Take A Flaw Walk
TAoN No. 211: Or even better, enjoy a Flaw Wait. Plus a new icebreaker, and more
I showed up early for a coffee date with a friend the other day, so I decided to stroll around the block. It was beautiful out and the whole world looked picturesque.
Naturally, I started looking for flaws.
That sounds a little sour. But really I just had the imperfect on my mind because flaws are May’s Savor of the Month prompt. In a nutshell, the idea is to be attentive to “flaws” (defined by you) that you notice as you move through the world this month. (Read more here; share your findings and explore others’ here.)
And after all, I’ve written about color walks and shape walks — why not a flaw walk?
It rapidly became clear that flaws are so easily spotted I needed to think about my preferred flaw aesthetic. Turns out I’m particularly (though not exclusively) partial to accidental abstractions, often geometric or minimal.
This ended up being a fun excuse to attend to, and be present in, my surroundings (an area I know fairly well) in a new way. I was slightly late to my coffee date.
The real payoff, however, came a few days later, when one of my bike rides was interrupted by a train. A number of my regular routes are subject to such involuntary pauses, whether from a train or a drawbridge. Often this is kind of annoying, a flow-breaker. But in this case, I realized, I now had an opportunity for a cousin of the Flaw Walk: The Flaw Wait.
As the train squealed and groaned on (and on) by, I busied myself studying the environment, collecting flaws. It essentially functioned as a grounding exercise, an antidote to the usual frustrations of waiting, that familiar trigger to ruminate about “wasted time.”
I suspect the ubiquity and variety of flaws makes them an ideal device for converting any wait — cooling your heels in the doctor’s office; shuffling along in a slow security line — into an instantaneous attention and perception challenge.
Try getting in the flaw flow. And whether you seek them out on your next walk or discover them on your next wait, consider sharing in the TAoN chat, right here, or in the comments.
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Noticing is about other people, too. The Icebreaker series aims to help with that. There’s a central collection spot for all the icebreakers to date, here.
Today’s icebreaker comes from Pádraig Ó Tuama’s Poetry Unbound newsletter:
When do you feel most alive?
Ó Tuama does not offer or position this as an icebreaker, but rather as a question that has “guided me for years.” Read his full essay/answer here.
That said: I think it actually makes for an interesting icebreaker!
Please send your favorite icebreaker (whether you made it up or found it elsewhere) to consumed@robwalker.net.
IN OTHER NEWS
Friend of TAoN Jami Attenberg’s 1000 Words of Summer participatory writing event starts very soon! More here.
Speaking of writing, the National Writing Project’s annual Write Out event, designed to get people outdoors and writing, is coming October 11–25, with the theme, Write Where You Stand. The NWP promotes this through various prompts and resources aimed at educators, but available to all. (I was an “ambassador” for Write Out last year; here’s an earlier post and an interview.) Get details, updates, and news from the NWP here
Adrienna Matzeg’s embroidery depictions of nighttime storefronts and signage in major Asian cities: Supercool.
My favorite element of the Times Magazine’s “30 best living American songwriters” package was the sampling of the “experts’” nominees: Berry Gordy naming Dolly Parton, Billy Bragg naming Taylor Swift, DMC naming Billy Joel, George Clinton naming Garth Brooks, Jeff Tweedy naming Kendrick Lamar, Weird Al naming Ron Mael (of Sparks), etc.
More on talking to strangers.
A founding member of the Guerrilla Girls gives a great interview to Bullseye. She mentions that another member calls what they do “creative complaining,” and there are some memorable examples given.
This is just a good piece of writing: Sports columnist Jason Gay on being dead wrong.
What are those orange balls on some power lines? From the series Curious Kids.
Field Recordings of Fast Food Restaurants in Western North America
Nirvana version of “Seasons In The Sun,” with Cobain on drums, Grohl on bass, Novoselic on guitar. (Via Sound Opinions.)
OKAY THAT’S IT!
As always, I value your feedback (suggestions, critiques, positive reinforcement, constructive insults directed at me, not at anyone else, etc.), as well as your tips or stories or personal noticing rituals, things we need a word for, and of course your icebreakers: consumed@robwalker.net. Or use the comments.
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And thanks for reading …
rw
All this by Rob Walker (unless otherwise noted) PO Box 171, 748 Mehle St., Arabi LA 70032.
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I feel like this exercise would not come full circle without mentioning the French street artist Ememem. Also known as the “pavement surgeon.” I wish I knew how to attach a photo here. His purpose in life is to locate those missing grey pavement pieces and he tiles in a beautifully colorful custom sized tile mosaic to fix it. (No parentheses needed around the word fix)! I adore the photos of his work. Is it graffiti? I would say absolutely not. Does it make the “flaw” 1,000% better? Absolutely. Please Google him/photos of his work. It absolutely makes my heart sing. He should be an artist in residence, on the public works crew and more widely adored for his work. I’m so smitten. We see flaws; he gets to art.
Oh the awesomeness of flawsomeness! It is so wonderfully present. Thank you for sharing the joy of finding how natural it is.