In response to the Ernesto Pujol interview and his instructions..:
Living in the wilderness but teaching at a boarding school reminds me of the power of solitude and reminds me of why I crave time in my own headspace without the pressures of other humans. In addition to people, I am fighting the distractions of stuff, I am surrounded by things in my studio that affect my mind. When I see the objects I think about where they came from, who gave them to me, where I collected them, when and why I bought them, and other things that kind of get in the way of my already busy existence. I have to leave the studio and when I do I'm outside. Here there are trees and animals and plants, skies and stars, and it helps me take a moment.
The best strategy I found for really finding that moment of silence in nature is to remove my spectacles and then I can't see as well; I stop thinking about the specific birds, how I should probably harvest the dead wood from the forest, how I feel I should rake the leaves, or interact with the landscape in some other useful way. When you can't physically see it is easier to listen and to sense the moment; you feel like you are a being amongst the trees, and not a human who knows how to use them.
photo by Addison Horowicz 2021
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