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1. OBJECT AND REASON FOR THE PILGRIMAGES

It is said that a pilgrimage will be effective only if it is done on foot, whatever its purpose.

I would like to start this post by mentioning what a pilgrimage is in itself and what are the motivations that people feel or have to join one of them.

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Pilgrimage means a march or transfer of an individual -or a group of people- through a region using established paths and covering considerable distances. The pilgrimage represents a trip to a holy place, a Sanctuary, Mosque, Hermitage, Temple, Synagogue, or Church, round trip, of a person alone or integrated into a group. You arrive at the holy place and return to the place where you started your pilgrimage; and always walking, most of the way.

The word pilgrim comes from the Latin peregrinus, from per: through, and ager: field, countryside, region. It indicates to walk, to march, to move, to travel, to put in movement – concept of “movement” that we will explain later. It is the person who travels on foot, who leaves a geographical point to reach another, separated by great distances, and through roads that are not at all comfortable, known or unknown, for a considerable time (several days), which transforms that journey into an intense and exhausting one.

Those characteristics of intense and exhausting is what makes it a sacrifice, so from the beginning of the journey, the pilgrim is offering an oblation with his own body -obligating himself to travel through long journeys- to the divinity with whom he will have contact at the end of his journey and that is usually a Sanctuary.

The term “pilgrim” -and “pilgrimage”- is applied today essentially to people who move around for religious reasons, but in ancient times they also had other motivations and causes.

The pilgrimage is a joint action of several pilgrims who walk and at the same time make the oblations to the divinity with which they will have contact at the end of the journey, in the holy place. However, the route in modern times, has been having other ways to perform it, walking, horseback, donkey, camel, or other animal capable of making the journey, by motorcycle, bus or car.

The human being intuits that he has a spiritual foundation and that he must go towards it, perhaps for that reason he looks during his wandering for a place where he can find it . His pilgrim walk is that spiritual search, which keeps him strengthened and helps him to achieve the goal of reaching the holy place.

The pilgrimage is an activity in search of spiritual contact with a Divinity, with the Angels or with the Saints. This spiritual communication is what moves the pilgrim to make this effort of long walks; it brings it into effect in different ways: by praying, offering oblations, thanking, invoking, singing, adoring, asking, etc.

The object of pilgrimages is to obtain from the divinity certain miracles, in regard to relief of diseases, physical and mental degenerations, vices, and also to obtain certain gifts besides the expiation of sins. Saints joined to these experiences of worship (Dulia) because the believer needed, at certain time of Humanity, their help and intermediation to be able to communicate and have contact with divinities.

The pilgrimage contains 3 phases, 1) WALKING, 2) OBLATION or SACRIFICE, and 3) DIVINE CONTACT. The 3rd phase, is achieved through this pilgrimage through a mechanism “magic”, ie, the pilgrims get divinely energized by “magic virtues” (Post WALKING AND THE ARCHETYPE “MAGIC”), ancient magical paradigms, both of IMITATION and CONTACT, which allow them to have the power to communicate with the deity. The one of CONTACT is realized because the divinity -or the holiness-, with which the pilgrims will communicate, somehow transmitted and bequeathed their energy (things, remains, miracles, etc.) in the locus-sanctuary where they will arrive to receive that divine influence. Their physical transfer to the sanctuary is achieved by walking (phase 1), and when they arrive in this way they can make the physical-spiritual contact in the sanctuary, to achieve the spiritual link (phase 3), and also to reach the mystical communication, contemplative and revealed. The second phase, that of Oblation or Sacrifice, is carried out during the whole journey, from the place of departure to the Sanctuary; and it depends on the religious customs -of each religious belief- of the pilgrims, being able to vary, from the very walk, which is not allowed to travel on top of any animal or motor vehicle or pulled by animals, or doing it in some parts of the route on their knees, or others in fasting of one or two daily meals (but always drinking water), without pronouncing word, singing, in total silence, with sexual abstinence, and another ten commandments and prohibitions that represent a true sacrifice, which leads them in a full way to achieve the magic of imitation and/or contact.

How much does walking empower the pilgrim to achieve contact with his divinity? Just by fulfilling the sacrifice of reaching the holy place, the pilgrim was granted an enormous spiritual force to trust that he would achieve contact with the divinity, along with other spiritual benefits.

