Epicycle 3
Week 1
October 21st, 2013
I think I can be creatively mysterious
Isa had the morning meeting today and it consisted of doing a song, poem, or story (chosen randomly) using the words explorers, journey, laughter, sun, and blue jeans. This is what is came up with:
“I woke up. I didn’t know where I was; it was a jungle I think. The dim rays of the sun barely passed the dense fog. It was quite. I was alone… I thought some explorers might be around, but no, it was only me. My blue jeans were all torn and ragged. I had nothing to survive that day. “It would be a tough journey”, I thought.
It’s been seven years since that day. I have walked the entire island and found nothing. Not one animal or living thing. Nothing, until yesterday, when I heard someone laugh.”
What I liked about this was that I really liked the end product given the time. It came very natural and in some way easy to do it, and I’m happy with what I wrote.
Another highlight of the day was our lab session. We dissected a couple of plants and what I liked was approaching them as a stranger. We tend to apply past knowledge to these situations and in some cases that diminishes your learning. So, I tried to explore them as if I didn’t know a thing about them and it ended up being a good experience. Next time, we’ll dissect a little frogy frog.
I think I can be creatively mysterious
Isa had the morning meeting today and it consisted of doing a song, poem, or story (chosen randomly) using the words explorers, journey, laughter, sun, and blue jeans. This is what is came up with:
“I woke up. I didn’t know where I was; it was a jungle I think. The dim rays of the sun barely passed the dense fog. It was quite. I was alone… I thought some explorers might be around, but no, it was only me. My blue jeans were all torn and ragged. I had nothing to survive that day. “It would be a tough journey”, I thought.
It’s been seven years since that day. I have walked the entire island and found nothing. Not one animal or living thing. Nothing, until yesterday, when I heard someone laugh.”
What I liked about this was that I really liked the end product given the time. It came very natural and in some way easy to do it, and I’m happy with what I wrote.
Another highlight of the day was our lab session. We dissected a couple of plants and what I liked was approaching them as a stranger. We tend to apply past knowledge to these situations and in some cases that diminishes your learning. So, I tried to explore them as if I didn’t know a thing about them and it ended up being a good experience. Next time, we’ll dissect a little frogy frog.
October 22nd, 2013
How to apply more meaning to your life
I had the morning meeting today and decided to share some tips that have helped me have a more meaningful life. It was about small things, small changes in your daily routine that would change significantly how you live. So, we would focus only in the first part of the morning, from the time you wake up to the moment you get to the campus.
First, they had to write how their routine was. This was an exercise to realize that it’s very easy to live in autopilot. One thing to always keep in mind is to ask yourself in every situation whether you are learning. If you feel like you are in autopilot, then that’s a sign that you are not learning, and that can happen very easily. So, the next thing was for me to tell them some things I have applied in my life that have made it more meaningful. Some examples were waking up earlier, having a really good breakfast and cooking it myself, having a cup of freshly brewed coffee, planning your day, driving with no traffic, and listening to podcasts instead of music while you drive. As you can see, these are not huge things that seem impossible to do, but rather the opposite. They are simple things you can start doing NOW! Finally, they had to think of ways to put more meaning in the activities they do on a daily basis.
I think it went great. Maybe, not with that positive spirit I would’ve liked, but still there was a positive response. I really hope it would change positively in their life.
P.S.: I really liked this quote from Jean Paul Sartre (Marcela presented it during the art dialogue): “Nuestra esencia, aquello que nos definirá, es lo que construiremos nosotros mismos mediante nuestros actos.”
How to apply more meaning to your life
I had the morning meeting today and decided to share some tips that have helped me have a more meaningful life. It was about small things, small changes in your daily routine that would change significantly how you live. So, we would focus only in the first part of the morning, from the time you wake up to the moment you get to the campus.
