Why Boundaries is in the deck
Boundaries is one of the most argued-over relationship words right now. That’s why it’s in the deck.
The argument is about direction. One reading says a boundary is a limit on what I will do. The other treats it as a rule about what you may do. The Independent covered the debate: some call boundaries self-care, others call them control. YourTango reported on writers who see the same request read as a boundary by one person and as control by another.
Read from different places
The word has grown in advice culture too. An analysis of r/relationship_advice, reported by Pirate Wires, found that advice to set boundaries rose over time while advice to compromise fell. The author notes that Reddit skews toward dramatic cases.
At a table, the card works best with the everyday kind of boundary: time, space, phone calls, family visits. It’s a 16+ deck, and the word stays there.
If you want to talk about boundaries with your partner, the card gives you a neutral start. You didn’t choose the topic. You drew it. Each of you can say where you stand and hear where the other one does.
It shares the Relationships cluster with Privacy, Respect and Trust.
The other side: Shoes
The other side is Shoes. It was chosen for a small keepsake: parents on a Mumsnet thread talk about keeping a baby’s first shoes. Shoes can bring early childhood and the people who kept it.
How to play this card
Draw it. Choose a side: Boundaries or Shoes. Roll the die. Look at the word from that side. Say as much or as little as feels right.
Before the first card, the rule card asks the group to agree together how passing works. On this card, that agreement does its job.
Keep going
- Respect · card 08
- Trust · card 34
- Home · card 49
- Thesis: the game · Play online · Research