THE PRISTINE TELEOLOGICAL CAUSE OF THE PILGRIMAGE: Notwithstanding the above I must explain the primal element of pilgrimages which is indeed of the spiritual type, but as I have mentioned in Post TOTEM AND WALKING. PART I, ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASPECTS, and in future Post WALKING AND DANCE, where I express that WALKING is the NEED OF THE HUMAN BEING TO BE IN MOTION, a MOVEMENT both physical and mental and also of the spiritual type.

Let us see in an abbreviated form. In Post TOTEM AND WALKING. PART I, ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASPECTS, I express: ” Walking was preserved analogically as a spiritual practice within the Totemist system. This imperative need to walk in a wandering way, which started 2 million years ago, was spiritually satisfied by imitating the animals in their walk and with the dance; a rhythmic and cadenced dance, which communicates with a percussive beat to the body with the external natural environment, in a spiritual and somatic way: SPIRITUAL WALKING. The more sedentary we become, the greater the need to ask for help from the spirits, from our inner spirituality. The primitive man of those times, is inclined to invoke the spirits – his spirituality – because of his new sedentary state that reduces his capacity to have contact with his unconscious and with other mental functions.” So, from this time of transition from nomadism to sedentarism, early man tries to compensate this loss of walking in several ways; a human need that in a semi-conscious way is partly satisfied by pilgrimages. In a general way and in the same sense, we can say that the human being requires to be in movement, and as we have expressed in the future Post WALKING AND DANCE, dance is another of the forms that the human being has used to satisfy his imperious need to be in movement, generated by the observation and imitation of the instinctive dances of the animals, very especially -with much curiosity, attention and seduction- in his rituals of courtship and pre-appearance. The dance is a corporal movement but as a result of that spiritual necessity to walk (intrinsic activity), in a similar way to the peregrinations, transforming itself into a MOVEMENT OF THE SPIRIT, a MOVEMENT of SPIRITUAL type.

I could not affirm that the pilgrimage is an unconscious act in the human being, of that part that I have qualified of SPIRITUAL WALKING, nevertheless, something of that congenital necessity that has been acquired from very remote times, is managed to satisfy with the pilgrimage.

2. BRIEF HISTORY: BEGINNINGS, ORIGINS, CAUSES, GENESIS, FOUNDATIONS.

The divine contact sought in the third phase, by means of pilgrimages, is physically achieved by arriving at holy places or sanctuaries, which have been defined and erected, over centuries, because

– The divinity that is venerated had an apparition -or several- in

– A simple relic (thing or small body part) of the divine person or the saint being venerated was found.

– A distinguished relic (important part of the body) of the divine person or the saint being venerated was found.

– A miracle is attributed to the divinity or the saint being venerated

– It is a holy place that for some reason reveres that divinity or the saint.

– The Holiness passed by that place and they turned it into a sanctuary.

– It is attributed to him the realization of individual and collective healings for coming before his presence.

– That divinity appeared before several individuals (children, women, men) or only one.

The holy places, where the worship of divinities and holy persons have been performed, in addition to those indicated, also took place in caverns (antrum, antri: in Latin; antrón in Greek), caves and grottos (krúpte in Greek) sacred (Sacrum speluncas dissimiles veris).

3. TYPE OF PILGRIMAGES

The different forms, categories or types of pilgrimage have been shaped over time, attending to the great diversity of collective and individual needs; as they are:

– By Devotion

– By Vote

– By Exercise or Profession of Faith

– For Mercy

– By Collection

– By Worship or Reverence

– By Request

– By Prayer or Thanksgiving

– By Offering

– In gratitude

– By Promise or Command

– For Hope

– For Charity or Love

– By Duty or Oath

– To achieve Miracles

– For Atonement of Sins

– By Commitment or Obligation

– By promise or thanks

All these categories consciously represent the religious feeling of approaching, in a first phase – quite remote – the spirits, and in the next phase the divine; however, underneath all this, lies the teleological cause of walking.

4.         SIDE EFFECTS OF PILGRIMAGES

Besides this primary effect (teleological cause or ultimate cause) that the pilgrimages have, which we have mentioned, that of SPIRITUAL WALKING AND SPIRITUAL TYPE MOVEMENT, there are other secondary effects.

Among the side effects of religious pilgrimages are:

– Contact with the sensitive and affective part of the pilgrim

– That some physical ailments are corrected by walking for long distances or long, repetitive periods.

– It generates in the pilgrim an atmosphere of gratitude and responsibility.

– It provokes in the pilgrim a space of community and collectivity

– It also provokes a state of benevolence and fraternal help.