First, they had to write how their routine was. This was an exercise to realize that it’s very easy to live in autopilot. One thing to always keep in mind is to ask yourself in every situation whether you are learning. If you feel like you are in autopilot, then that’s a sign that you are not learning, and that can happen very easily. So, the next thing was for me to tell them some things I have applied in my life that have made it more meaningful. Some examples were waking up earlier, having a really good breakfast and cooking it myself, having a cup of freshly brewed coffee, planning your day, driving with no traffic, and listening to podcasts instead of music while you drive. As you can see, these are not huge things that seem impossible to do, but rather the opposite. They are simple things you can start doing NOW! Finally, they had to think of ways to put more meaning in the activities they do on a daily basis.
I think it went great. Maybe, not with that positive spirit I would’ve liked, but still there was a positive response. I really hope it would change positively in their life.
P.S.: I really liked this quote from Jean Paul Sartre (Marcela presented it during the art dialogue): “Nuestra esencia, aquello que nos definirá, es lo que construiremos nosotros mismos mediante nuestros actos.”
October 23rd, 2013
The Movie of Our Life
Today, two things were really interesting. It connected a lot with some things I’ve been talking with my family and some friends. Both things happened in the morning and they were very refreshing to start the day of with the right foot.
The first one was Grace’s morning meeting. She talked about body language and read something, but that’s not the important part. The important part was that she motivated us to write a list of intentions. In this list, you write things that you want to accomplish and you write them as if you already accomplished them. I see the importance of writing things down and relate it to Getting Things Done. If it’s only in your head, you’ll probably won’t do them. Write things down and strive to accomplish them. It’s always good to have a reminder of why you are doing the things you are doing. That’s something that will make you more successful in your life.
The second one was during our Socrates Café. We had three questions that related a lot with life, success, and living in a society. These were the questions, ¿Si nosotros hiciéramos una película y el crew fuera el MPC, cómo sería? ¿Hacemos las cosas por la aceptación de los demás y en qué grado? ¿Cuál es la fórmula del éxito? I asked the last one and it’s really interesting to talk about it. I concluded that there are two levels of success. The first one is totally individual and subjective. Success is reaching your goals and your goals and ends depend on only you, so you have the parameters of your success. The other level is a more general level. It consists of the parameters generally accepted by society. They are just common valuations amongst the members of it, but it’s not a generalization because values would change from individual to individual. So, it’s good to think constantly of why you do things, and if you are doing them for yourself or for others.
The Movie of Our Life
Today, two things were really interesting. It connected a lot with some things I’ve been talking with my family and some friends. Both things happened in the morning and they were very refreshing to start the day of with the right foot.
The first one was Grace’s morning meeting. She talked about body language and read something, but that’s not the important part. The important part was that she motivated us to write a list of intentions. In this list, you write things that you want to accomplish and you write them as if you already accomplished them. I see the importance of writing things down and relate it to Getting Things Done. If it’s only in your head, you’ll probably won’t do them. Write things down and strive to accomplish them. It’s always good to have a reminder of why you are doing the things you are doing. That’s something that will make you more successful in your life.
The second one was during our Socrates Café. We had three questions that related a lot with life, success, and living in a society. These were the questions, ¿Si nosotros hiciéramos una película y el crew fuera el MPC, cómo sería? ¿Hacemos las cosas por la aceptación de los demás y en qué grado? ¿Cuál es la fórmula del éxito? I asked the last one and it’s really interesting to talk about it. I concluded that there are two levels of success. The first one is totally individual and subjective. Success is reaching your goals and your goals and ends depend on only you, so you have the parameters of your success. The other level is a more general level. It consists of the parameters generally accepted by society. They are just common valuations amongst the members of it, but it’s not a generalization because values would change from individual to individual. So, it’s good to think constantly of why you do things, and if you are doing them for yourself or for others.
October 24th, 2013
Innovation, Complexity, and Sonnets
We started the day pretty good. This week was our turn to plan the weekly morning meeting we have with the first year students. The activity consisted of getting into groups, making a product, and then selling it to the rest of the groups. I worked with Ingrid, Karen, Javi Parella, and Carmen. It was fun and dynamic to work with them and I think we did a good job. Our product was the P3 Shirt: Power, Productivity, Perfection.
