Immersion

Musing...

One of my favorite titles is A Field Guide to Getting Lost (by Rebecca Solnit).  You can imagine a field guide to almost anything – birds, plants, minerals -- but a guide to getting lost is the antithesis of a guide. Getting lost you can do by yourself. But the stories in the book talk about what you may find when you wander, the subtle side of survival, and resilience. Another aspect of getting lost is getting immersed.

Charise’s turn:

When I was six, I got lost at the Worlds Fair in New York.  We were there as a family, it was the evening, and we walked by a fountain that was suddenly lit up in the descending darkness.  I stopped and stared and that’s when I got lost. Lost in the view, how fascinating the water and the light looked. When I turned away from the view, none of my family was there. They had moved on, apparently unaware that I had not.

Rather than go on with this story, in which I was, of course, reunited with my family after intervention from strangers and the police, I’d rather linger at the fountain again.  To get lost in something, does this only belong to the child’s world?  The answer to this should be a resounding “no”, as you recognize how similar this immersion is to what happens when you are in a creative process -- either your own or someone else’s (as in, getting lost in someone's story).  

Get Fired Up:

Wander
             -- where?

• a literal place that appeals to you and supports your ability to be present
• an imaginative place where your ideas or vision can unfold
• both at once