Brock { Abroad }

I had a great picnic in the park with my friend and fellow Knowmad, Marianne Slegers, last week. It was the day before we left on a Knowmadic team-building retreat . It was the end of a rather scattered month, to say the least. As a matter of fact, the reason Marianne and I got together in the first place was for a meeting that wasn’t scheduled for a week later. Nonetheless, we had a great Monday off talking in the park about motivations, fears, and life in general. She shared with me her love for Stephen King’s horror books that she had been reading from a very young age. Later that day, I got this email from her about his theory on the different types of terror:

• The Gross-out: the sight of a severed head tumbling down a flight of stairs, it’s when the lights go out and something green and slimy splatters against your arm.

• The Horror: the unnatural, spiders the size of bears, the dead waking up and walking around, it’s when the lights go out and something with claws grabs you by the arm.

• And the last and worse one: Terror, when you come home and notice everything you own had been taken away and replaced by an exact substitute. “It’s when the lights go out and you feel something behind you, you hear it, you feel its breath against your ear, but when you turn around, there’s nothing there…”

What are your biggest fears? I actually made a list and realized:

What have I got to lose?

What’s the worst that could happen?

Experiencing these past two weeks have really made me re-define what the word contribution means for myself. I’ve made a lot of personal breakthrough through Knowmads In these two weeks, where we have been attempting to better understand each other through 14-minute presentations to the tribe to express ourselves in any way we wish . Realizing what I now understand contribution to be, I knew it was time to open myself up to the group in a way I don’t think I’d ever really shared with anyone before. Hopefully, it will not be the last time I am able to do it either. Read the rest of this entry »

{MOVEMENTS!}
because… “Everything has been figured out, except how to live.” – Jean-Paul Sartre

Contents: Mind, body, and spirit
Number of Players: 1
Length of play: To be determined by you, but a minimum of ten days is recommended.

Who wants to play?
Do you find yourself often confused about if life isn’t giving you everything it could? Are you often plagued with worry or distracted from being happy the majority of the time? Do you stress about financial situations, spend money, and often regret it later, or find yourself poor, in general? Do you wish you could eat better, breathe better, want less, and live a simpler, healthier and happier life? Do you think you deserve more in life and want to re-evaluate the way you’re living yours?

Game Preparation: Your First {Movement!}

Alfred North Whitehead once said that “religion is what we do with our solitude.” Therefore, solitude, or inward {Movement!} is the key to making proper outward {Movement!} Make this first {Movement!} by listening to what your heart is telling you and answering these questions using a pen and paper. Keep these in mind throughout the game. Always remember that when you follow your bliss, spaces on the board will open up where there were no spaces before.

What went well this year? What did not go well this year?  What is the best praise you ever received?

Imagine your memoir as if you were 65 years old and had accomplished everything you wanted in life. Write it.  Write your obituary as if you died tomorrow. How different are they?

What do you want to get out of life? What can you offer the world that no one else can?

What is absurd in my life right now? When understanding the root of the word as deaf, begin to listen a bit more intently to your first inward {Movement!}

Remember! “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” -Goethe

That being said, are you ready for the next {Movement!}? Remove your complete self from your current life, put what you feel you need on your back, and walk. Choose a place, preferably outside your own culture, and determine to arrive by walking only. Think of a place, rooted in nature, that you’ve always wanted to see. Think back to your childhood, to a place you’ve read about possibly, or perhaps been told about.

Let’s Play!

Move your game pieces both inward and outward into available spaces to increase value. The more movements you make, the wider your perspective becomes. This increases value of your game pieces and ultimately leads the player closer to a win! Make measurable benchmarks, or rituals, to mark progress. The next village is a possibility, but so is the tree you can see ahead of you. Where you will end up at the end of the day can often be a reach.

Game Strategy: Use rituals to develop the ability to take time seriously and elegantly; intention of attention and quality curiosity are also key strategies.

How to win: Make both inward and outward {Movements!} away from how you currently live, into the life you imagine yourself living to attain ultimate synergy.
What is Synergy?
Simply put, synergy is balance. When playing, your goal is to create a balance between both inward and outward {Movements!} Think like a fish moving in current. You must be quick enough to fight the water, but smart enough to know when to be taken with the tide. Keep in mind that when seeking synergy that everything connects to everything else, and sometimes the straightest lines to what you want pass through the most unexpected but pleasant connections.