5.         THE MOST IMPORTANT IN ANTIQUITY

Perhaps the oldest pilgrimages were those developed by walking in the deserts, since in almost all religions there has been the idea that one can get in touch with divinities and gods in these lonely places, perhaps because of their isolation, quietness and silence. It was a true sacrifice to make in these environments, which almost led to lose one’s life because of long days, perhaps with some points fixed in advance, but always seeking contact with a divinity, and until this spiritual link was achieved, the sacrifice was suspended. In my novel JESUS GOES TO PSYCHIATRIST (*), God the Son is not very much in favor of long walks to seek communication with Him, although He did go on journeys through the desert to have contact with God the Father. He commented that He did not even need a temple to communicate with Him; however, He did make pilgrimages: His last walk as a pilgrim to the city of Jerusalem was made by joining the feasts of the Jewish Pesach (Passover festivities).

The most famous pilgrimages, which since the Antiquity have been made, are

ELEUSIS: A little mythology and a little reality. Let this serve as an example for the dozens of cases that have been forged in the mythical Antiquity. To Eleusis -Athenian city, 500 years b. C. -great crowds of people came to worship several Greek deities, among them Démeter. In the language of those days, they said they were looking for the mystery of the deity, and it was no other thing than to try to contact it, to request its protection and auguries, to ask for its gifts and to thank for the great harvests, for which they celebrated ceremonies of sacred worship, in their respective sanctuaries. In general terms, these were public rites where obligations and constraints were expressed for the whole community. They would come to Eleusis in procession to carry out these festivities since they began their marches with baths in the waters of the sea. These rites of Eleusis and others, had their origin in prehistory based on older festivals on agricultural fertility, to ensure large harvests, which in turn surely served to influence the organization and practice of pilgrimages and the same cults that developed in early Christianity.

ZEUS and other divinities: Another bit of mythology. Certain cults were carried out in sacred caves in pre-Hellenic times. Zeus in some sacred caves in Mount Dicte, in the island of Crete. Also in sacred caves the processions to venerate Cybele in Phrygia and Lydia, with bullfighting ceremonies, with fasts, baths and penances.

TAMMUZ or ADONIS: More of mythology. Great processions were held to worship the god Tammuz (god of the Semitic peoples of Babylon and Syria) or Adonis (adopted by the Greeks in the seventh century BC) in the cities of Byblos, Syria, and Paphos, Cyprus, to achieve good crops.

GANGES: Sacred river of India. This river has several holy places that have developed in the tributaries of the river, and to which pilgrimages are carried out at different times of the year.

THE MECCA. Holy place of Islam, where Muhammad was born. It consists of the Kaaba Mosque (Future Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE CENTER OF THE KAABA) and in its center the black stone.

The oldest Christian pilgrimages are those of Rome and the Holy Land:

THE VATICAN. Holy City in Rome, where the holy popes are located, is the Basilica of St. Peter, and the mortuary remains of the popes.

JERUSALEM. Holy city of the 3 religions: Christian, Muslim and Jewish.

TEOTIHUACAN, MEXICO, sacred city of the Mexicas. Since the 9th century.

6.         MOST IMPORTANT PILGRIMAGES TODAY.

We can list, in a concise way, the most important pilgrimages at present:

THE VATICAN. Holy city in Rome, where the holy popes reside, is located the Basilica of St. Peter, and the mortuary remains of the popes. The high point was reaching St. Peter’s Basilica and the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul.

JERUSALEM. Holy city of the 3 religions: Christian, Muslim and Jewish.

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA. In this place of Spain the remains of Santiago el Mayor, apostle of Jesus Christ, were found in the 9th century. And since that time, pilgrimages have been made to this place, where the tomb was found.

THE MECCA. Holy place of Islam, where Muhammad was born. It consists of the Kaaba Mosque (Future Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE CENTER OF THE KAABA) and in its center the black stone.

FRANCE, OUR LADY OF LOURDES: City of France. Pilgrimages for the apparition of the Virgin Mary.

FÁTIMA: In the town of Santarem, Portugal, the Virgin of Fatima (of the Rosary) appeared in 1917. Pilgrimages.

MEXICO, BASIC OF GUADALUPE, IN THE CITY OF MEXICO, since the 16th century, with the apparitions of the Virgin Mary in 1531.

INDIA, SACRED RIVER OF THE GANGES, holy places in its tributaries

INDIA, HOLY CITIES OF INDIA: KUMBHAMELA, RISHIKESH, BENARÉS, and others

IRAQ, in BAGDAD, BAHA’U’LLAH HOUSE

IRAN, in the HOUSE OF BAB IN SHIRAZ

ENGLAND, CANTERBURY

ITALY, Francis of Assisi

ITALY; Santa Rita di Casia.