Then, we had our art dialogue with Ingrid and read about the influence of the theories of complexity and pop art. After that, we had our first dialogue with Eric Graf about What is a sonnet? and also read a few. This was very interesting and I think most of us liked Eric’s approach of facilitating this subject and felt motivated to keep learning about this. There were a couple of learnings during this dialogue, not necessarily about sonnets. The first one is that when we are analyzing a sonnet, it’s good to reach a conclusion even if I’m still not sure about the meaning of it (and that implies some little lying), but it’s acceptable. Preferably, you should be totally honest. The other one came with something Eric said about writing a lot about a sonnet, and it’s that you have to follow everything that comes to your mind. After all, art is very open to interpretations according to your background, so you don’t know the right interpretation of it because it’s not objective. And that brings me to the last learning, which is the importance of the individual. This is seen since the Renaissance, and it’s about what you do that defines you.
Innovation, Complexity, and Sonnets
We started the day pretty good. This week was our turn to plan the weekly morning meeting we have with the first year students. The activity consisted of getting into groups, making a product, and then selling it to the rest of the groups. I worked with Ingrid, Karen, Javi Parella, and Carmen. It was fun and dynamic to work with them and I think we did a good job. Our product was the P3 Shirt: Power, Productivity, Perfection.
Then, we had our art dialogue with Ingrid and read about the influence of the theories of complexity and pop art. After that, we had our first dialogue with Eric Graf about What is a sonnet? and also read a few. This was very interesting and I think most of us liked Eric’s approach of facilitating this subject and felt motivated to keep learning about this. There were a couple of learnings during this dialogue, not necessarily about sonnets. The first one is that when we are analyzing a sonnet, it’s good to reach a conclusion even if I’m still not sure about the meaning of it (and that implies some little lying), but it’s acceptable. Preferably, you should be totally honest. The other one came with something Eric said about writing a lot about a sonnet, and it’s that you have to follow everything that comes to your mind. After all, art is very open to interpretations according to your background, so you don’t know the right interpretation of it because it’s not objective. And that brings me to the last learning, which is the importance of the individual. This is seen since the Renaissance, and it’s about what you do that defines you.
Week 2
October 28th, 2013
Ethics of a Frog
Today was the day to dissect the frog at the biology lab session. Before starting the dissection, we talked about the procedure and ethics we should follow in doing this. I really like the part of talking about the ethics of dissecting an animal. The topic came because of Javi P, and actually I didn’t think about that before. I wasn’t sad of doing this experiment (the dissection), but just had a feeling of sorryness towards the frogs. I mean, seeing them alive and falling asleep because of the chloroform, and then dissecting them, just wasn’t that awesome feeling. Nevertheless, I wasn’t sick or didn’t want to do it, but there was still something missing to feel more comfortable with doing it. When we talked about what ethics we should follow, the one that I liked the most was having a posture of respect toward the animal. I didn’t think about it explicitly. I mean, it’s only an animal right? But when you think about the opportunity cost of that frog, and that was being alive or getting dissected (yes, it didn’t have an option, but still…) it comes up to you whether you are going to make it worth killing it, and you can demonstrate it by engaging professionally and taking advantage of the opportunity and showing a posture of respect.
It was a good experience and I think everyone enjoyed it. Some got a little sick afterwards and even dreamt with the frog, but in overall I think it was worth the life of those little frogs.
