Preparing for the Moving Language Retreat
Dear friends,
In four weeks, the first Moving Language retreat will begin at Amiglia – in English. Two weeks later, we will hold the Moving Language retreat in Dutch.
If you are registered as a participant, I would like to ask you to go through a few things in preparation. For those who are not registered, this is simply valuable inspiration.
Read the book Original Wisdom* by Robert Wolff. A remarkable book about the way indigenous people in Malaysia use language: language is used differently, but also much less. Information is present in the space and is received collectively by the group – sometimes expressed through a single voice.
Read the short story Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang. A story about language as a gateway to another (non-local, timeless) consciousness. You can also watch the film Arrival. As usual, the film takes a little away from the written work, but the link between language and consciousness – and how it can be different from what we know – is well conveyed.
For a clear explanation of what linguistic relativity actually is – the basic principle from which Moving Language was born – you can watch this very lively and accessible TED talk by Lera Boroditsky.
Moving Language helps us connect our two brain hemispheres, giving more space to our right hemisphere (the side that does not categorize and analyze, but experiences unity and ‘knows’). A beautiful testimony about these two different sides of the brain is that of Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroscientist who herself had a stroke.
If you cannot go through everything, try especially to read Original Wisdom by Robert Wolf. It is such a wonderful inspiration – a reminder of our original nature.
I am very much looking forward to our explorations during the weeks, to how we will experience reality and each other differently through Moving Language. There is still room for one more person for the week in English.
Loving, exploring, dancing, creating,
Zoë
* in Dutch: Oude Wijsheid Van Natuurvolken. Niet meer te verkrijgen in de boekhandel, wel te vinden in bibliotheken.
