DEEP LISTENING EXERCISES:
1. Extreme Slow Walk (pg. 29)
How did it feel to do it?
I took the liberty to try the exercise once with my eyes closed, and another when opened. In the former case, it felt like I was physically inside my head, while I lost control of my legs. With the latter case, I found myself zoning out, physically present, but mentally in an almost trance state.
Did you gain anything meaningful from this practice?
With my eyes shut, it felt like an intimate experience because I could articulate the spatial form of my head.
How you may utilize it in the future?
I could feel all the energy traveling to my head when I had my eyes shut. I would like to test and see if it can redirect my focus when it is divided.
2. Rhythms (1996) (pg. 42)
How did it feel to do it?
Soothing, relaxing, released a lot of the tension.
Did you gain anything meaningful from this practice?
It is beautiful to perceive and listen to the natural human rhythm on either a conscious or subconscious level. When the surrounding noises are too loud, the often unnoticed natural body rhythms like these tend to take a backseat. I would like to believe we take its beauty for granted when we do not pay attention to it.
How you may utilize it in the future?
I would like to utilize this exercise when the thoughts in my head get too overwhelming.
3. Palms of Hands (pg. 25-26)
How did it feel to do it?
At first, there was lots of tension. Afterwards, however, while breathing out, I could feel my heart pulsating through my entire body to try to release the tension. I am unsure if I felt any tingling sensations, however, I did feel numb at a later time. It was liberating to feel like my tension was sort of like evaporating from my body. The warm hands were soothing.
Did you gain anything meaningful from this practice?
I don’t think I have ever meditated in this form before, so it felt like I was connecting with the energies in my internal body.
How you may utilize it in the future?
I may utilize it to loosen any tensed up muscles, especially around the shoulders’ area.
Bonus: The exercises made me approach my engagement with the gift in a more calm manner than if I were to do this jumping in without the deep listening exercises. However, I do not think it has changed my initial vision of engagement.
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RESPONSE TO GIFT:
The gift I received from my gifting partner:
A poem called 'Good Bones' by Maggie Smith. The poem talks about how a mother has been hiding the different darker aspects of life from her children, and how she tries to wrap up the world to them in a positive manner, perhaps to protect them. She notes that life is short and that the world is half terrible. Yet the poet plays so much with oxymorons in this piece. She mentions that she's reduced her life span in "a thousand deliciously ill-advised ways", and for every kind person, there would be another to hurt you. Her use of oxymorons suggests that maybe she still believes in the good of the world, hence the title "Good Bones". Perhaps she tells her children about the good in the world so they can grow up to be the good change in the world.
How did I engage with the gift:
Upon reading the poem, I was instantly inspired by the theme of optimism in life, despite the terrible that happens in it (and despite the darker perspective of the poem). My mind instantly clicked with a famous saying we usually interchange, "Look at the glass half full, not half empty." The literal translation of this saying is also present in different cultures. It was pleasant to know that this perspective of life was commonly shared between me and my gifting partner.
What did I make:
People say poets provide mental images through words, whereas photos/images are described as worth more than a thousand words and sometimes perceived as visual poetry. As a response to the poem, I decided to render an image of what I would perceive to be the breakfast of the mentioned children before school.
In the image, there are 2 glasses of orange juice - one that is half full (as reference to the famous saying), and another full smaller glass filled with the same amount of juice. Their existence sets the idea of how the same amount of juice can be perceived differently, and, consequently, so does the perception of life. Also, there is a jar of chocolate spread that is half full, and a plate that has two half-eaten toasts of chocolate spread. The chocolate spread pays homage to the quote from the poem, "Life is short, and I’ve shortened mine in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways, a thousand deliciously ill-advised ways". If I had more time, I would have loved to 3D model and render the rest of the kitchen along with the house, presenting it in a cozy manner. It would be a reference to the realtor in the poem who mentions that this house could be a really beautiful place.
Documentation of the process can be found here.