Ethics of a Frog
Today was the day to dissect the frog at the biology lab session. Before starting the dissection, we talked about the procedure and ethics we should follow in doing this. I really like the part of talking about the ethics of dissecting an animal. The topic came because of Javi P, and actually I didn’t think about that before. I wasn’t sad of doing this experiment (the dissection), but just had a feeling of sorryness towards the frogs. I mean, seeing them alive and falling asleep because of the chloroform, and then dissecting them, just wasn’t that awesome feeling. Nevertheless, I wasn’t sick or didn’t want to do it, but there was still something missing to feel more comfortable with doing it. When we talked about what ethics we should follow, the one that I liked the most was having a posture of respect toward the animal. I didn’t think about it explicitly. I mean, it’s only an animal right? But when you think about the opportunity cost of that frog, and that was being alive or getting dissected (yes, it didn’t have an option, but still…) it comes up to you whether you are going to make it worth killing it, and you can demonstrate it by engaging professionally and taking advantage of the opportunity and showing a posture of respect.
It was a good experience and I think everyone enjoyed it. Some got a little sick afterwards and even dreamt with the frog, but in overall I think it was worth the life of those little frogs.
October 29th, 2013
A, B, C: Art and Presentations
Today we presented the relevant actors that influenced the art threads we are seeing in the art dialogues. I presented Max Weber and talked mainly about his idea of the ideal types. An ideal type is a conceptual instrument formed from the characteristics of social phenomena. It’s not something we would find in reality because of its utopian characteristics, but nevertheless it’s useful because of its heuristic capacity to help generate new ideas. Although this may seem a little out of context, we can also see this in our behavior and the rubrics we form. We also work with ideals and standards and sometimes they may seem to be utopian, but they serve us as a guide to direct our actions. So are dreams and goals. Some of them are very achievable, but some of them may appear a little farther, although still reachable. The point is that even though we may not reach exactly what we have thought of, we might end in a very good position with respect to where we started.
Another thing I liked about other presentation was the life alphabet of Gilles Deleuze, presented by Javi T. It was a work where he assigned something to each letter of the alphabet. He also made a short film explaining each letter. We did the same activity but only with the letters A, B, C. In Spanish, mine where aprender, belleza, comida. I liked this exercise because it makes you think of your scale of values in life, what things do are most important to you and how you value them.
A, B, C: Art and Presentations
Today we presented the relevant actors that influenced the art threads we are seeing in the art dialogues. I presented Max Weber and talked mainly about his idea of the ideal types. An ideal type is a conceptual instrument formed from the characteristics of social phenomena. It’s not something we would find in reality because of its utopian characteristics, but nevertheless it’s useful because of its heuristic capacity to help generate new ideas. Although this may seem a little out of context, we can also see this in our behavior and the rubrics we form. We also work with ideals and standards and sometimes they may seem to be utopian, but they serve us as a guide to direct our actions. So are dreams and goals. Some of them are very achievable, but some of them may appear a little farther, although still reachable. The point is that even though we may not reach exactly what we have thought of, we might end in a very good position with respect to where we started.
Another thing I liked about other presentation was the life alphabet of Gilles Deleuze, presented by Javi T. It was a work where he assigned something to each letter of the alphabet. He also made a short film explaining each letter. We did the same activity but only with the letters A, B, C. In Spanish, mine where aprender, belleza, comida. I liked this exercise because it makes you think of your scale of values in life, what things do are most important to you and how you value them.
October 30th, 2013
Value Judgments, The Heart, and Production
Now that Halloween is approaching, it came to my mind to ask whether it is good or bad or neither, and how could we know that. I ask that question during Socrates Café, but it was not selected. Spontaneously, we started talking about it so it was good. We talked a lot about how people perceive these things and the origins of it. My conclusion was that we are the meaning makers and that individually we would decide whether something is good or bad for us. Nevertheless, there’s a general valoration of the individuals of the society we live in and it’s similar to a system of prices where we can have a value judment of whether something is good or bad. So, in the case of Halloween, if people perceive it as something good or just not bad, but as a celebration where we can dressed in costumes and have fun, then there’s no sustancial reason why it should be banned or seen as something bad.
Another dialogue I really like was that of Harvey and the heart. We went into a lot of detail, but I liked the importance of similarities in living things and how this determines significantly our ethic systems. We also talked about the importance of the heart in life and how it is said that the left auricle is the first thing to live and the last thing to die.
