[From David Chess]
A game, a game, a game!
To play this game (and it’s not a game that has points really or rules or winning or anything, but a game nonetheless) be walking somewhere (somewhere very familiar, at least the first time you play it; somewhere that you walk several times a week), at your normal walking pace like you always walk there, and then close your eyes.
Close your eyes, that is, but keep walking, at your normal walking pace.
See how long, how many paces, you can keep your eyes closed. It’s okay if you open them (but then try closing them again, and still walking along). It’s even okay if you bash into something (it means that you were braver about keeping your eyes closed than I was this evening). Apologize to it and continue on.
Try to keep your eyes closed for two paces, four paces, a dozen paces, while keeping up your normal walking speed. When you do have to open your eyes, try slamming them immediately closed again, and walking onward with only the guidance of that brief flash of picture lingering on your retinas.
Or try, keeping your eyes closed and not opening them at all, continuing to walk forward as long as possible, slowing down when you have to and eventually coming to a stop and only then opening your eyes to see where you ended up, how close to actually going wrong and bashing into something. And then try it again on the next bit of your walk, and see where you end up.
A harder game to play, clearly, in unfamiliar territory, or in even familiar territory that’s full of other people walking around (maybe with their eyes also closed), or streets full of cars (and buses), or wandering rhinoceri, or giant killer robots (although if they make lots of noise that could help in avoiding them). So apologies to city dwellers; or maybe the game’s just all that much more interesting in cities.
Maybe I’ll play it again tomorrow…
