Walking

Weekly wisdom to level up your creative life in 3 minutes, for free.

A SHORT STORY

I recently listened to a podcast featuring Cal Newport where he discussed a practice that helps solve creative problems called Productive Meditation.

The purpose of productive meditation is to focus your thoughts on a creative problem by going for a long walk.

What surprised me was that I had instinctively adopted this practice during the most difficult times in my life.

While working in Dadaab Refugee Camp, I vividly recall writing in my journal:

“There was something about the walk we took with Kyoko under the stars. He wore shorts and long boots, which made farting noises as we walked. Even in the darkness filled with scorpions and spiders, we kept going and we kept laughing.

My mind compares it to the vastly different sky in Mongolia, where in search of the reindeer people, I found love and felt spirits. But, that cold distant land is now a fading memory. Who is that young man who went in search of shamans?”

During my most difficult times, walking has always become my sanctuary, allowing me to fully immerse myself in my imagination.

There's a Zen saying that captures a similar sentiment:

"Before enlightenment chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water."

This phrase suggests that even after reaching a state of enlightenment or learning something new, one still must engage in the same mundane tasks of everyday life to stay grounded in the present moment.

So, come join me in bringing walking into the heart of your creative practice this week. Perhaps, together, we can discover a fresh insight.

What creative problem are you solving this week? When are you planning to head out to work through it on a walk?

A CREATIVE TOOL

I’m really proud of the process we have developed as a company in Theater Mitu over the past 15 years. As a company member, I always learn something from my collaborator Rubén Polendo - the founding artistic director of the company.

In this podcast, he discusses the lessons learned from our latest projects, creative art making, and our collective hope for the future.

If you are a podcast listener like me - I highly suggest it!

A PIECE OF ART

“I Happened to Be Standing” by Mary Oliver

I don’t know where prayers go,
or what they do.
Do cats pray, while they sleep
half-asleep in the sun?
Does the opossum pray as it
crosses the street?
The sunflowers? The old black oak
growing older every year?
I know I can walk through the world,
along the shore or under the trees,
with my mind filled with things
of little importance, in full
self-attendance. A condition I can’t really
call being alive.
Is a prayer a gift, or a petition,
or does it matter?
The sunflowers blaze, maybe that’s their way.
Maybe the cats are sound asleep. Maybe not.

While I was thinking this I happened to be standing
just outside my door, with my notebook open,
which is the way I begin every morning.
Then a wren in the privet began to sing.
He was positively drenched in enthusiasm,
I don’t know why. And yet, why not.
I wouldn’t persuade you from whatever you believe
or whatever you don’t. That’s your business.
But I thought, of the wren’s singing, what could this be
if it isn’t a prayer?
So I just listened, my pen in the air.

Grateful,

Michael