Finally, we had our Human Action dialogue. We talked only about Mises’s view of production and creative faculty of human beings. We concluded that in order for action to happen, we need three steps that happen in our mind. First, we feel uneasy. Second, we imagine (this is the creative process). And third, we decide to use factors to achive our ends (this is production). All of these, constitute human action. As Mises puts it, “Human action is a manifestation of the mind.”
Value Judgments, The Heart, and Production
Now that Halloween is approaching, it came to my mind to ask whether it is good or bad or neither, and how could we know that. I ask that question during Socrates Café, but it was not selected. Spontaneously, we started talking about it so it was good. We talked a lot about how people perceive these things and the origins of it. My conclusion was that we are the meaning makers and that individually we would decide whether something is good or bad for us. Nevertheless, there’s a general valoration of the individuals of the society we live in and it’s similar to a system of prices where we can have a value judment of whether something is good or bad. So, in the case of Halloween, if people perceive it as something good or just not bad, but as a celebration where we can dressed in costumes and have fun, then there’s no sustancial reason why it should be banned or seen as something bad.
Another dialogue I really like was that of Harvey and the heart. We went into a lot of detail, but I liked the importance of similarities in living things and how this determines significantly our ethic systems. We also talked about the importance of the heart in life and how it is said that the left auricle is the first thing to live and the last thing to die.
Finally, we had our Human Action dialogue. We talked only about Mises’s view of production and creative faculty of human beings. We concluded that in order for action to happen, we need three steps that happen in our mind. First, we feel uneasy. Second, we imagine (this is the creative process). And third, we decide to use factors to achive our ends (this is production). All of these, constitute human action. As Mises puts it, “Human action is a manifestation of the mind.”
October 31st, 2013
Trick or Treat Halloween!
Now that we have talked about whether Halloween is good or bad, and decided that it’s up to the meaning maker to decide this, we can assert that it is not a bad celebration if your purpose is only having a good time dressed up in a costume. And today, was the second time MPC students celebrated this non-satanic festival. The idea was to find a costume related to the MPC, but almost none did this. Chacho and I were of the few that did it, and so we were Newton (Chacho) and Newton’s apple tree (me). We won for best back-up story, and to be honest it was a great costume. During that morning meeting we also carved watermelons.
In the art dialogue, we saw colors and the infinite palette we can make by mixing them. But before doing that, Javi P presented about deconstruction, and it was interesting since I related it to a cooking technique. I was able to understand and relate it better and it’s about grabbing elements of a composition and use them in a different way. We can apply this in life by how we live and think with respect to what is “given”. It’s about thinking outside of the box and creating something new.
To end the day, we had a meeting with Bert to talk about the structure of the future semesters at MPC. To be honest, I expected a lot more from the meeting, because Bert only gave us a general idea of how they are thinking the next semesters to be, but with no specifications or concreteness. I hope they put in practice our suggestions and not only try to dissipate with general ideas the discomfort many have with the uncertainty of the program.
Trick or Treat Halloween!
Now that we have talked about whether Halloween is good or bad, and decided that it’s up to the meaning maker to decide this, we can assert that it is not a bad celebration if your purpose is only having a good time dressed up in a costume. And today, was the second time MPC students celebrated this non-satanic festival. The idea was to find a costume related to the MPC, but almost none did this. Chacho and I were of the few that did it, and so we were Newton (Chacho) and Newton’s apple tree (me). We won for best back-up story, and to be honest it was a great costume. During that morning meeting we also carved watermelons.
In the art dialogue, we saw colors and the infinite palette we can make by mixing them. But before doing that, Javi P presented about deconstruction, and it was interesting since I related it to a cooking technique. I was able to understand and relate it better and it’s about grabbing elements of a composition and use them in a different way. We can apply this in life by how we live and think with respect to what is “given”. It’s about thinking outside of the box and creating something new.
