Writing/Multimedia Walking Exercise

Challenge:

Move about, however and to whatever extent you do. While moving, endeavour to be present to the environment around you. Moving helps the brain think.

See yourself as inside the scene of the things your eyes are seeing, you are an intimate part of the space you inhabit.

Watch the same wind that blows autumn leaves ripple across your skin. Look at the water if its near, and think of the Zooplankton, the nervous system of the Ocean. Zooplankton are there in that water right at this very moment, circulating nutrients in a vast and powerful tidal ecosystem.

Now be present while using a new tool of your choice that is different from walking+seeing. Notice the difference.

Notice “the difference that the difference makes,” as Gregory Bateson said. By changing your tool, you are changing your perspective. Pick up a pen, your phone, a camera, a brush, a guitar, a set of binoculars.

Use the tool, play the perspective, strum a chord or look through lenses. Write a reflection, a poem, draw what you see or draw what you feel from what you sense. Catch the Pokemon that is your own perspective in that moment, armed with your chosen tool. Make a note of how it feels and what it makes you think, if anything.

NOTE: Afterwards, if you like, you may upload a fragment of your creation in image, audio, video, and/or text, and it will be considered for inclusion in the next issue of our Restoring Dawnland Zine (read the first one here!)

Micro-Gift: Gregory Bateson Dolphin Research (45 min read)