How does a sense of place show itself? How can we perceive the unique spirit of a place?
Have you ever walked into a place and as further as you walk the “I” slowly fades away? When we submerge into the natural environment of a place, when we observe a mountain, endless grass, a flower or a bee we see aliveness. The expression of what is alive slowly quiets our own conditioning, judgments and expectations. The “I” moves to one side for a moment and void appears in ourselves, beauty starts to show itself within us and around us. Wilderness allows us the benefit of inner true order, which brings with it an immense space, a silence, from where this extraordinary sense of emptiness arises. What is sacred can only be expressed through us when the void exists in us. When the “I” is absent, the unique beauty of a place emerges in ourselves and we can sense its wholeness. We have arrived home, we have entered into an intimate relationship.
Explore
The first movement to engage with a place is to walk it. Open your senses, observe in detail, observe in wholeness. Your attention will flow from movements within to external movements, let yourself be embraced by it all. Take with you a pen and a notebook, write what comes up, floating ideas or even ideas that you want to empty yourself from. Take all the time you need. Only come back when you feel the smell of the place under your nose, the scenery in your mind’s eye, the different patterns in your touch, and so on.
Imagery
Sit down and draw, draw what comes up. Use colours that call your attention, move around the page as your hands express themselves. Live the movement that runs through you. If drawing feels too much of a stretch you can collect a few rocks, flowers, grasses and so on to create something with them. It could be whatever feels right, it doesn’t have to have any structure or similarity to anything you know. The only condition is that it resonates and comes up from within you and in relationship with place.
Connect
The third movement is to talk to people that are in relationship with the place already, engage with narratives that are unique to that place. Ask people to tell you a unique story that talks about this place. Listen spaciously, listen with the heart and with your imagination. Write what comes up for you.
Expression
Sit down and write a piece. It could have any expression, poem, story, or text. The writing should convey the spirit and sense of place that it has emerged within you along this process. Write from experience.