How to be an explorer of the world

Exploration #1- Right where you are sitting

Posted on november 13, 2014 by ljejacobs

Assignment:

Write ten things about where you are sitting right now that you hadn’t noticed when you sat down. Use your senses. Do it quickly. Do not censor. Okay, begin.

I wanted to do this assignment because I wasn’t feeling quit relaxed. I was too focused on my work for school and this assignment seemed quite relaxing. I sat down and wrote down what I heard, what I saw and what I felt. I seemed to notice little imperfections in my room and things I didn’t notice before. It made me more conscious of myself and my state of mind. I started fixing the things that annoyed me and afterwards I felt better and my head was cleared.

Exploration #26- Becoming Leonard Cohen

Posted on november 13, 2014 by ljejacobs

Assignment:

Sketch or document things that you use in your daily routine.

This assignment made me so curious about how many things I use in my daily routine. It says that it works as a form of meditative practice. Well this wasn’t the effect on me. I started to make a list because I think that the amount of things I use every day is going to surprise me. I ended up with seventy things because I counted three things twice. Then I realized I forgot about my contacts so that makes two more things to add to the list. This assignment was done in a lot of detail but it makes clear to you that you can’t live your normal daily life without a lot of things. If I wouldn’t have half of these things, I wouldn’t feel good and it would ruin my day. This assignment makes you appreciate what you’ve got and so what you don’t have to miss out on. Again, this is in Dutch, excuse me.

Exploration #20- Small Thoughts

Posted on november 13, 2014 by ljejacobs

The assignment:

Make a list of placid small thoughts you have throughout the week (for instance, what were you thinking just now?)

I don’t quite like this assignment but I do think that it might be good for me to realize what crosses my mind during the day. I must admit, I only did this for 4 days. I got so fed up with my thoughts and I forgot to write down quite a few. Something that stood out was that I am so positive and so negative all on one day. I know that I am a busy bee and that millions of things cross my mind every day but I don’t like it to see them on paper. Some thoughts you just need to forget about to focus on more positive things and some are precious to keep in mind. Excuse me for writing these thoughts in Dutch!

Exploration #37 – Time Observation

Posted on november 13, 2014 by ljejacobs

The assignment:

Come up with several ways of documenting the passage of time, based on where you are sitting.

Today I have a day off and I thought it might be smart to start on my assignments in the book ‘How to be an explorer of the world’. To be honest, I had my doubts on these assignments because I don’t like it to force creativity because that’s what this book is about, helping you being creative. After doing this assignment I still had some doubts but I kind of liked this one. It made me think of why I do certain things while I’m actually doing ‘nothing’. Well I was sitting at my desk, in Tilburg. I wanted to start this assignment but then I started to do ‘nothing’, for an hour… One hour later the doorbell rang and I realized I didn’t do a single thing… which was exactly what I was supposed to do for this assignment.

1. Eating zakkenrollers.