A MAP FOR GETTING LOST (2024-ongoing)
We are here to recognize the life that holds us.
We are here to remember that
when we dream,
when we resist,
when we persist to create what we are told to be impossible;
we are claiming the flow of water,
we are following the winds of creation,
we are evoking the fire of cleansing,
we are giving birth.
when we dream,
when we resist,
when we persist to create what we are told to be impossible;
we are claiming the flow of water,
we are following the winds of creation,
we are evoking the fire of cleansing,
we are giving birth.
I devised this workshop method during Pocoapoco residency in Oaxaca, in 2024. It engages somatic and multisensory connection with plants as a method of finding support for getting lost -- a vital arc of world-building.
The method brings together teachings of queer Black feminists, abolitionist visionaries, critical movement theorists, and Indigenous teachers within a lens of cultural organizing.
How do we cultivate attention towards a curious, respectful, non-hierarchical relationship with plants?
How do plants practice hope that can remind our resources, capacity, and power as we are swimming in tides of grief, fear, and overwhelm?
Through translating the senses, images, visions collected from plants, participants get to create a map collaboratively.
In addition to being a movement resourcing practice, these workshops intend to be life-giving gatherings towards trusting, vulnerable relationships with comrades or strangers.
image credit: Paulina Rubio (@paulinarubio_34)