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Consciousness Exercises |
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Written by Stefan Klocek
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Archeology
Step 1: Archeology of the now
Pick few random man-made objects in your home. Over the next week research into the history of each. Begin with it's present state and work backwards. In the steps which involve people the point isn't to find details such as their name, but to try to find out what kind of person does the job, what is their life like? what is their career path? do they have health benefits? If it is impossible to find the facts, imagine the process, the person or the place. Write down each step.
- How did it get from the store to this room?
- Who carried it?
- Where was it purchased?
- Who purchased it?
- What was it that prompted them to select it and take it to the cashier?
- How long did it sit on the shelf?
- Who stocked the shelf?
- How did it arrive at the store?
- How far did it travel?
- Who drove the truck?
- Who packaged it?
- Where was it assembled?
- Who worked on the assembly line to put it together?
- What kind of working environment was it?
- Where did all of the component parts come from?
- How did they travel there?
- Who provided the transportation and how?
- How were the component parts manufactured?
- Who worked on the manufacturing line?
- What was workday their day like?
- Where did the raw materials come from?
- How did the raw materials get there?
- Who transported the raw materials?
- Who extracted or produced the raw materials?
- What was their job like?
- In what form were the raw materials?
- How did the raw materials come to this state?
- Who designed it?
- What was their job like?
- What inspired the idea for it?
- How did they know you would need it?
Step 2: Archeology of the future
Take the same objects which were researched the first week. In the second week do a second set of research. This week research what will happen to the objects.
- When will the object no longer be of use?
- How will this decision be made?
- How will it be disposed of?
- What alternatives will be considered?
- Who will pick up the waste?
- What will their work be like?
- Where will the waste be taken to?
- Will some of it be recycled?
- Who will sort the recycling?
- What will their job be like?
- What will happen to the rest?
- What process will be used to entomb it?
- Who will do this?
- What will their job be like?
- How will it begin to break down and disintegrate?
- How long will this process take?
- Will there be byproducts of this process?
- How will they interact with the groundwater?
- Will steps be taken to make this process safe for people and the environment?
- Who will make sure these steps are taken?
- How many years from now will they be born?
- How will they think about their job?
- How will the land be used while this process is happening?
- How long till this object no longer exists?
- What was considered when it was originally designed?
- How many people's lives were affected by the existence of this object?
- What was my role in this process?
The Riddle of Food
This exercise will take between 30 - 45 min, so plan start with at least this much time prior to lunch. Look through the food which people brought to share for the MeetUp. Find an item which has been processed and/or packaged (bread, chips, dip, cheese, olives, pasta, soda, etc...), find another item which has not been significantly processed or packaged (salad, raw vegetables or fruit, natural fruit juice, etc...)
Place each of these items in the middle of the circle of participants. The goal is to recreate the history of these objects; beginning with their most recent history and working backwards toward the time when the food originated.
Start with the item which has not been packaged or processed. Participants should be encouraged to verbalize the steps that they imagine or know about how this food arrived at this gathering. Have someone write down each step as people describe them. Leave room in between to add in steps which maybe haven't been thought of yet. Try to form as many statements as is possible from direct observation of the object itself. The point isn't to argue to a final correct answer, but to fill in as much of the picture as possible. If there are two different possibilities, feel free to make branches and follow each to it's origin. Do this question process for the processed food after doing it for the unprocessed food.
Begin with the question:
- How did it get this location?
Follow with (feel free to add more questions):
- Where was it before it arrived here?
- How much money did it cost?
- Where was it purchased?
- How did the purchaser choose it from the shelf?
- How far did it travel to get to the store?
- How was it packaged?
- How was it processed?
- How long did it take to process?
- Who processed it?
- How was it transported?
- How far was it transported?
- How was it grown?
- Where was it grown?
- Who cared for it as it grew?
- How long did it take to grow?
- What did the plant look like that it came from?
- What part of the plant is it from?
- Who planted it?
- What did the seed look like?
- How was the seed cultivated?
- What characteristics where selected for cultivation?
- What did the uncultivated plant look like?
- How did someone choose this plant to cultivate?
- How old is this piece of food?
Keep on following each step of it's history back until it is nothing but raw unextracted materials and an idea in someone's head.
If you have time project into the future of this object.
- Once it is eaten how will my body process it?
- What will I take from it?
- How will it affect my health or growth?
- What will I let pass though?
- What will happen to the waste?
- Where will it go?
- How long will this food support my body?
- How long is it's overall lifespan?
With or without the future story, review the story of these two foods with the group. Estimate how long it's total life will be. What is our role in that? What is the significance of this single piece? How local is our food? How much do I connect what I eat to the plant (or animal) from which it came?
The Riddle of Litter
Send everyone outside for 15 minutes to clean up any litter which is in the surrounding neighborhood. Provide some kind of trash bag (and gloves if at all possible). The aim is to clean up as much as is possible in the short amount of time provided. Remind people to put the trash into the bag provided and bring the bag back to the MeetUp location.
Once everyone is back choose a piece of trash from the bag and put it into the middle of the circle. Instruct everyone that we will use our collective knowledge and imagination to explore the riddle of this piece of litter.
The goal is to recreate the history of this object; beginning with it's most recent history and working backwards toward the time when the object was first produced. Participants should be encouraged to verbalize the steps that they imagine or know about how this object came to be a piece of local trash. Have someone write down each step as people describe them. Leave room in between to add in steps which maybe haven't been thought of yet. Try to form as many statements as is possible from direct observation of the object itself. The point isn't to argue to a final correct answer, but to fill in as much of the picture as possible. If there are two different possibilities, feel free to make branches and follow each to it's origin.
Begin with the question:
- How did it get to that particular place on the ground?
Follow with:
- What can be inferred about it's age by it's condition?
- Why might someone have dropped it there?
- Were they aware of what they were doing?
- How did they interact with it?
- How long did they have it for?
- Where did they get it?
- How much did they pay for it?
- How did they choose it from the shelf?
- How did it arrive at the store?
Keep on following each step of it's history back until it is nothing but raw unextracted materials and an idea in someone's head.
If you have time project into the future of this object.
- Once it is discarded, where will it go?
- How will it get there?
- How long will it take for this object to decompose?
- Will there be byproducts?
- Will they affect plants, animals or humans?
With or without the future story, review the story of this piece of trash with the group. Estimate how long it's total life will be. What is our role in that? What is the significance of this single piece? How many other pieces were collected? How many were not?
Support my lifestyle
What is my lifestyle?
What people are required to support my lifestyle?
Think about the following questions and write down answers to them: (I have also done this exercise in a group and had people interview one another to find out how what they do supported someone else's lifestyle. The goal is to take a large sheet of paper and draw a line from my name to every other name on the paper. Along the line will write how they support my lifestyle, and how I support theirs.
- Who built my house?
- Who grew my food?
- Who created a store where I can shop?
- Who cleaned my water?
- Who wove the cloth for my clothing?
- Who created my furniture?
- Who manufactured the utensils in my kitchen?
- Who wrote the laws?
- Who maintains the peace?
- Who paves the roads?
- Who stocks the stores?
- Who maintains wires for electricity?
- Who created my entertainment?
- Who takes the garbage to the dump?
- Who who changes the traffic light bulbs?
- Who runs the power company?
- Who invested in the infrastructure of my local community?
- Who transported the gas to my local gas station?
- Who manufactured my car?
- Who designed it?
- Who provides health care for me?
- Who taught me what I know?
- Who created my school?
- Who wrote down the ideas?
When was the last time I thanked these people for supporting my lifestyle? For how many of them do I know their name and can recognize their face? Who supports their lifestyle?
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