13-Exercises from TSK: exercise 9A

TSK exercise 9A : The tall woman was in fact rather short

( revisiting exercise 7)

1-Derelict [ someone is making a quick judgment here] 

2- Six feet tall [ my companion is adamant: she was in fact quite short: my inabiliy to figure  out height is a joke]

3-Native Indian woman [ I boast about being able to "read blood"]

4-stepping into [ it happens in a matter of seconds, but some observer definitely registered movement here]

5- my bubble [some lizard part of my brain is being hyper-vigilant about MY space]

6- in the subway car [ so it seems but guess what? It might have been a time machine]

7- She's begging.[ maybe an extended hand means hold my hand, touch me, let me help you to stand up to my level, who knows?]

8-She's being too close [says the lizard brain in charge of my survival] 

9- I don't open my handbag. [ justification, justification]

10- She heavily sits down [ says who, does the observer feels the earth shattering?] 

11- in the seat perpendicular to mine [ we see the scene from the observer's viewpoint, that is pretty clear]

12- Scratches her dirty pitch black hair under the hood [scratching one's scalp in public isn't appropriate says the Book of Rules, not washing your hair either, and wearing a hood ( and a black one ) when you are a grown up either: there are Rules of Lfe in Society and the woman is obviously trespassing many. The observer is apparently very aware of all Rules and we might suppose she never scratches her hair in public, never refrain from washing her hair nor wear a black hood, which isn't the case ]

13- Repulsed [ the perfect civilian with clean never scratched hair and not hiding under a hood is having a physical reaction to seeing rules trespassed with such nonchalance...]

14- I wonder if she has head lice [observer is over-protective of her bubble here and evidently afraid head lice might jump in her clean hairdo]

15- Catching myself [ the Pabber who's doing exercise 7 comes back to her senses]

16- I choose to send her love [ goodie goodie good girl!]

17- instead of judging her [ Thy shall not judge the otter]

18 - wishing her health and happiness [ good girl Edie!]

19- Seconds later [ notice the causality here: good girl / being rewarded ]

20- she turns towards me [ that would be the RL me, sitting in Montreal metro car]

21- and says: [ observer starts recorder] 

22- " Ça sent bon ton parfum!" [ sentence is recorded in French, notice the scientist observer here, faithful to factual reality]

23- It means:» It smells good, your perfume! [ observer is translating in international English for the benefit of other Pabbers, trying to convey the weirdness of using the verb. before the noun, maybe a trace of the woman's native tongue]

24-She says it in French [ stating a fact, the observer is heading somewhere with that]

25-Must be from far away, in Northern Quebec, a Cree maybe. [ deduction: Native people from the Montreal area are Mohawks and they speak English. If the woman is French speaking, she must come from a far-away village where Natives were schooled in French, forced to abandon their Native tongue, observer is carrying a load of collective guilt here ]

26- Her large face is beaming a big smile [ the forgiving smile seems to erase the guilt of the observer]

27- Her almond-shaped eyes are sparkling [ might it be possible that this caricature of a woman, a beggar in the subway, is a genuine loving tender real human being? ]

28- I smile back at her [ here the observer is showing up as friendly too ]

29- I can't locate exactly the sensation in my body [ observer is remembering she's supposed to be tracking down the connection between mind-feeling-body and notices she's not aware of her body ]

30-in my gut maybe: [ maybe is usually not associated with gut feeling, observer might be completety off here ]

31- feeling of oneness in Great Space [ very assertive sentence for an observer who "may be" feeling something...what is Great Space by the way, she must have read that somewhere...]

32- Only later [ ???]

33- do I realize [ WHO is? The TSk exerciser?]

34- she’s embodying [ see the note] the giantess with raven hair [ Ah! Ah! Mind of the observer is linking two exercises here...]

35- of a previous visualization. [definitely an exerciser observer!]

36- We flew together into a higher order [ WhAT? What higher order? Does the observer even know what she's talking about? Or is she just being a parrot, repeating the words of THE book?]

37-of Great Compassion space [ observer is using a metaphor linking SL, PaB and TSK with the tulku's tibetan buddhism culture]

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* lightly edited line: I added ¨incarnated» as I pasted during session but now realize embodiment is closer to the theme of this exercise. [Observer realizes "incarnated" is closely connected to her own catholic culture. ]

Virtual Reality

At the Great Library, I travel through ten different libraries of the world in virtual reality. Sitting on a swivel chair, wearing a cask with headphones, I move my head to travel from one library to the next, looking up at the stars in Alexandria and down at me feet in Copenhagen, realizing my feet aren't there! I put my hands in front of me and they are invisible. The immersive experience is especially unsettling when I hear a loud noise and realizes it's not in the virtual reality, but in the exhibition room and I feel as nervous as in Paris after the attacks.

But it calms down and I stay in virtual reality, musing about how it will be in a few years as this is already pretty real. I feel like thanking the smiling librarian who's showing Avedon's book of birds flying about in the room as they escape the page. People in Mexico's Vasconcelos library also seem so real ! As I write these notes late at night, I realize I could easily confuse my memories of them with memories of people I crossed path with in the real world. 

This thought opens up a large field of questioning about what the future has in stock for us in terms of virtual reality exploration and I'm feeling very excited and curious about it.

I realize the freedom of movement, the fact that the head moving is doing what the mouse would click is a major component of the pleasure I take. And I know this is just the beginning. At the library later on, I borrow the book Apple Watch for Dummies.. I don't even own an Apple Watch :) ( yet) 

After talking about virtual reality with Riddle and Bleu on Monday morning session, I even ordered a cheap CardBoard that will enable me to experience virtual reality at home! 

The exhilaration was in the whole body, I cannot locate the feelings but I know my eyes were a big component of the experience though I moved my whole body on the swivel chair. 

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Trusting little warm hand

Walking back home after our walk and some heath food store shopping, I hear a little boy crying.

He's sitting on a snow bank, without his mittens. It’s not cold, I took off my gloves too.

I recognize him: it's our 5 year old neighbor. He's been throwing tantrums lately. 

His Mom and Dad are a few feet further on the sidewalk, his Dad trying to negociate with him.

His Mom is holding his two year old sister in her arms,so I guess he wants his Dad to carry him.

I extend my hand to the boy.

He puts his little frozen hand in mine and we walk towards his Mom while his Dad and my companion follow us, chatting about the mild winter weather.

The boy's Mom explains they have been taking a long family stroll and that the little girl is totally spent.

The toddler smiles at me nevertheless, she's such a charmer!

 The usually grumpy little boy is amazingly quiet and graceful.

I better not fuss over the baby girl and enjoy this rare occasion of holding the little boy's hand.

We walk silently back to our street and I'm amazed at the warmth of his trusting hand in mine.

That's the only experience I went into with great details where I can locate clearly the sensation in my body: in my hand. I seem to be deeply connecting with him and his misery through the physical contact. He calmed down and he’s even smiling when I leave him and he watches me go to my own front door. 

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A handwritten letter from a neighborhood guy

This one is rather difficult to describe. I’m saving this for exercise 8. (Hear hear: cliffhanger!) Well rereading exercise 8 instructions, maybe not :) Will see.