To end the day, we had a meeting with Bert to talk about the structure of the future semesters at MPC. To be honest, I expected a lot more from the meeting, because Bert only gave us a general idea of how they are thinking the next semesters to be, but with no specifications or concreteness. I hope they put in practice our suggestions and not only try to dissipate with general ideas the discomfort many have with the uncertainty of the program.
Week 3
November 5th, 2013
Guy Fawkes Night
“Remember, remember, the fifth of November, Gunpowder Treason and Plot.”
Although a little unperceived and forgotten, today was the Guy Fawkes Night. It made me remember of one of my favorite movies (and the comic too), V for Vendetta. This made me think of how important it is to constantly remind yourself why you do things, what’s your purpose, and the value of achieving it. I’m always amazed by the power of ideas and how they can change the world and your world. At the end, it’s not about someone, but what that person stands for, its principles and values, and the purpose of doing the things he does.
In the opening scene in the movie, Evey says, “We are told to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught. He can be killed and forgotten. But four hundred years later an idea can still change the world. I've witnessed firsthand the power of ideas. I've seen people kill in the name of them; and die defending them. But you cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it or hold it. Ideas do not bleed, it cannot feel pain, and it does not love.”
And this must not be taken as an abstract and metaphysical situation. It applies to our daily life and how we decide to live it. It’s also about your mindset, what ideas you put in practice in your life and the reason why you act. It’s about knowing where you are and where you want to go. It’s about standards and having an ideal of the kind of person you want to become and the contribution you want to leave for the world.
And always remember, as V says, “Ideas are bulletproof.”
Guy Fawkes Night
“Remember, remember, the fifth of November, Gunpowder Treason and Plot.”
Although a little unperceived and forgotten, today was the Guy Fawkes Night. It made me remember of one of my favorite movies (and the comic too), V for Vendetta. This made me think of how important it is to constantly remind yourself why you do things, what’s your purpose, and the value of achieving it. I’m always amazed by the power of ideas and how they can change the world and your world. At the end, it’s not about someone, but what that person stands for, its principles and values, and the purpose of doing the things he does.
In the opening scene in the movie, Evey says, “We are told to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught. He can be killed and forgotten. But four hundred years later an idea can still change the world. I've witnessed firsthand the power of ideas. I've seen people kill in the name of them; and die defending them. But you cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it or hold it. Ideas do not bleed, it cannot feel pain, and it does not love.”
And this must not be taken as an abstract and metaphysical situation. It applies to our daily life and how we decide to live it. It’s also about your mindset, what ideas you put in practice in your life and the reason why you act. It’s about knowing where you are and where you want to go. It’s about standards and having an ideal of the kind of person you want to become and the contribution you want to leave for the world.
And always remember, as V says, “Ideas are bulletproof.”
November 6th, 2013
The Purpose of Life
Lately, we’ve been talking about really good questions during our Socrates Café dialogues, and today was not the exception. We had our dialogue at &Café so it was also interesting the change in environment and see how our approach to these questions can happen in any place. I drew out a question, which had the following words written, “What is the meaning and motive of your life? Where did that come from and how did you discovered it?”
You may think this is one of those fundamental questions without an answer, but to me it was not hard to get to the bottom of it. After hearing others answered this question and how it applies to them, I couldn’t stop thinking that all of what they were saying was the means to achieving something greater. For example, some said to give a contribution to the world and know that your life was valuable and worthy. The rest of the answers were similar in that they established some kind of goals in order for them to feel good. I mean, why we do the things we do, and why do I want to contribute to humanity? What’s the final result I want to achieve? Is it because I want to be happier?
After all, I think everything we do is aimed to this subjective feeling. In some general sense, I believe we all want to achieve a state of less uneasiness (as Mises would say), and to me that’s a synonym to be happier. In that sense, we all share the same end, but the way to achieve it would be different in each case. The means to achieve your meaning of happiness would be different from mine. Whether you want to save humanity or just make a difference to the people around you, you would always act to improve your state of happiness.