CANADA, Sanctuary Sainte Anne de Beaupre

And several dozen more.

7.         DEVELOPMENT OF THE WALK AND THE PILGRIMAGE

What did walking mean during pilgrimages? Simply because it was the only way to make those spiritual journeys? No! From the point of view of consciousness and traditions, in ancient times it was the only way to make them, but walking, apart from representing a physical spiritual sacrifice, was the way to have contact with a path that supposedly had been traveled by one or several of the saints, whose relics were kept in the Sanctuary. Either they represent the transit through the places that the Saint visited or lived during his existence, or his place of birth. They are also the places where apparitions of the Divinity or the miracles performed by Her were made. A process of “Dulía Walker” that was granted to the saints during the pilgrimage.

From that moment, the contact with the Divinity, with the Saint and with the spiritual began. Rome was an example of it, since to reach the holy places there was the Main Way (Via Francigena) and other secondary ways that were also considered holy. Another important case about this, is the pilgrimage to Santiago Compostela with its holy route, the main one, the “French Way” that was traced so that pilgrims from different points could start, covering almost all Europe, and they were gathered in France. In these routes, many holy places are touched (Churches, Sanctuaries, Relics, etc.) which gives these routes their quality of “Holy Walks”.

A clear example of this was represented by Egeria, a Galician Abbess from the 4th century, who made several journeys through biblical roads and lands. During 1000 days she walked those roads through Constantinople, Sinai, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Jerusalem. A Christian pilgrim who, according to the Scriptures, travelled all those roads and places that the Bible has recorded as part of the history of the three religions (Christian, Jewish and Muslim).

There was another type of pilgrimage in the Buddhist current, apart from the fact that in his philosophical-religious conceptualization it was an inner journey, the Buddhist monk made a geographical tour through which he visited distant places with the purpose of making a discursive wandering, haranguing his exordiums and Buddhist principles for possible future initiates. The Mahayana (philosophy of Vacuity or emptiness) led Buddhism to a reflective and dissertationary pilgrimage (Post THE PATH OF VACUITY, Future Post DISCURSIVE AND POETICAL PILGRIMAGE).

However, from the congenital and unconscious point of view, walking during pilgrimages has represented a rescue of a loss that the human being started to suffer since 10,000 years ago, as we already pointed out at the beginning of this post, resorting to this practice and to others, looking for the contact with his spiritual need, because he has lost the communication with his unconscious and with other functions of the mental type, caused by his sedentary state.

8.         THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE PILGRIMAGE

Now, what relationship do we find between the WALK-RWD system and the pilgrimage?

Undoubtedly, the walk, during these processions of the pilgrims, has a symbolism – of the spiritual type – that impels the being – physical, mental and spiritual – towards a point that shows him a sense of life, and that orients him for his location and transmits him that he will find it at the end of his journey.

The WALK-RWD system is a recurrent form of daily walking, -sometimes wandering and sometimes very defined- that combines that walking with 3 other activities (reading, writing and drawing) organized -consciously and unconsciously- and lead the walkers towards several concrete objectives: 1) Physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health, 2) Creativity and artistic creation, 3) Concentration, relaxation, meditation and contemplation, 4) Mind-body harmony, 5) Understanding and acceptance of oneself, 6) Perception and knowledge of reality. In an integral way, the following is achieved: the pleasure of and for living.

In its constant application it results in a conscious and voluntary walk towards the Sense of Life (Future Post WALKING AND ITS TELEOLOGICAL COMMITMENT).

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In this post I present an INTRODUCTION of how to do the walk together with any of the 3 structured activities (reading, writing and drawing), combining it with the game; exposition that I will do in detail, with specific games, in 3 future posts.

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It is also an exordium to combine walking with the non-competitive game and to transmit that it is not necessary to make that conjunction with any of the 3 activities of reading, writing or drawing. In addition, I will allow myself to present some definitions, comments and revelations from thinkers who have manifested the importance of play in the life of the human being.

I have already exposed in Post PLAY AND WALK-PART I. NO TO COMPETITION, YES TO FUN, about the purpose we have of not using -within the WALK-RWD system- games that include competition (NO TO COMPETITION); of trying to eliminate the influence and the conditioning -manipulations- that we receive since we are born to develop games that even with ourselves we compete; and to try, with the games combined with the 3 structured activities, to have fun and to encourage us with freedom while we walk.

