Author: Rachel Crowther

At a time when we can’t come together to physically share and connect – we think it’s important to do what we can, virtually. Street Wisdom is all about tapping into a source of invisible wisdom and sharing that wisdom.

Over the next few weeks, we are encouraging wanderers from all over the world to take some time to go for a walk and find some answers to the same question. The question we’d like you to wander with is “What’s next?” Your answers could be related to you personally, your wider community or the whole world. As we try to navigate this pandemic, what’s next for us all? We would love for you to share your answers online to help and inspire others.

It’s simple:

Step 1. Get outside and go for a walk

Step 2. As you wander, think about What’s Next? for me, for my community, for the world

Step 3. Share your wisdom and tag us @streetwisdom_

You could share a video or post to tell us about your experience or just a photo of something that inspired fresh thinking. You can also download our free audioguide that’ll guide you through some warm-up exercises to tune-up your senses before asking your question.

We look forward to hearing your ideas and we’ll be sharing your insights online over the next few weeks.

When the world is wobbly, wander.

Thanks so much to everyone who took part in this year’s World Wide Wander. It was an incredible weekend and it turns out that Street Wisdom works anywhere – from a living room or out on city streets. It was a joy to see people connecting from all over the world, one Walkshop brought together participants from Japan, China, Australia, Italy and the UK.

Now you’ve taken part in a Street Wisdom Walkshop, we’d love for you to keep using the technology. Lots of people use Street Wisdom regularly with our downloadable audioguide – whether it’s a 15-min tune-up to start the day or the full process to find some fresh thinking. You are also very welcome to lead your own Walkshop: online or in-person. It’s super simple and we provide all the support you’ll need. Just get in touch to find out more.

Some other ways you can get involved:

– Tell a friend. Help us spread the word of our social movement by telling someone who might benefit from the magic of Street Wisdom. We’ve got some upcoming online events or they can download our free audioguide to get the Street Wisdom experience anywhere, anytime.

– Share your experience online. If you have benefitted from Street Wisdom, we’d be really grateful if you could give us a shoutout on social media, so other people can take part and find some answers. You can find us on @streetwisdom_

– Support us with a donation. We are a global non-profit and our Walkshops have helped people in 62 countries around the world. Any donation really helps and you can do so here.

Get in touch if you’d like to lead an event or would like to discuss using Street Wisdom within your organisation.

Until next time, keep on wandering!

How much inspiration are you finding on the commute from bedroom to laptop? If home working is starting to drain those creative juices, we’ve got something that might help.

Street Wisdom is a powerful way of finding inspiration and fresh thinking by going for a walk. We run online and in-person WalkShops (walking workshops, get it?) to help tap into the wisdom that’s all around. The simple process helps individuals tune in to their environment and find a new way of looking at a problem.

It’s helped business leaders and organisations all across the world and during lockdown we’ve been supporting those businesses in working from home. We’re all adapting to new ways of working but it’s hard to think outside the box, when you’re not leaving the box. Street Wisdom helps homeworkers stay physically and mentally well and gives teams a highly creative way to solve problems, set direction and innovate

As our techniques are best experienced, we want to give you a taster of the approach through our downloadable audioguide. Next time you need some fresh thinking, take some time-out to go for a Wander. All you need to do is think of a question and founder David Pearl will guide you through the rest. This works especially well when used as a team. Ahead of your next team meeting, go for individual wanders, finding answers to the same question and bring this learning to the meeting. We recommend taking an hour but it can be done in 30 minutes. Download our audioguide here.

Street Wisdom is a global non-profit, bringing volunteer-led WalkShops to city streets in over 60 countries around the world. This work is enabled by our work with businesses. If you’d like to use Street Wisdom within your organisation, we ask for you to get in touch to discuss a subscription. We can design online and in-person events as well as video and audio resources to be used internally, to support wellbeing and help in navigating challenges. Get in touch on [email protected].

It’s a sign!

According to the experts, there are two distinct ways that we deal with trauma – under-responding or over-responding, which is why some of us hibernated during lockdown, whilst others went into overdrive. As soon as the crisis hit, I forgot about going slow, initiated two work projects and began writing a new book. Two weeks later, I realised what I was doing – throwing myself into work so I didn’t have to feel my anxiety. I decided to slow down with long, mindful walks around the streets of London every day. I had added inspiration from my favourite social enterprise, Street Wisdom, which encourages us to mine the streets for ‘signs’.

