Although I had some idea of what might be involved, I found the experience, under David’s sensitive and kindly tutelage, both more enjoyable and certainly more profound than I expected.

Told to ‘go towards what attracts you’ on Jermyn Street seemed like hedonistic licence, and I did indeed wander into a well-known emporium for a spot of cheese-tasting. In fact, a heightened awareness of both taste and smell (with the Psalmist’s line ‘O taste and see that the Lord is good’ playing at the back of my mind) along with sustained and patient looking shaped my day. Wandering and observing is something I like to do anyway but doing it very slowly and repeatedly was new. I saw sculpture I had not seen before and stopped to observe pattern, shape and form in building sites and scaffolding as much as grand architecture and laid-out lawns.

The question which I wrestled with in the longer session had to do with patience (and my own impatience) and what it meant to me in the context of my marriage as we both grow older and slower. I found myself – perhaps in both senses – in the White Cube gallery looking at three huge rectangular wooden beams suspended, seemingly motionless, in a large empty space. Normally, I would dismiss such conceptual art as shallow and not worth spending much time with. But I stopped and looked and took in the relationship of each beam to the other, how that relationship shifted as I moved, and how one pendant beam might move slightly, seemingly independent of the other or of me. I peered into their hollowed-out centres through to the other side. The silence of the gallery encouraged reflection: how relationships shift over time, often imperceptibly and in quite undramatic ways. I learnt that sometimes my own angle of vision appeared to effect change but how too movement and change were not always, and did not need to be, in my control, that re-shaping and re-balancing came about not as a result of my willing them so but from forces and directions that asked only that I paid heed.

Maggie

PS

Having regaled my husband with some of the day’s events, in particular the line ‘O taste and see’ , he reminded me of Denise Levertov’s poem of the same name. The next day being International Women’s Day, I read it to a small gathering at St James’s. It sums up Street Wisdom rather well, I think.

O Taste and See

The world is
not with us enough
O taste and see

the subway Bible poster said,
meaning The Lord, meaning
if anything all that lives
to the imagination’s tongue,

grief, mercy, language,
tangerine, weather, to
breathe them, bite,
savor, chew, swallow, transform

into our flesh our
deaths, crossing the street, plum, quince,
living in the orchard and being

hungry, and plucking
the fruit.

The post Maggie Butcher from St James’s Piccadilly appeared first on Street Wisdom.

I have been thinking about expressing myself creatively more in my life but struggled with how I could make it a reality. After having a mentoring session where I talked about my desire to ‘be more creative’ I ran into a friend who is an artist I haven’t seen in ages. Later that day he took me to his studio and talked about his inspiration for his work and the process of creative expression.

I left feeling like I had just been shown a way to take the next step expressing my creative flair.

The post Adah Parris writes on the impact of her Street Wisdom appeared first on Street Wisdom.

So we’ve set up a new page on our website, ‘In the News’, to share with you what other people are saying about Street Wisdom including press articles such as last weekend’s Sunday Times article. We hope that the content that is on there now represents just the first of many more articles yet to come. Please keep sharing Street Wisdom with your own communities (why not direct them to the new Press page?), ask them to join our community and, above all, host your own events. We hope to be reading more enthusiasm-infused blogs in the coming weeks.

The post Street Wisdom features in The Sunday Times appeared first on Street Wisdom.

February 2013 was a month where I was going through a personal development programme to find more about what I was really passionate about.

I could not find an answer since my previous experiences were not connecting to each other and I was not sure what I wanted to fight for.

While going to London I kept the question in my mind “What connects and brings all experiences where I was at my best?”.

While walking around the city, entering cafes, and just enjoying the view, I realized a very small cafe in a corner which had a very unusual environment.

When entering I seat in a corner and start journaling and looking around. While looking at people I’ve realized how much could be done to improve the lifestyle of mankind.

While in this process I came across the concept of humanist technologist, a person passionate about technology that seeks to benefit massive positive impact in mankinds lifestyle.

It was broad but it helped setting me straight. I’ve realized since then that my work had to be flexible. My purpose, drive and my daily job had to be connected to the core of the product/service I would be promoting.

Today I am leading the product development and strategy for a career management platform and truly believe it can help people find their path in an easier way. Just wait and see

If it was not for the concept of living the moment, watching the things around and looking for an answer while just observing and looking for signs I would not reach such conclusion.Thanks!

Hugo Pereira, Talentsquare

The post Hugo, Talentsquare appeared first on Street Wisdom.

2. It will change your life and give you a new skill to use every day and pass on to others.

3. It’s free. All you ‘pay’ is attention . . . there are no fees.

4. It’s fast. It only takes 3 hours of your time and once you’ve done it you can repeat it whenever you want, alone or with others.

5. You’ll never be stuck for ideas again. They’re all around us waiting to be found.

6. It’s more valuable for business than most ‘away days’ and it’s right on our doorstep.

7. You’ll be amazed by answers you’ve been walking past every day . . . the streets will be positively ‘winking’ at you once you’ve done it.

8. You will make some friends and you’ll find that you end up smiling together by the end of it.

9. It’s beautifully simple but can have a huge impact on your life bringing magic to every walk down the street.

10. You’ll become a part of a movement that could make this planet spin slightly differently and make life feel more precious to us all.

Want to experience one yourself?

Come along at 10am on 23rd May. Sign up on Eventbrite today!

(This word cloud represents feedback from a Street Wisdom)

The post 10 reasons to experience Street Wisdom appeared first on Street Wisdom.

The post Straat Wisdom – waves and flags appeared first on Street Wisdom.

Every year hundreds of thousands – millions – of people trek through our city streets on their way to and from work.   And what they get from is, mostly, – nothing. Zip.  Nada.  Niente.

The street to many of us is just a traffic-filled, annoying space to hurry through, a logistical obstacle, something to screen out with an iPod playlist.

Street Wisdom disagrees.   We think a scrubby path through the northern Spanish hills is more like Oxford Street rush hour than we realise.  We think the magic is more about how you look than what you are looking at.   We’re suggesting the difference between a quest and a commute is a choice you can make any time.  When you really switch on your senses and connect with what’s around you, you can start picking up inspiration right outside your door.

What do you think?

Give it a try.  

Thanks to the recent tube strike Londoners were given an excuse to slow down and use the walk.     Ask a question and see what the street answers…

If you get some interesting results, check out where the next Street Wisdom events are taking place and come really experience what the street has to teach you.  It’s free and designed as shareware so you can even run your own event for friends or colleagues.

The post El Camiño di Oxford Street? appeared first on Street Wisdom.