The Purpose of Life
Lately, we’ve been talking about really good questions during our Socrates Café dialogues, and today was not the exception. We had our dialogue at &Café so it was also interesting the change in environment and see how our approach to these questions can happen in any place. I drew out a question, which had the following words written, “What is the meaning and motive of your life? Where did that come from and how did you discovered it?”
You may think this is one of those fundamental questions without an answer, but to me it was not hard to get to the bottom of it. After hearing others answered this question and how it applies to them, I couldn’t stop thinking that all of what they were saying was the means to achieving something greater. For example, some said to give a contribution to the world and know that your life was valuable and worthy. The rest of the answers were similar in that they established some kind of goals in order for them to feel good. I mean, why we do the things we do, and why do I want to contribute to humanity? What’s the final result I want to achieve? Is it because I want to be happier?
After all, I think everything we do is aimed to this subjective feeling. In some general sense, I believe we all want to achieve a state of less uneasiness (as Mises would say), and to me that’s a synonym to be happier. In that sense, we all share the same end, but the way to achieve it would be different in each case. The means to achieve your meaning of happiness would be different from mine. Whether you want to save humanity or just make a difference to the people around you, you would always act to improve your state of happiness.
November 7th, 2013
Trusting your senses
This Thursday was our turn to prepare the morning meeting we have with the first-year students. We decided to make an activity we did with Ingrid in another morning meeting during the last semester. This consisted of getting into pairs, blindfolding one of them, and the other one must guide him or her to some place in the campus but the one guiding cannot touch the blindfolded one. That person can only guide by giving directions or by the sound of the voice. I teamed up with Nacho, one of the first-year students.
This activity makes you think of the level of awareness in your daily life and how much we don’t use our senses. It’s also about the responsibility of guiding another person to reach a point. It involves the level of trust you have with other people and that others have with you and how this can improve through time by proving that you are trustworthy and won’t let them fall.
From my experience, I noticed a lot of things I’m not usually aware in my day-to-day. I realize how much we depend on our senses and sight is one of the most important. I also tend to focus more on what I see rather that any of my other senses, but now that I was blindfolded I could hear more. I heard things from a farther distance and made a mental image of the things I was hearing. I depended now on sounds, so it was very interesting to notice how your state of awareness changes when different senses are being used. I really like the idea of amplifying your senses in your daily life. It’s about being more aware of everything, and I know you cannot be Superman and have perfectly keen of every sense, but it would be awesome just to expand each of them a little more. I could see things more of how they are rather than how I imagine them to be, I could hear more sounds, smell more things, feel how things are with their textures and everything, and especially taste how wonderful food is. In other words, I would be more alive!
Trusting your senses
This Thursday was our turn to prepare the morning meeting we have with the first-year students. We decided to make an activity we did with Ingrid in another morning meeting during the last semester. This consisted of getting into pairs, blindfolding one of them, and the other one must guide him or her to some place in the campus but the one guiding cannot touch the blindfolded one. That person can only guide by giving directions or by the sound of the voice. I teamed up with Nacho, one of the first-year students.
This activity makes you think of the level of awareness in your daily life and how much we don’t use our senses. It’s also about the responsibility of guiding another person to reach a point. It involves the level of trust you have with other people and that others have with you and how this can improve through time by proving that you are trustworthy and won’t let them fall.
From my experience, I noticed a lot of things I’m not usually aware in my day-to-day. I realize how much we depend on our senses and sight is one of the most important. I also tend to focus more on what I see rather that any of my other senses, but now that I was blindfolded I could hear more. I heard things from a farther distance and made a mental image of the things I was hearing. I depended now on sounds, so it was very interesting to notice how your state of awareness changes when different senses are being used. I really like the idea of amplifying your senses in your daily life. It’s about being more aware of everything, and I know you cannot be Superman and have perfectly keen of every sense, but it would be awesome just to expand each of them a little more. I could see things more of how they are rather than how I imagine them to be, I could hear more sounds, smell more things, feel how things are with their textures and everything, and especially taste how wonderful food is. In other words, I would be more alive!