeds, waiting expectantly. 
   
  What were four things about your loved 
  one you remember the most vividly? 
   
  1. 
   
  2.  
   
  3. 
   
  4. 
   
   
  What were four things about your loved 
  one you wish you could recall with more 
  clarity? 
   
  1.  
   
  2. 
   
  3. 
   
  4. 
   
  What were four things that the two of 
  you shared that you shared with no one 
  else? 
   
  1. 
   
  2. 
   
  3. 
   
  4. 
   
  What were four things that you shared 
  with them and delightedly shared with 
  others, too? 
   
  1. 
   
  2. 
   
  3. 
   
  4. 
  
  Your mourning period has passed. 
  You still miss their smile, their 
  embrace, their funny face and the 
  comfort of hearing their voice. 
  You will always miss them. But 
  you feel accustomed to this change 
  in them now, and you’ve decided 
  it’s time to plant them. 
   
  Day One:  
  1.
  Write a letter to your loved one on the loose paper. As you address them, write in the present 
  and future tense. After all, they are not gone. You might be able to hold the entirety of them 
  in the palm of your hand, but there they are. They haven’t died. They are simply dormant, 
  waiting to germinate. Write to them with all the tenderness, love, and joy you hold in 
  knowing them. Write from that place first. If you feel sadness, write from there, too; they 
  would not want you to hide yourself from them. 
  2.
  Once you’ve written the letter, hold your loved one (the seeds) in your hand, and read the 
  letter to them. Let your breath pass over their outer hull. See if they respond to you by 
  moving, gently, in your palm. 
  3.
  Tear up the letter into small pieces. 
  4.
  Set the potting soil loosely in the pot. Fill it up ⅓, scatter half of the letter in the dirt, fill it up 
  another ⅓, scatter the rest of the letter again, and fill it up the rest of the way. Do not pack it 
  in too tight; your loved one’s roots need to be able to travel down easily. 
  5.
  Plant your loved one according to the instructions for planting whatever kind of seed they 
  are. 
  6.
  Water them. 
   
  Week One:  
  Start your journal with an entry in 
  response to this question: What are 
  you, now, grateful for in planting 
  your loved one? 
   
   
   
   
  Continue watering and tending your 
  loved one daily. Tell them you love 
  them every time you water them. If 
  they sprout within this first week 
  (sometimes they are very precocious 
  after their change!) move them to an 
  appropriately sunny or shaded spot in 
  your home. 
   
   
  Week Two: 
  Write your second entry in response 
  to the following two questions: 
  a.
  What are you, now, grateful 
  for in planting your loved 
  one? 
  b.
  What are you grateful for in 
  tending them? 
  Continue watering and tending your 
  loved one daily. Tell them you love 
  them every time you water them. 
  Monitor them for over or under 
  watering, and signs that they are 
  getting the right kind of light they 
  need. 
  
   
  Week Three:  
  Write your third entry in response to 
  the following three questions: 
  a.
  What are you, now, grateful 
  for in planting your loved 
  one? 
  b.
  What are you grateful for in 
  tending them? 
  c.
  What are you grateful for, 
  now, in how they’ve changed? 
  Continue watering and tending your 
  loved one daily. Tell them you love 
  them every time you water them. 
  Monitor them for over or under 
  watering, and signs that they are 
  getting the right kind of light they 
  need. Think of a joke to tell them next 
  week. 
   
  Week Four: 
  Write your fourth entry in response to 
  the following four questions: 
  a.
  What are you, now, grateful 
  for in planting your loved 
  one? 
  b.
  What are you grateful for in 
  tending them? 
  c.
  What are you grateful for, 
  now, in how they’ve changed? 
  d.
  What are you grateful for that 
  you used to do together that, 
  now, you do by yourself to 
  honor their memory? 
   
  Continue watering and tending your 
  loved one daily. Tell them you love 
  them every time you water them. 
  Monitor them for over or under 
  watering, and signs that they are 
  getting the right kind of light they 
  need. Mark a passage in a book you 
  are reading that you think they would 
  like, to share with them next week. 
   
   
   
  
  Week Five: 
  Write your fifth entry in response to 
  the following five questions: 
  a.
  What are you, now, grateful 
  for in planting your loved 
  one? 
  b.
  What are you grateful for in 
  tending them? 
  c.
  What are you grateful for, 
  now, in how they’ve changed? 
  d.
  What are you grateful for that 
  you used to do together that, 
  now, you do by yourself to 
  honor their memory? 
  e.
  What are you grateful for, 
  now, that is new in your life 
  that you think they would like 
  to know? 
   
  Continue watering and tending your 
  loved one daily. Tell them you love 
  them every time you water them. 
  Monitor them for over or under 
  watering, and signs that they are 
  getting the right kind of light they 
  need. Think about something funny 
  or charming or lovely that happened 
  to you this week, and tell them about 
  it. 
   
   
   
   
   
  Week Six: 
  Write your sixth entry in response to 
  the following six questions: 
  a.
  What are you, now, grateful 
  for in planting your loved 
  one? 
  b.
  What are you grateful for in 
  tending them? 
  c.
  What are you grateful for, 
  now, in how they’ve changed? 
  d.
  What are you grateful for that 
  you used to do together that, 
  now, you do by yourself to 
  honor their memory? 
  e.
  What are you grateful for, 
  now, that is new in your life 
  that you think they would like 
  to know? 
  f.
  What are you hopeful for, for 
  them? for yourself? 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Continue watering and tending your 
  loved one daily. Tell them you love 
  them every time you water them. 
  Monitor them for over or under 
  watering, and signs that they are 
  getting the right kind of light they 
  need.  
   
   
   
  
  Weeks Seven and onward:  
   
  Think about whether they need to be repotted soon, and pick out a lovely new pot 
  for them if they do. Think about whether you want to keep them inside with you, or 
  whether they would be happier being planted somewhere outside. You know that 
  there are hazards to both (mites and mildew indoors, animals or blight outdoors), but 
  nonetheless you love them, and part of loving them means knowing them as they 
  are, anew, as this tender, green, beautiful living thing. You watched the miraculous, 
  stretching transformation of their germination and sprouting. You’ve marveled at 
  their translucence as light shines through their stalk and their leaves. You’ve felt how 
  fragile their form is under the soft, hesitant touch of your hand grazing them as they 
  grow. You will bear whatever comes with them with grace and love. You will keep 
  writing to them, writing your gratitude whenever you are moved to. You will love 
  them. You will always love them.  
   
   
   
   
  for poppy 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Collections/Self-Exploration, Emotional, & Relationship/Dear Poppy.pdf