In itself, this post will be dedicated 1) to the understanding of what play is; 2) to specify and explain its primary, secondary and tertiary characteristics; and 3) for those people who do not wish to read, write and draw, we present several games that do not involve competition among human beings, nor with oneself.

Let’s move on to the concept of play.

In a general way, we can define the game as a need that the human being has to use certain accumulated energy, as much physical, as mental and emotional, by means of which it does not look for a productive nor utilitarian aim, but to amuse itself. It is a vital manifestation as much corporal as spiritual, that allows him to project those natural inclinations, from the simplest activities to the most complex. From the historical point of view, we can affirm that its manifestations have been reflected in sports, education, literature, and in a great diversity of human activities. The word game was used in antiquity as a title for public shows, hence certain literary events were named, such as school games, games of mockery, floral games, etc.

Johan Huizinga, in his book Homo Ludens, written in 1954, expresses us: “The game is a free action or occupation, which is developed within determined temporal and spatial limits, according to absolutely obligatory rules, although freely accepted, action that has its end in itself and is accompanied by a feeling of tension and joy and the consciousness of ‘being otherwise’ than in ordinary life […] This category, game, seems to be considered as one of the most fundamental spiritual elements of life”.

I would like to comment that this word of game or the verb to play, has been used in all cultures, and likewise in the different epochs and in the present, as a metaphor, simulation, paragon, analogy, allegory, image, translation, dissimulation, euphemism, within a figurative language; it has also been used by means of all its usual and constituted synonyms of ordinary use: amusement, recreation, trickery, caper, mischief, sport, entertainment, trick, joke, leisure, pastime, recreational exercise, game, sporting encounter, risk, bet; synonyms used in substitution of functioning, movement, mechanism, disposition, possibility, of exposing oneself, intervening, taking part, handling, and dozens of other semantic translations; which gives it a great capacity for use as a metaphor almost for everything, with the implicit understanding that nothing is “at stake” in itself, but quite the opposite, since it implies formality in its totality and not just one part, complete seriousness and nothing in jest, reality and nothing imaginary, the certain without any doubt. The use of the word GAME – its derivatives and disinformation – unfolds spreading to the generality of the powers (predominances) of human experience.

I believe that we must be more precise and cautious in the use of the word “game”.

Let’s go to the conception of the characteristics of the game.

The primary characteristics of the play activity are rules, order, movement (physical and mental), celebration, rites, principles, objective, customs, time of duration, techniques, competition, separation of daily and ordinary activities, a specific place, site or space, challenge, controversy, surprise the other players, uncertainty, fight, struggle, retribution, reward, rhythm, not looking for material utility – in past times (now yes) -, hobby; characteristics that coincide with many other human activities that contain them and that are also part of its essential constitution, nevertheless, the most determining ones of the game are the spontaneity and the unconcern that define it and essentially that it is carried out with freedom.

What is relevant about these characteristics -primary ones- is their permanence, their almost total invariability and their biunivocity between quality and activity; if they were not presented in this way, they would cease to have their qualification of primary ones.

The secondary characteristics are also called sensitive qualities, because of the effects that the primary characteristics generate on the human being when participating in these game activities, either as a direct participant or as a spectator. That is to say, they are the faculties that have to provoke sensorial impressions (perceptions?) when the human being has contact with his senses, both external and internal (Future Post WALKING AND THE EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL SENSES). Unlike the primary qualities, these are highly variable, that is, not very constant. As a relevant fact, according to some experts, these secondary qualities are presented “at a conscious level”. Each individual will receive in different ways and degrees the impressions of these characteristics. The secondary characteristics are: joy, optimism, deceit, lies, cheating, hobby, abstraction, ecstasy, tension (mental and physical).

The tertiary characteristics are the reactions or responses of human beings in their relationship to the primary and secondary qualities of the activity (or object). They are those qualities that are attributed mentally -consciously or unconsciously- to play. Perhaps these responses are a reflection of the individual participant’s own direct participation or as an observer. It is logical to think that each individual may have a different degree or way of reacting to the game activity, either by direct participation or as an observer.

The tertiary characteristics generally contain the 2 antagonistic poles of human behavior; for example: euphoria (prostration), failure (success), disillusionment (encouragement), courage (fear, serenity), confidence (mistrust), enthusiasm (apathy), passion (calmness), insecurity (firmness), joy (sadness), outburst (calm, tranquility).

In ancient times, the game was played for the enjoyment itself, but nowadays the reward is invariably sought which translates into money, fame, notoriety, reputation, success, renown or prestige.

