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A Free Class – Walking as a Way of Life

I am inviting you to attend for free my Walking as a Way of Life class on September 29th. I will teach you practical ways of thinking that will create a positive shift in how you walk. I will approach walking from multiple perspectives: physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically, socially, ecologically, politically, and spiritually. Yes, I will do this inside of one 90-minute class.

Here’s the information you need to attend. Tell your family and your friends and colleagues. Thanks.

Walking as a Way of Life

September 29 – 10am Mountain Time (good for those in the Americas and Europe)

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83149996181?pwd=ejhTYXNxdnpBd2l2NndZQ3E1cngwdz09

September 29 – 6pm Mountain Time (good for those in the Asian/Pacific and the Americas)

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85149869070?pwd=NnJrSW9XR1RXb050RmxFTTQrUkM2dz09

Finally, here is a little essay I wrote. Hope you enjoy it.

Learning to Remember the Future

Upon reading this book, Everyday Utopia, by Kristen R. Ghodsee, I feel affirmed. At 73, something has come over me. I’ve been smitten by a vision of the future, infused with hope. My eyes are seeing the world at once realistically and optimistically. Mysterious meetings, unexpected encounters, fortuitous happenings happening almost daily.

The words of William Hutchinson Murray come to mind, words often attributed to Goethe,

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back — concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: That the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.“

Kristen R. Ghodsee writes:

“Each one of us, right now, has the power to start building a different world, beginning with our own families and communities. There are countless things you can do to cultivate change in your daily life as it is. If you are in a monogamous pair, try to spend more time with your non-couple friends and make sure your partner does the same. Nurture all sorts of lateral relationships by finding novel ways to share with your neighbors and colleagues. Get back in touch with old friends. Chat with people at the grocery store. Daydream.

If you have kids, let them spend more time with their grandparents, godparents, aunts, uncles, and family friends. Try to swap more childcare with other parents and create long-term parenting pods. Consider continuing adult education. And if you have the freedom and opportunity to do so, why not shake things up entirely? Start a free store or join an upcycling collective. Uproot and resettle in an intentional community or ecovillage. Explore different forms of cooperative living and working…Try to meet new people way outside of your established circle of acquaintances. Make strangers into kin.

Perhaps even more pressing is the need to flex our cognitive capacities for hope. We must imagine the future that we want, to think of it as a concrete goal, and consider the different pathways available to realize that future, no matter how outlandish or impossible this future might seem to us now. Sometimes the sheer imagination of something helps to make it real. We can all cultivate the ability to project ourselves into the future if we resist the fear and anxiety that immobilizes our inherent abilities to dream. The more we hope, the better we get at hoping, and the more we inspire those around us to flex their own cognitive capacities for hope. This is not just fluffy positive thinking, it is learning to “remember” the future using a similar set of mental acuities as those we use to remember the past.

For those of us afraid of regret, fearful of risk, and frozen by the thought that things could get worse, the hardest step will be to give in to hope. As the Dutch historian Rutger Bregman observes, embracing a positive vision for the future usually means ‘weathering a storm of ridicule. You’ll be called naive. Obtuse. Any weakness in your reasoning will be mercilessly exposed. Basically, it’s easier to be a cynic.’ That is why we need to hope together: out loud, with each other, every day.”

This is how it’s been for me. I began by thinking, “Maybe I can get 8 people to come to my summer 2024 WalkingWay gathering as a way of launching myself into my new paradigm for my life’s work. Thirty-three people have expressed a firm commitment to attending. I can only receive 48 students.

It’s all unfolding. It feels like a flowering.

Yes, as Kristen Ghodsee says, “learning to remember the future.”

Ah, and such a clear memory it is.

Bruce Fertman

https://www.graceofsense.com/walking-as-a-way-of-life/

Written by Bruce Fertman

Bruce brings 60 years of study as a movement artist and educator to his work having trained in gymnastics, modern dance, ballet, contact improvisation, the Alexander Technique, Tai Chi Chu’an, Aikido, Chanoyu, (Japanese Tea Ceremony), Argentine Tango, and Kyudo (Zen Archery). For the past 30 years, Bruce has been helping people experience the interconnectedness of physical and spiritual life. He founded the Alexander Alliance in 1982 and Grace of Sense in 2019, his online community-school. Author of Teaching by Hand, Learning by Heart, and of The Way In ~ The Way Out, Bruce is currently co-authoring a book with Michael Gelb for New World Library entitled, Walk – How to Discover Comfort, Vitality, and Inspiration in Every Step.
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