‘A dynamic mix of psychology, creativity, mindfulness and cognitive science, Street Wisdom is based on the simple idea that wisdom is available at all times when we know how to look,’ says its co-founder David Pearl, author of Wanderful (Unbound, £9.99). It’s a simple process – ‘tune-up your senses’ by slowing down, breathing deeply and allowing your sense to pick up information around you. Then ask a question and go for a wander on a quest for answers.

When I gave myself time to notice, to listen, to tune-in, the empty streets and glorious beauty of our capital seduced me, and I slowly fell in love with it. I nestled on hidden benches, I gasped as I turned corners and dazzling buildings caught the light…parks vibrated with an energy that invited me to kick off my shoes and go barefoot. I asked big and little questions and London whispered its answers: Golden angel dogs on a billboard in response to, ‘Is Oscar all right?’ My little dog died earlier this year and I miss him, especially on walks; winged lions – a symbol of inner power – when I asked how to build the confidence for another project. And then, sometimes not-so-subtle, unmistakable answers – a massive placard at Camden Lock that informed me ‘anything is possible’ when I asked about my new book project.

Let the universe speak

One gloomy evening I wandered along the Thames, wondering about my new relationship. After being single for a while, I’ve finally met a man I like. But lockdown had separated us. ‘Do I have a future with him?’ I asked. London was deserted but, on the pavement in front of St Paul’s Cathedral, someone had written ‘YES’ in four-foot capital letters in red chalk.

‘Extraordinary things happen regularly on Street Wisdom events; wildly improbable coincidences discovered precisely when they are needed,’ says Pearl. Yes…Exactly what I needed. Perhaps my walks slowed me down enough to realise I’d fallen in love, and not only with London.

by Suzy Walker, Editor at Psychologies Magazine

@suzy_skywalker, streetwisdom.org

Imagine opening up to the environment around you, employing all your senses, and realizing that the answers you seek are everywhere. This is what happens during Street Wisdom, a guided and immersive urban walk based on the simple, yet powerful, theory that the environment and people around us are full of wisdom largely overlooked or ignored.

When we’re focused on getting to our destination, we don’t always pay enough attention to the journey. Street Wisdom helped us do that.

The experience of leading a Street Wisdom can often be as insightful and rich as taking part. In helping other people to slow down and pay attention, you can’t help but do the same yourself. It’s a great opportunity to meet like-minded people and to really connect with them – there’s something about Street Wisdom that creates strong connections, people open up and share.

Some of the benefits of facilitating Street Wisdom include:

• Getting your local community together to experience their environment in a new, more positive light.
• Growing your network and meeting people with shared values.
• Learning a new approach to mindfulness and an accessible problem-solving tool.
• Passing the Street Wisdom shareware technology on to others and enabling them to do the same.
• Taking a few hours to step back, slow down and reflect.
• An insightful and often powerful experience – one that provides others with breakthroughs and life-changing learning too.

We’re reaching out to our community of facilitators all over the world to be part of our annual, global celebration of Street Wisdom – the World Wide Wander. It’s taking place from 20-22 September and our goal is to run 100 events over three days! 

If you’d like to get involved, all you need to do is let us know your preferred date (20-22 September), time and meeting point. We’ll set up the event, send you a shareable link and social media posts to share the event with your networks. It’s simple to run an event, we provide a facilitators pack and an online training session led by Street Wisdom founder David Pearl.

Help us make the world a little bit more wanderful. 

The World Wide Wander with Psychologies Magazine is our annual, global celebration of Street Wisdom. It’s an invitation for inspiration-seekers everywhere to stop the clock, step out of the familiar and find a little bit of wonder right under your feet. For the third year running, we’re bringing together our community from the four corners of the earth in one big weekend of wandering and wondering. Last year, we had 50 events in 20 countries and we plan to double that number this year. And we’re making it even easier for you to get involved…

On Friday 20 September, we’ll be kicking off the World Wide Wander with events in workplaces all over the world. Street Wisdom is free for all who take part and we fund this through our work with business. So this year we are encouraging organisations to take part in the weekend. We’ll provide all the tools you’ll need to lead your own workplace event, including a facilitators guide and an online training session led by founder David Pearl. In return, we just ask for a donation based on the size of your organisation, to help keep our movement going.

Help your team to access the urban environment and find fresh answers to important questions. It’s easy to run an event, all you need is three hours and some streets. Street Wisdom has been used as a powerful, innovative tool to unlock ideas and has been adopted by organisations including Google, Samsung and Lush, with profound results.

Street Wisdom can help your organisation : 

– generate fresh thinking                       – solve tough problems

– set direction                                         – prepare for upcoming challenges

– re-energise your team                         – increase wellbeing

See more on the benefits of Street Wisdom for Business here. For more information or to register for the Facilitators Materials, get in touch on [email protected].