Every morning I invoke the Muse.  Sometimes I follow this feldgang (fieldwalk) algorithm:

1. Use Gail Sher’s writing exercise from One Continuous Mistake.  I used exercise ‘a’ .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Let the pen follow your thoughts much as the mind follows the breath in some forms of Zen meditation.

3. Set alarm for 11 minutes (whatever) and write.

4. Ride the thoroughbred of your thoughts, a thought feldgang playfully galloping away like you see below.

5. Be done. Rein in your thought ( or carry on for a longer gallop).

6. Highlight the “best” part of the feldgang and transcribe somewhere.  Here’s my transcription:

7. I think each of these could be shared stuff. That is my ultimate goal–to share.  I immediately spot a poem in #3 and here it is:

 

8. Consider other uses for the text. There are some adjacencies here, a blog post or poem about what to do with the “hard drives” in your life. And if you were thinking that hard drives ain’t necessarily so, you may be right.  There is also some advice for activists, too. Don’t be a single-minded cardinal.

The biggest project and the most successful one so far since I retired last July, has been to create and refine these thought feldgangs and then to share them. I wanted to demonstrate how I do part of that fieldwalk so that you might adapt it or use it as a complete template for yourself or your students.

It is inspiring to be part of the wild hunt that is your own mind.  I think that work like this is a powerful way to rewild your own imagination and seize control of the world that distracts us unto oblivion.  You might even find other revelations