Movement: The Corridors
Our movement (within the invocation and within the inner
space that we create) is free to the extent that we allow it to be free. But different
kinds of movements have certain "characteristics" or "qualities" that
allow us to refer to them particular ways. One particular kind of movement is The
Corridors. (The other side of this coin is the Rooms or Chambers which we will explore in
the next section.) The main quality of the Corridors is the sense of propulsive movement
forward, passing by and leaving behind other options as we speed into the future. There
may be curves, changes in speed, turns and even complete about faces but the movement
continues forward, and it doesn't stop until we reach a Chamber.
Imagine yourself sliding along a long corridor, something
like the inside of a huge hotel. You see doors on both sides passing by you as you glide.
Each door is another mystery, another opportunity to find a new Chamber, a new space. But
you move past all of them. You get to a corner. You turn left and there are more doors on
either side. There is a staircase to your left, going both up and down. There is an open
window that leads to the outside, a roof. You glide past it all, moving forward. You get
to another corner and turn right. You hear noise from behind one of the doors. You glide
past it. There is a bathroom to your left. The door is open. You continue to glide down
the corridor. You get to a dead end. Without stopping you turn and glide back down the
corridor, and find that there are new doors, new staircases, new possibilities.
Experiment 1: Walk Through the City
- Imagine the city to be an extremely complex video game, with
multiple nested choices of paths and destinations. Now take out a map of the city and
through a random method pick a particular starting point, and pinpoint it clearly. Write
this starting point on a separate piece of paper.
- Now use a 4 sided die to pick which direction to move in:
North, South, East or West. Once it is decided write it on the separate piece of paper.
- Roll the die again and determine the number of blocks you will
walk in that particular direction. If you hit a dead end, determine a new direction. Write
each decision on the piece of paper.
- Continue doing this, until you have a set of intructions for a
"reasonable" walk. (What this means will depend on your particular amount of
energy, commitment, etc.)
- Now go and follow your instructions. Pay special attention to
the prearranged decisions and notice any friction between them and where your conditioned
impulses may take you.
Have fun with this. You may discover connections that you
hadn't seen before. You may end up meeting people or discovering new spaces. Don't take
this too seriously, more like a curious game. Don't combine this particular trip to the
city with any other errands. Make a specific trip to the city just for this purpose.
Experiment 2: Walk 2
Go through the same process as you did in the first
experiment. Create a plan through using a map and dice. Once you start walking through the
city, use your vision and attention in a very particular way:
- When you walk from "decision point" to
"decision point" hold this mantram in your mind: "I am moving through a
corridor". Allow your attention to hold steady on the objective at the end while
diffusing your vision to capture the movement through the space. Let all visions, sounds
and impressions go into you without focusing on any one of them in particular. Allow
yourself to fall into a particular space: feel as if the city is the one moving around you
while you remain static.
- When you arrive at a decision point, close your eyes briefly
and say inwardly "here ends one corridor, here begins another". Inmediately open
your eyes and quickly move in the new direction.
Experiment 3: Walk 3
To do this experiment you will need a video
camera. If you don't have one, you can get one or borrow one, although we would suggest
that it is a very good investments for multiple reasons. (And no, we don't work for video
camera manufacturers nor do we recommend any particular brand!)
Follow the same process that you did in
experiments 1 and 2, but this time video tape the whole proccess. If possible, have a
partner that will take care of you safety while you concentrate on moving while taping.
When you get home, watch the tape and do the
mantram as you did in Experiment 2: "I am moving through a corridor" as you
watch the camera move.
Watch the same tape multiple times, as many as
you can stand. Then when you feel like you have watched it too much... watch it 3 more
times. Each time repeat the mantram as you flow through the now "virtual"
corridors on the tape.
Experiment 4: Bach'n'Roll
To perform this experiment you will need to go
and buy a recorded copy of "The Well Tempered Clavier" (or download it from some
unknown source if you are so inclined). Sit down in a quiet space and play the music. The
exercise will be very simple but you will be forced to listen to the recording in a new
way. Pay attention and start to recognize when the music is "stable" and when it
"moves". Feel the spaces when it progresses forward into "something
new". If you are a musician you may or may not have "words" for these
spaces. Either way, it is irrelevant. The crucial thing is that you recognize the
movement. Whenever you feel the movement start imagine physical movement in your mind.
Then, when you feel the music come to a resting place, imagine a stable room or place in
your mind. Keep on doing this for at least half an hour. Repeat it several times over
several weeks (using "The Well Tempered Clavier"). Later you can try it with
other music.
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