Street Wisdom Archives - Page 3 of 3

‘This is great isn’t it!’ Vancouver and Hudson share twin events

Tucked between Father’s Day and our dad’s birthday, twin Stephanie and I launched inaugural Street Wisdom events in Vancouver (Canada) and Hudson (New York, USA) in a quiet tribute to our father, who loved walking and who believed in the wisdom & beauty of the world at large. One of the many endearing memories we have of him was his well-known habit of suddenly declaring, seemingly a propos of nothing, “This is great, isn’t it!” He could do this pretty much anywhere, having a knack for, in SW parlance, ‘seeing the beauty in everything’. He passed away on Easter this year, peacefully at 82 years old.

While the memory of our dad provided the quiet but bright spark to motivate us, the folks who showed up and engaged the streets with their questions fueled the success of both events. Here in Hudson, a small but intrepid clutch gathered in this vibrant town two hours north of NYC, while the next day in the city of Vancouver Steph’s group swelled to over a dozen people to take to the streets.

Numbers and sibling rivalry aside, comparing notes afterward we were struck by the similarities between the responses, chief among them being the joy people returned with after their walk. It didn’t seem to matter whether their question had been answered clearly or at all even; in some cases (such as my own as well as with someone in Steph’s group) the question wasn’t so much answered as negated – in the end, the ‘answer’ was not to bother with the question right then – and the effect was a kind of gleeful liberation and clarity.

Which seemed to be one of the more pervasive affects of everyone’s Street Wisdom experience, questions answered or not. In a restorative hour of walking and looking, we were all free for a moment from the tyranny of our own thoughts about ‘the world’ and instead became part and parcel of it. As our dad would have surely exclaimed: this is great, isn’t it!

We’re already planning for another round sometime in the fall, would love for you to join either of us if you’re in the area when the time comes. Meanwhile – answers really are out there, it seems. You just have to ask.

Thanks,

David & Stephanie

Dad cover photo-1 — **Phillip Eustace aka Big Phil**

Phillip Eustace aka Big Phil

Tel Avivid

Posted on 11.06.15 by David Pearl

We started in Tel Aviv’s groovily grungy Carmel Market. First, discovery? Nine o’clock in the morning is an unusually early start for this laid back town. But after half an hour of coffees and introductions, a band of artists, seekers, old friends, new acquaintances and even a surprise bystander – were off. It’s hard to imagine a better town for Street Wisdom. Strangers stop and talk to each other, often offering advice whether you ask for it or not. Every road and alley seems to reveal another curiosity, character or riddle. We ended up in the wonderfully funky Sonia cafe hidden away in – I kid you not – Anonymous Alley. Perfect end to a perfect Street Wisdom. Here’s to many more!

Right people, right place: Croydon

Posted on 11.06.15 by Sarah Sansom

We meet at Smoothbean! in Croydon.

We talk about Streets.

Memories of home and childhood float, mixing with the aroma of the unctuous coffee, caressing my pallet. Smoothing my morning worries.

Lithuania, Croydon, Sofia, that place I can’t remember the name. We are gone.

We start our journey, paired together and already discussing Big Ideas.

She gets them in her room; a temporary temple for thought. I fish mine with the end of my cigarette, here there and everywhere. I take a puff. “It doesn’t happen every time though”.

We hit the North End. “Is it the North end of the North end?” No, we are south.

Notice what attracts you?

The ringing of a bell. A plaited woman walks past me. I love the curves of her hair and her sunshine reflections. Sunshine! I sit down and slow down and look up.

“Be social, Be sensible” says a t-shirt, so when the two boys stroll down the road I smile. We talk and he tells me about his job and his past and prison and that “it is not about the wrong place at the wrong time but it is about the wrong people”.

The wheels of a buggy somewhere nearby sound like birds.

Red is the pattern

And those wheels… wheels everywhere!

I ask the streets how we could engage Croydon’s passers-by in our upcoming outdoor performance. And in general: how do you make people care? I’m stopped by someone who works on this street.

“You make them laugh! Connect with them; treat them as your friends. We are all human beings after all!” This resonates with me all day.

And then we finish and continue; we get into the room and we question why do we do what we do.

I smile.

For we must be the right people for others; their friends who care for them and laugh with them…

Even if it’s just for the time of a singular spin of that bird sounding buggy wheel.

Lora Krasteva

“My encounter with Street Wisdom came purely by accident, and rather by surprise. What I thought was going to be a business meeting about a creative event in the borough, ended up with me serenely soaking in the atmosphere of a high street I’ve walked down probably 1000 times before.

Like everyone, you become quite used to your home town. You notice things, but don’t really notice everything. You know every nook and cranny, or so you think. What Street Wisdom did was shine a new light on an area that’s always been familiar to me. By thinking about the questions posed to me, I slowly strolled the streets, feeling, embracing and taking in my surroundings. The very streets I normally whipped through in a hurry, I was taking my time to really see and notice its uniqueness.

