“Perhaps this is what today’s walk is about. Placing myself out in the world to see what I encounter. To experience the mundane from a fresh perspective. To see if I can take what I’ve learned from philosophy and test it out in the world.”
All hail the scientist-philosopher! Putting your theories to a hard test. I admire most your resistance to all the inner voices trying to dissuade you from following through with your plan of discovery.
The notion of being an appreciative spectator of one’s life reminds me of the concept of the “participant observer”, half in and half out. Seems like a valuable stance to maintain but, as you discovered, very difficult.
Thanks for sharing your thought-provoking experience, Erik. 👏
Thanks so much Baird. The participant observer would be valid, with the Stoic qualification that we cannot become attached to what we participate in. It’s the metaphor of a ballgame where you admire the athlete’s skill in handling the ball, not the ball itself. This is a new point of view for me in this type of environment. I’m curious to try more!
Well done! I love that the monks inspired you, and I think your personal interpretation of journeying through the mundane has great value. We should all undertake something like this.
It was personally a very valuable (can I say enlightening) experience. I may not want to do this exact walk again, but I think I should try something similar on some kind of semi regular basis. Thank you Jeanne!
I've been attending the 1 hr "Meditation w/ a Buddist Monk "@Red Top Mt State Park once a month for the past 3 mos.In Nov only 14 people attended. Attendence has grown to 48 this past Sunday.I believe this is due in part to the local television coverage of the monks "Walk for Peace".
Also when you were talking about "urban bushwacking" the scene of author Bill Bryson (played by Robert Redford in the movie A Walk in the Woods based on Bryson's book)urban bushwacking challenge to cross a busy multilane hwy.
Anyone who hasn't read Bill Bryson's books you will enjoy a light & entertaining read.
Thank you for a new perspective. I love going out for a week or two in the wilderness. Perhaps I need to consider a walking meditation in the not so wilderness for a day. I did @John Daily’s 25 mile ruck challenge, but that was on a bicycle path. My focus there was keeping from being run over by E bikes. Food for thought, thank you!
Haha! That challenge is no joke, especially when dodging e bikes!! The biggest takeaway from this walk was just the change of perspective and upending what I was used to. That being itself was valuable!
Great piece Erik. Quite inspiring - perhaps I could do something similar, although yesterday I did a beautiful 20km walk which had 400m on a busy, windy country road. It was horrible!
This is quite meditative, and a fascinating read!
Thank you Rachel! Quite a bit different than my normal hikes!
“Perhaps this is what today’s walk is about. Placing myself out in the world to see what I encounter. To experience the mundane from a fresh perspective. To see if I can take what I’ve learned from philosophy and test it out in the world.”
All hail the scientist-philosopher! Putting your theories to a hard test. I admire most your resistance to all the inner voices trying to dissuade you from following through with your plan of discovery.
The notion of being an appreciative spectator of one’s life reminds me of the concept of the “participant observer”, half in and half out. Seems like a valuable stance to maintain but, as you discovered, very difficult.
Thanks for sharing your thought-provoking experience, Erik. 👏
Thanks so much Baird. The participant observer would be valid, with the Stoic qualification that we cannot become attached to what we participate in. It’s the metaphor of a ballgame where you admire the athlete’s skill in handling the ball, not the ball itself. This is a new point of view for me in this type of environment. I’m curious to try more!
Well done! I love that the monks inspired you, and I think your personal interpretation of journeying through the mundane has great value. We should all undertake something like this.
It was personally a very valuable (can I say enlightening) experience. I may not want to do this exact walk again, but I think I should try something similar on some kind of semi regular basis. Thank you Jeanne!
This was great Erik. Your photos were very evocative despite being of a different subject matter to your usual work.
It was an interesting exercise to look at things I routinely drive by with photography in mind. Thanks!
I have truly enjoyed this meditative walk Erik.
I've been attending the 1 hr "Meditation w/ a Buddist Monk "@Red Top Mt State Park once a month for the past 3 mos.In Nov only 14 people attended. Attendence has grown to 48 this past Sunday.I believe this is due in part to the local television coverage of the monks "Walk for Peace".
Also when you were talking about "urban bushwacking" the scene of author Bill Bryson (played by Robert Redford in the movie A Walk in the Woods based on Bryson's book)urban bushwacking challenge to cross a busy multilane hwy.
Anyone who hasn't read Bill Bryson's books you will enjoy a light & entertaining read.
Thanks so much Erik for sharing your insights.
Congrats on accomplishing your urban walk.
Enjoyed your photography as well.
Thanks Charlotte! I hadn’t heard of the Meditation with a Buddhist Monk. That’s a bit far from me, but sounds like a great opportunity.
I was pretty disappointed by the movie, but the book A Walk in the Woods was great! That’s one I probably should re-read soon.
Really enjoyed traveling along! Photographs were a compelling story as well.
Thank you Dottie! Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
This was one of my favorite pieces of yours, Erik.
I appreciate that Jesse!
Thank you for a new perspective. I love going out for a week or two in the wilderness. Perhaps I need to consider a walking meditation in the not so wilderness for a day. I did @John Daily’s 25 mile ruck challenge, but that was on a bicycle path. My focus there was keeping from being run over by E bikes. Food for thought, thank you!
Haha! That challenge is no joke, especially when dodging e bikes!! The biggest takeaway from this walk was just the change of perspective and upending what I was used to. That being itself was valuable!
Great piece Erik. Quite inspiring - perhaps I could do something similar, although yesterday I did a beautiful 20km walk which had 400m on a busy, windy country road. It was horrible!
Ha! It was unique, but I can’t say I’d recommend a walk along roads like this one! Thanks James!