Edgewalkers - new beginnings

When I came across the term Edgewalkers to describe people with intimate knowledge and competence of two cultures, I knew I had found a word that perfectly described my ‘condition’. For most of my life I have walked along the edges of two cultures, the Latin American, Spanish-speaking world of my origins, and the predominantly Anglo-Celtic, English-speaking world of Australia where I grew up. I have belonged (and not), in both and over the years, I have come to embrace and value this privileged bi-cultural and bilingual position. The term Edgewalkers was so significant to me that I immediately (in 2009) bought the domain name www.edgewalkers.com.au, putting it aside, unsure of whether I would ever use it.

It was during a long coastal hike just over a year ago, along the famous Cape to Cape track, immersed in scented Boronias and Honey Myrtle, surrounded by swishing Peppermint Eucalyptuses and low lying prickly Acacias (names I did not know then) that I came to realise two things.

First, I realised that in spite of loving being out in nature I knew very little about the natural world that surrounded me. When I looked at trees I saw, well, trees; when I looked at flowers, I saw colours, red ones, purple ones, yellow ones.

I wondered if other people also felt the same. Whether they, as Alexander Pope mused, felt caught on an ‘isthmus of a middle state…’ between our ‘beast’, and our ‘civilised’ selves, traipsing between the natural environments and our ordered and constructed ones. Knowing we originate from the natural world; that we have a primordial foot in it but realising it is the other foot, designer-clad perhaps, that paces confidently in the fabricated, structured world of social norms and cultural codes – the world we favour.

I wondered if like me, others were also yearning for a more profound connection and understanding of the natural world, yearning to move like Edgewalkers, effectively across the edge between the structured and the untamed, between the sophisticated and the primal.

Second, I realised that walking, but especially in nature, was, and is, an integral part of my creative process…that I have been doing it for a long time.

I realised that I hiked the mountains around Almaty, Kazakhstan trying to find a way to finish the first draft of my first novel in 1999, and that I regularly traversed King’s Park, Perth, while solving production issues with my first play Trollop(e) in 2002. I understood that I had walked my way out of every single challenge in all the theatre-based projects I created with Act Out www.actout.com.au from 2007 – 2014 and that I am still bushwalking now as a way to solve problems, to let my mind expand and my imagination soar.

I understood, that day on the Cape to Cape with the Southern Native Roses dangling red above the limestone outcrops of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge, with Western Spinebills fluttering among the Melaleuca and the Cockies’ Tongues, that walking is how I negotiate the edge between the world of what is and the world of what is yet to be; between the world of the created and what is yet to be created. I wondered whether others also felt a desire to move more freely between these two realms. 

By naming my new business adventure Edgewalkers, I am conjuring the possibility of playing a role in bringing people closer to the edges they yearn to walk boldly along; closer to nature, closer to their natural creative and expressive selves; I am conjuring the possibility of all of us having intimate knowledge and competence of all the worlds we inhabit and create.

Seriously Playful, Playfully Serious

By Dr Erika Jacobson

“Work and play are words used for the same thing under differing conditions”  Mark Twain                                                                                   

For decades we have been aware of the importance of play in the development of children; play teaches us how to share, to self-direct, to empathise; through play, we learn to socialise, explore; to use our imagination.

Most of us have grown up believing that there is a distinction between work and play. Work is serious and important and play is frivolous and childish. And yet evidence (not new!) points to play being an effective, even necessary, space from which to create and problem solve; play fosters creativity and enhances relationships and performances in the workplace. 

In their article ‘Ain’t Misbehaving, Taking Play Seriously in Organisations’, Statler, Roos, and Victor explain that play has an important, even crucial role in the success of organisations; in particular those that are striving for change.

Firstly, play enhances our cognitive and emotional capacity. Processes that help us interact with our surroundings and one another are developed through play. For instance, taking in new information and assimilating it to our existing concepts, or accommodating what we already know as we learn more about particular subjects; in short, play helps us become complex adult thinkers.

