Steps to Walk
“Walking is in itself the voluntary act that is most similar to the involuntary rhythms of the body, to breathing and to the heartbeat. Walking involves a subtle balance between work and leisure, between being and doing. It is a bodily activity that produces nothing more than thoughts, experiences, arrivals. "
R. Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking
Day 1: Steps to Wander
Prepare to go for a walk, without making any decisions regarding where you will go.
Consider how much time you have to walk today and set your alarm so that it marks the middle of your path and you know when to return.
Just before leaving, pick a random book you have handy, go to page 25 and read the second paragraph.
Start your timer and go for a walk.
Make the decisions about where you will go in the moment. Be guided by your intuition. Try not to decide your final destination at any time and do not stop until your timer rings.
You stop. Look around you. Take your own time and decide for yourself when to start your journey back. Try to undo the same path.
------------- (read the following only once you have finished your walk) ----------
When you get back home, take a pencil and paper. Take 5 minutes to do some free writing without stopping, write something related to the experience you just had. You can use whatever strategy you want to write (formal, poetic, descriptive, coherent, incoherent, etc.). Try to include in some way your 5 senses in your writing.
You can be part of our collective archive by sharing your text (or a photo of your text) at @entreseryhacer
Day 2: Steps towards a direction
Decide where you will go, what will be the destination of your walk.
Get ready to go for out and before heading out the door, close your eyes and visualize your route.
Go out for a walk.
When you arrive at your destination, take a few minutes to really perceive everything around you. The temperature, the smells, the sounds, the colors, the people. Take your own time and decide for yourself when to start your return journey.
Try to undo the same path.
—— (read the following only after your walk is over) ——
When you get home, take a few minutes to close your eyes and visualize the walk you just did: towards the destination, the place you arrived, and your journey back.
Take a pencil and paper. Take a few minutes to write down all the questions that you remember came up during your walk.
You can be part of our collective blog by sharing the questions that came up to @entreseryhacer (Instragram)
Day 3: The music of your steps
Bring your phone and headphones.
Stand in front of the door and go on an impromptu walk listening to Vivaldi's 4 stations (40 min). (Spotify- Vivaldi: The Four Seasons)
Decide when to walk and when to take take a pause. At each pause, perform a small, almost imperceptible dance, with eyes open or closed. Make variations between Pauses and Walks of different lengths.
When the 4 stations are over, take off your headphones and make your way back searching for silence.
—— (read the following only after your walk is over) ——
Still in silence, take a paper, pencil and 8 min timer. Document with your pencil and paper those dances that you did during your pauses: sensations, memories, landscapes.
You can be part of our collective blog by sharing your writing to @entreseryhacer (Instragram)
Day 4: Steps to find
Stand in front of the exit door, and set your cell phone alarm to 30 min.
Walk with the pace / speed of looking for something, you don't know exactly what it is.
Take 3 photos in 3 moments in which you think you have found what you were looking for.
Send 1 of those 3 photos to a friend inviting them to do this score.
Send this score together with the photo.
You can be part of our collective blog by sharing the photos and the description of what you were looking for without knowing it to @entreseryhacer (Instragram)
Day 5: Steps towards a conversation
Try to start a spoken conversation with at least one person during today's walk.
The conversation, like your walk, can be as long as you wish.
—— (read the following only after your walk is over) ——
Write down those things that allowed you to have your walk today.
Write down your strategies for starting a conversation.
You can be part of our collective blog by sharing your strategies at @entreseryhacer (Instragram)