Rules:
1. Accept the fact that everything in life is the result of an action or lack of action.
2. Keep all contents (mind, body, and spirit) open in order to collect pieces in    the various spaces.
3. Don’t confuse your comfort with your safety or your expectations with your intentions.
4. If a player has bit off more than he/she can chew, they may ask for help upon admitting that they need help. This is a noble and recommended action if used correctly.
5. Don’t sing victory in the middle of {Movements!} However, if you don’t stop to rest, you’ll eventually fall down. If that happens, at least take a minute to enjoy the view.
**Want a more Difficult Challenge? Do not bring money. It is always necessary not to need money, however…

The Game Pieces/Rituals:

Mind- While playing {Movements!}, prepare a daily moment to stretch your thinking by journaling your experiences. Before departing each morning, write a few sentences to meditate upon during the day ahead.
Support material: The Dali Lama’s Rules for Living, United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Body- While playing {Movements!}, prepare a daily moment to stretch your physical being.   It can also help to remove outside stimulants such as caffeine, sugar, tobacco, and drugs. Record experiences using a pencil instead of a camera.
Support: Daily exercise and stretching.

Spirit- Imagine your departure as a metamorphosis. Slow down and treat each {Movement!} as part of the process. Understand that you have very few actual needs and that the world needs you to need less.
Support: patience, silence, trust, faith.
Remember! “If fate throws a knife at you, you can catch it either by the blade or the handle.” -ancient   Persians

The Board: The board is comprised of spaces and pitfalls in a labyrinth-like manner. Pieces move forward from space to space in either a random or pre-planned positions. Encountering pitfalls may hold a player back, inhibiting growth and often keeping him locked in one space. The goal is to pass by spaces which you do not love. The board neither has form nor size, but moves in a circular structure. The board is your life.

The Board in Detail: Spaces and Pitfalls

(1) NATURE Spaces- By displacing your pieces in nature, you are able to stand strong and better understand the world around you.

(2) URBAN Spaces- By displacing your pieces onto an urban area, you risk encountering pitfalls. However, you also are at a higher chance for encountering PEOPLE.
Pitfalls for Mind: Mass Media, mass consumption.
Pitfall for Body: Pollution, lack of natural space.
Pitfall for Spirit: Confusion, frustration, chaos; “Métro-Boulot-Dodo” mentality.
“Métro-Boulot-Dodo” is a French expression to describe urban life. It literally translates to “subway, work, sleep”.
Remember! The easy way is not always the best.  Be mindful of bumps along the way. When you get stuck in a spot, there will always be a way out when it’s time for it to be over. If possible, try wearing someone else’s shoes for a day. Always choose curiosity over certainty.

(3) PEOPLE Spaces- Attempt to land on as many “new people” spaces as possible.  Upon landing on a “new people” space, you will discover if it will be a “positive influence” or a “negative influence”.

Positive influences nurture your three pieces and help you continue moving. Negative influences are pitfalls and inhibit growth. For extra {Movements!}, be willing to seek out friends from other cultures and from across the globe.
Remember! You’ll eventually meet your unmet friends in the often most unexpected, but necessary moments.

Collecting “positive steps”
When one positively reacts while in a space, {Movements!} are made in collecting the positive steps. Collecting positive steps is done by following the golden rule: do unto others as you would want others to do unto you. Steps forward include:

Being generous. Saying thank you often. Complementing one “stranger” a day.  Sharing good information.  Praying positive. Recycling. Eating an apple from your surroundings. Imagining other cultures through art, poetry, and novels. Listening to music you don’t understand. Dancing to it. Cooking your meal from what you’ve gathered while walking. Smiling at the people you pass. Planting a tree along the way. Getting enough sleep. Doing something for nothing. Camping. Carrying a permanent water bottle.

Game-storage:
When finishing walking, ask yourself if you feel you are a different person, and is so, in what ways? Here are some other positive steps to continue playing the game:

Understand the workings of power and privilege in your culture. Act locally. Question consumption. Learn how your lettuce and coffee are grown. Look for fair trade and union labels. Help build economies from the bottom up. Become multi-lingual. Travel to people, places, and cultures- not tourist attractions. Play games from other cultures. Watch films with subtitles. Honour everyone’s holidays. Understand the global economy in terms of people, land and water. Know where your bank banks. Refuse to wear corporate logos: defy corporate domination. Question military/corporate connections. Don’t confuse money with wealth, or time with money. Judge governance by how well it meets all people’s needs. Be skeptical about what you read. Pledge allegiance to the Earth- question nationalism. Know that no one is silent though many are not heard. Work to change this. Write to people who have inspired you in the past. Learn your heritage. Never believe you have a right to anyone else’s resources. When eating, eat adventurously, and enjoy vegetables, beans, and grains. Learn where your water comes from and where your wastes go. Assume that many others share your dreams.

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”                                                                                                                     - Leo Tolstoy