Further, our capacity to imagine is developed through play. When we play dress up or play cops and robbers, we not only mimic adult behaviours that we see around us; we also imagine what it might be like to be in certain situations, what it feels like to be somebody else, from this space we develop empathy and ‘ethical judgment’. 

According to psychologist and play specialist Dr Peter Gray from Boston College, play can put the mind into a state that ‘...is uniquely suited for high-level reasoning, insightful problem solving, and all sorts of creative endeavours’

Dr. Gray talks about the general feeling of freedom, of feeling ‘this is exactly what I want to be doing right now’; a state that may or may not involve laughing and fun but that is always conducive to a ‘mutually voluntary’ participation; a relationship of high-level dynamic engagement and willingness between participants that are there because they want to be. 

While it is mostly children that can stay in this 100% play state, even the degrees of playfulness that adults can bring to their intended work purposes can add a level of freedom that can positively affect engagement and productivity.

The ultimate freedom, Gray points out, is being able to stop playing. And research suggests that having this level of self-direction and freedom when tackling difficult work tasks can often create a feeling of play, leading to greater focus and productivity.

‘...the relationship between work and play cannot be considered mutually exclusive, and that any coherent theory of organisational life must account both for work and play,’ state Statler et al.

“To stimulate creativity one must develop a childlike inclination to play and the childlike desire for recognition”        Albert Einstein                                        

When it comes to the positive effect of play on creativity IDEO’s Tim Brown is a strong advocate. He explains that from his experience there are three major ways in which play and creativity or generating ideas are linked.

First, he reminds us that children spend 50% of their playtime in construction or play building and developmentally this is a form of learning. This learning with our hands is one of the important contributions that play makes to creativity.

The second characteristic is that play is all about exploration, trying out new ideas, and experimenting which includes being free to make mistakes without being concerned about being wrong.

Sir Ken Robinson, in his famous TED talk ‘Schools Kill Creativity’ tells a story about a young girl in a classroom who had not been very interested in school work but she was very engaged when they did some drawing. The teacher saw the girl’s increased interest and asked her:

‘What are you drawing?’

‘I’m drawing a picture of God,’ the little girl said.

‘Nobody knows what God looks like,’ her teacher told her.

‘They will in a minute!’ responded the child.

The young child has no concept of being wrong. From within this kind of freedom, new ideas and innovation can sprout more readily.

Thirdly, acting out different roles during play is a great spark for the imagination, it’s how children learn to empathise and learn.

This has certain implications for organisations that are prioritising engendering creativity and innovation among their workers and who want to increase productivity and satisfaction.  Likewise, organisations that are managing change can make use of the usefulness of play activities in the development and adaptation of cultural identities.

At Edgewalkers we work on the premise that blurring the boundaries that have been constructed between work and play can help organisations develop and adapt effectively to the volatility, uncertainty, and change that organisations face today. 

Dr. Erika Jacobson is the Founder of Act Out - theatre for transformation in organisations and communities &  Edgewalkers - bringing people closer to nature and creativity in Australia's southwest. She also lectures in Creativity and Innovation at Murdoch University and is available for consultations and presentations. 

REVERSE BRAINSTORMING

During the last Writing and Walking Workshop we did a reverse brainstorming to try and leave no stone unturned about all the ways we keep ourselves disconnected from our creativity... this fun exercise helped to SPELL OUT some truths about our habits and how they get in the way...

Take a Walk on the (Wet and ) Wild Side: 2 Great Reasons for Walking the Cape to Cape in Winter

I love walking – not just because it boosts creativity, helps to clear the mind and has a multitude of health benefits, but also because I love being out in nature. Being in nature is what motivated me to move from the city to Margaret River in the West Australian southwest. Here the unique biodiversity of the flora and fauna and the coastal spectacle of the Indian Ocean on the edges of the Naturaliste-Leeuwin National Park provide an inspiring backdrop to a daily communion with a wondrous natural world abundant with wildflowers, fungi, trees, birds and breathtaking ocean and forest views!

