Posts tagged with "experience"
Tracing a path
The experience of working in Glen Prosen is still strongly here. Often, it comes back unexpectedly in fragments – the sound of the river, the smell of wood smoke, the feeling of a conversation, the curve of the hill above the Glen… sometimes it’s hard to remember the sequence of what happened. It can feel linear, like a journey – or timeless, like a wide open field of experience. Perhaps these two ways of remembering work together. Tracing a path through the week seems to bring more understanding of how our work progressed, and to open out wider to the whole experience.
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We arrive in the Glen on Sunday. That evening, we gather together in the tipi to share stories of the ‘city-solo’ – stories of ninety minutes spent alone, sitting still in a city centre location, with no phone, no money, iPod or book. There are experiences of insight, sadness, joy, frustration, love, surprise.
On Monday morning, we start exploring the best and worst case scenarios for our community in the face of ecological challenge. Visualising utopia and dystopia – first as a waking dream, then making images on paper. From this, we listen deeply to each other’s responses… to what we hope for and what we fear – focusing and clarifying an intent before heading out for an afternoon solo. In the evening, everyone returns and tells each other the stories of their time out alone in the land.
Tuesday morning, we set off up the hill together. The wind is wild and cold. We find places along the way to stop and tell what we have learned from researching stories of social change. Nestled among grey rocks, high above the Glen – the French Resistance, the American Civil Rights movement… Gathered around a wind blasted tree – the Suffragettes… Sheltering above the bealach – Stonewall, The French Revolution… Back in the tipi, sitting around the fire – the priests who gave their lives standing against oppression in Central America… and the misappropriation of psychology to fuel post-war consumerism.
As night falls, we prepare for an early start the next day – a dawn till noon solo.
Wednesday morning – starting out in silence, ice blue sky, sunrise sparking on fresh snow. Returning to share stories again, a familiar practice – weaving together, subtle, beautiful, strong – narratives of transformation.
The next morning, along the banks of the river, we set out to explore how change happens. Making shapes in the land from moss, earth, rushes, wood, words. Then, quietly, and with a sense of wonder, visit each other’s places along the river, to see what we have created… what we have found.
We head back to the lodge to write up the morning’s experience. Grateful for the river, and what has been made there.
Late in the afternoon, we work to create a collective model of social change – drawing together impressions from the river bank, feelings, images, research, theory and intuition. The result is a huge wall chart, full of colour, movement and dynamism.
The evening is spent discussing the next steps for the project.