The experience left me peaceful and more connected to my environment. A wonderful way to begin the week!”

Stella Fasusi

Dancing in the streets of Toronto

Posted on 17.05.15 by Jacki Scarcello

The Toronto Street Wisdom adventure was with a small but mighty group.

As things go, we lost four folks to work conflicts but five of us took to the Toronto streets on a lovely spring day and had a great time. We met in a small parkette in the Bloor Annex area and gathered for this picture in front of Gwendolyn MacEwen’s memorial statue.

Ms Mac Ewen, a famous Canadian poet, spoke to our small band of adventures from the granite. She said: “But it is never over….We are still dancing, dancing.”

And, so inspired and acknowledging that our learning was never over, we set off on our Street Wisdom adventure, insights were gained, lessons were learned and everyone seems to want to do it again.

This is the second Street Wisdom I have facilitated and I look forward to the next and the next….

Jaki Scarcello

Straat Wisdom – Amsterdam March 2014

Posted on 07.03.14 by David Pearl

Is Amsterdam the most beautiful imaginable backdrop for a Street Wisdom event? I couldn’t think of a better one, standing on the sun-bathed cobbles of Westerstraat on 4 March with a group of fearlessly curious and up-for-it Amsterdam-ers.

One of them, Joel, had this to say. “Street Wisdom showed me that our cities are alive with wisdom and that through them we can open to a mysterious, magical, meaningful and revelatory relationship to life.”

And this picture of Anke probably says it all!

David

Sunday Assembly meets Street Wisdom

Posted on 06.03.14 by Mark Brown

Most people think of the street as just a way of getting from A to B. We hurry along, avoiding contact, screening out the city with our iPhones, blanking strangers, heads down and thoughts turned inward. Street Wisdom sees it differently. We think the street is an amazing place if you are curious and willing to break the rules of ordinary life.

So it was a thrill for us to discover Sunday Assembly – a whole tribe of people who basically think the same way as us. And even more of a thrill to be invited by the Sunday Assembly team to hold a Street Wisdom event in London last weekend when their normal venue wasn’t available so the street was, by happy coincidence, the venue anyway.

We’ve been experimenting with Street Wisdom for years, refining the experience to the point where we can now give it away as shareware to anyone who’s interested. It’s free, it’s simple and it’s surprisingly transformational.

The Sunday Assembly event forced us to simplify the experience even more as we had more people attending and less time than usual. We gathered at 11am for a bit of a briefing and a mingle. There was no real ‘ice’ to break as Sunday Assemblers seem to arrive pre-warmed up. (“You’re one of us” said a smiling lady on the street as I arrived for the set-up. “I can tell by your smile”. Sweet.) Then 200 people spilled into London’s streets to first “tune” their senses and then “ask the street a question”.

After an hour everyone was invited back to share their tales what they learned.

“Bizarrely amazing!…The thinkiest I’ve ever been…It was AMAZING…a very tangible hour of meaningfulness… I started off with quite low expectations of what I would get from this hour, but I can now say it was a revelation!”

Tweets went out:

V positive experience on my 1st @Street_Wisdom walk: seeing London afresh & thinking differently

Particularly wanderful @SundayAssembly today! Recommend everyone tries @Street_Wisdom.

One person told us “I didn’t arrive at a definite answer, but that’s ok. Doors have been opened, more wanders will be had.”

And that’s the point. There are many streets out there. And many Sundays. And now more people able to gain some Street Wisdom. Altogether it’s a wander-ful life!

El Camiño di Oxford Street?

Posted on 11.02.14 by David Pearl

Every year thousands of people trek to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain on routes that wind through Europe, carved by countless pilgrims and spiritual seekers before them. It can be a long, long walk. But that’s the point. If you’re looking for answers, inspiration and insight, the journey’s the thing. It’s where the magic happens, the chance meetings, the unexpected discoveries. I haven’t walked the camino myself but those who have tell me they get a huge amount from it.

Every year hundreds of thousands – millions – of people trek through our city streets on their way to and from work. And what they get from is, mostly, – nothing. Zip. Nada. Niente.

The street to many of us is just a traffic-filled, annoying space to hurry through, a logistical obstacle, something to screen out with an iPod playlist.

Street Wisdom disagrees. We think a scrubby path through the northern Spanish hills is more like Oxford Street rush hour than we realise. We think the magic is more about how you look than what you are looking at. We’re suggesting the difference between a quest and a commute is a choice you can make any time. When you really switch on your senses and connect with what’s around you, you can start picking up inspiration right outside your door.

What do you think?

Give it a try.

Thanks to the recent tube strike Londoners were given an excuse to slow down and use the walk. Ask a question and see what the street answers…

If you get some interesting results, check out where the next Street Wisdom events are taking place and come really experience what the street has to teach you. It’s free and designed as shareware so you can even run your own event for friends or colleagues.