I just picked up Keri Smith's 'How to Be an Explorer of the World,' a field guide for exploring and documenting the art of everyday life. I love the idea of paying conscious attention to the things around you, wherever you are. It is this sense of mindful appreciation, curiosity, and awareness that I do believe makes life so rich. Remember when you were a child and everything was interesting? I used to live next to a creek when I was young and was content to go explore along the water and search for salamanders all day. This book is a breath of fresh air in keeping that youthful curiosity alive in our everyday lives. It reminds me of what my yoga teacher delves into a bit at the end of every class: the art of living with an intentional and grateful awareness of yourself and everything around you. I love being reminded of that.
How to Be an Explorer of the World by Keri Smith:
1. Always be looking. (Notice the ground beneath your feet.)
2. Consider everything alive & animate.
3. Everything is interesting. Look Closer.
4. Alter your course often.
5. Observe for long durations (and short ones).
6. Notice the stories going on around you.
7. Notice patterns. Make connections.
8. Document your findings (field notes) in a variety of ways.
9. Incorporate indeterminancy.
10. Observe movement.
11. Create a personal dialogue with your environment. Talk to it.
12. Trace things back to their origins.
13. Use all of the senses in your investigations.
I think that there is something completely transformative about living life in this way and finding opportunities to explore even what has become the familiar. By allowing ourselves to occasionally slow down, meet things with curiosity, and adopt this mindful and appreciative stance towards the world, we are all explorers no matter where we are. Plus, once you start looking who knows what you can discover. The world is full of stories just waiting for you to listen to their telling.
9 comments:
i love the idea of exploring and documenting our everyday lives. as exciting and intriguing as i find the everyday lives of my grandparents (i could listen to their stories of when they were young forever), i hope that one day when the world is so very different, my grandchildren will find my old journals and read about what it was like to live "back then!"
This sounds like such a great book (and IS such a great post)! The older I get (ack! Did I really just write that already at this age?!), the more I realize how sad it is that childhood has ended. It's more than just growing, learning, working, etc. You lose that innocence, trust, and wonder. The last part I think is the saddest one of all to lose.
Love this. I'll start exploring...right after lunch!
Spoken like a true explorer. :) xo style, she wrote
one of my favorite books of all time. sits proudly on my bookshelf and referenced often.
love the "how to be an explorer" list - they're like words to live by!
Mary, you and I must be on the same psychic wavelength -- we both posted about this book yesterday. How cool is that? Keri's list is brilliant. I think I may need to do some exploring close by this weekend.
Sounds great - might need to pick up a copy
LOVE this. I need that book too - sounds amazing. And so inspiring!
Post a Comment