PREPARING TO GET LOST
The capacity to be lost or uncertain — to step away from a zone of comfort and familiarity into an unknown space or situation — might need to be prepared, for it is easy to lose one’s nerve. Against expectation, one might need to practise getting lost. Given the confusing and precarious nature of these contemporary times, there are moments when it might feel necessary to ground oneself first as a precondition for becoming groundless. Before yielding to the disorienting sensations of being lost, experiment with how to steady or stabilise oneself, anchoring one’s experience in the lived reality of the body. Let one’s bones provide support — soften muscles to gravity’s pull. Alternatively, cultivate an arsenal of tactics for momentarily reorienting oneself, should the experience of being lost become too distracting or damaging or detrimental. Test the difference between public and private spaces — spaces that are closed or protected and those that are open or exposed; spaces where you feel at ease and those where you experience awkwardness or discomfort. Let go, becoming more open … to experience, to wonder, to depth, to fullness, to otherness. Yet the act of letting go is risky, since it requires the renunciation of what is familiar or known, willingness to be vulnerable, unguarded. Be bold. Have courage, take heart. Though less the daring heroics of the adventuring explorer intent on conquering new frontiers but rather towards loosening, releasing, even relaxing. Relax — to make something less compacted or contracted. To set free, to soften, to open, widen, stretch out or become less tense. Relax one’s efforts. Let go of determination. Release the grip of I.
From Emma Cocker, How Do You Do? (Nottingham: Beam Editions, 2023)