…and then there’s the Cape to Cape track. This 125 km, sign-posted trail that runs north south along the Naturaliste-Leeuwin National Park is an absolute treasure of Australian hiking wonder, excitement and challenge…and I have wanted to walk its entirety for a long time. Last week I finally did!

The only thing is that the recommended time of the year to walk to the track is October to December and with good reason: there are plenty of wildflowers, the days are bright, warm and dry and there is still water left at most of the watering spots. However, that is prime time of the year when at Edgewalkers we are busy with walks, retreats and workshops. So when my (romantic) travelling companion and I set off in August I knew that walking the Cape to Cape in winter would have its challenges but, ever the optimist, I knew there would be one or two advantages. Here they are:

1.    There is plenty of water - everywhere: it is recommended that you carry three litres of water per person when you walk the track, and in late spring & summer I might even carry more. In winter, however, there is no need. Every creek, brook, river, water tank and waterhole is spilling over and as long as you chuck a couple of little water treatment pills in the bottles for half an hour before drinking, there is no shortage of water. In fact, most of the time you can simply look up towards the sky and drink the sweet rainwater straight from the clouds because chances are it will rain, a lot, for a significant part of the trip; so you’ll hardly need to carry any water at all – yes, things can get very wet!

NOTE: Make sure you take special care crossing brooks and creeks as they spill into the ocean, they can be deceivingly deep and powerful…and invest in good wet-weather gear…and make sure the tent has a high waterproof base…and if you can’t afford special waterproof cases and bags, get acquainted with the Glad zip-lock bag…they are a lifesaver.

2.    Wild weather is sexy: I know it may sound crazy – but in winter the weather is exciting, changeable, spontaneous, feisty & you really get to FEEL, LIVE and BREATHE the elements…ok so it's a little cold and a tad windy but take the rain and southwesterly gale that blew into us the whole of 4.5 kilometres of Redgate Beach; when would you ever get to experience that kind of invigorating challenge? Or the exhilarating teamwork and spicy repartee that goes into putting up a tent on sodden ground in the middle of a storm with the last of the light fading from the sky? Or my favourite, the character-building feat of slipping on cold, wet shoes and socks for another day of hiking? It may sound like madness and it may not appeal to many, but there is something especially sexy about being in nature in wet-weather gear and feeling it in all its intensity! Wet & wild weather is sexy!

NOTE: do not let travelling companion (no matter how cute they are) convince you that it is essential to carry UHT milk cartons on the walk…they are NOT essential…they are HEAVY…heavy is NOT wild and sexy…dehydrated miso soup is wild and sexy, instant porridge is wild and sexy… even two minute noodles are wild and sexy…

3.    There are other reasons too: no snakes, no flies, hardly a single person sighting all day and a lot of whales and dolphins all along the coast (if you are looking)… and at night you can be assured that the howling wind and pounding rain…well…they add a certain magic touch of privacy to a cosy night in a two-person tent!

Edgewalkers offers circular day & half day walks with a creative touch, retreats and workshops that combine walking in nature with creativity - check out our website http://edgewalkers.com.au/walkingaroundincircles/

Writing the River Within - with Miranda Aitken - poet, writer, songwriter, musician

It was in the summer,

and words were startled parrots, lost feathers in the grass

I wore Yeats' Terrible Beauty like a black band around my arm

Took my child's hand in mine, walked to the river in the heat

through the insect singing forest, to the waters slow and deep.

Our bodies floated in the tannins, in the blossom litter fall

Our blood cooled in the waters, I could almost hear you call

But the day was not a poem, and the river was not a song,

feathers fell in silence, and the summer kept rolling on.

Miranda Aitken, 2015

Creativity and Walking Retreat Margaret River April 2016

'Walking ... is how the body measures itself against the earth'      Rebecca Solnit - Wanderlust