Huizinga, respectfully, states: “This increase in the agonal sense [competition], by which the world is moved in the direction of play, has been fostered by another external factor, basically independent of the spirit of culture: the fact that, in all fields and by all means, communication among men has become so extraordinarily easy. Technique, advertising and propaganda incite competition. Commercial competition does not belong to the primitive and sacred games. It begins when commerce begins to create fields of activity in which one has to try to outdo and surprise others. Soon certain limiting rules become indispensable, which constitute the mercantile uses”.

It is true that in the most remote times the game hardly contained elements of competition, although there are plenty of examples where these elements are also inserted. The Potlach was, for some, like a game, although for others not; it was a party achieved by the delivery (the granting) of gifts allowing one of the players to put himself above his competitors (one or several) and demonstrate his superiority. The neurotic implication of superiority, expressed in the Potlach can be extended to tips, charity, handouts, donations, etc., an egocentric neurotic form disguised as gift giving to dominate and place oneself above others. A game, a competition, a party? Each particular case should be reviewed.

#1259, GAME IMPULSE

In the present times the disinterest in the search for material utility has been forgotten and there are very few games where they are not dominated and manipulated by competition and the search for that materialistic retribution, of the utilitarian and/or monetary type.

The important and outstanding thing would be that walking would be played avoiding competition. The other actions that in the modern epoch are associated to the game, as the bets, to win money, the lucrative thing, etc., could be eliminated and in exchange something useful and productive would be obtained, because with the alone fact of having played and walked it would be quite beneficial and valuable for the full development of the human being.

There are opinions that the game arises from culture as an intrinsic need of it, through which the human being looks for fun. On this, Huizinga expresses: “Competition and exhibition do not arise from culture as its diversions, but rather, they precede it”. What Huizinga wants to mean in this statement is that play is consubstantial in the human being and is not a product generated by any cultural process, but is already immersed in the essence of it; play creates culture.

In order to motivate us and not lose our enthusiasm, we should be aware of which ways or attitudes can deviate us in our purposes of encouraging and having fun; as an example of this we can comment that we should not play the same game always, because we would get bored; so look for the non Monotony in the game, it would be highly recommended (Future Post THE CORRECT MANAGEMENT OF THE FLOATING TIME IN THE DECISION TO WALK, in which I make the difference between ROUTINE and MONOTONY). Also, within this scheme, we will have to change the usual paths in our daily walk. How? By choosing new directions and new courses, constantly selecting varied books to read. Writing different literary genres such as poems, letters, etc., and of course, playing while we walk and, if we want and can, doing some of the structured activities within the WALK-RWD system.

Combining play with walking, reading, writing and drawing, sounds a little complicated, I think it works, but in advance I tell you, what I have repeated in several posts, that when one is passionate, the complicated is facilitated and now I can also express that when one is abstracted in the game, it is (transcends) the same way, because the difficulties in actions or thought are resolved satisfactorily, making the difficult easy, but above all it is fun and encourages us, allowing us to spend pleasant moments.

It should be noted that making a game while walking should be combined with only one of the 3 structured activities. And it is up to the walker-player to develop more than one additional activity. But of course it can be done! The games combined with the 3 structured activities in the WALK-RWD system will be presented in 3 future posts.

Let’s use a concept that in its core elements can clarify many things in relation to these activities that are related within the WALK-RWD system. The word is AUTOTHELIC, which comes from the Greek autos: the same, and telos: end. When we find it in some text it moves us to think about ACTIVITIES, and it transports us to feel that anyone can be in MOTION, but it is an essentially mental movement, and combined with the aesthetic and artistic, but not necessarily with a Master Artistic Work (Literary). Likewise, the conceptualization of Autothelic transmits us that this implicit activity, because of something that the writer has or is assigning to it, is PASSIONATE, ABSORBENT, and with it the author wants to communicate that the individual who is in the context of this literary work, is very fascinated, attracted and seduced in an excessive way, and that he is also interested in it. It is the transmission of a binomial of PLAY with ART, both creative concepts, which have a direct relationship with the expression emotional and mental of the person who experiences it, however, it is not related in a conscious way with the achievement of something productive and useful, but it is obtained in an unconscious way (*). It is part of the human instinct that seeks UNCONSCIOUS FUN, through the artistic impulse and also to play with oneself. The purpose (telos: end), the achievement, the sense or the satisfaction is in the activity itself, or as Huizinga himself said of the game: it is an “action that has its end in itself”.

(*) However, here we find the germ of all artistic creation or a large percentage of it, whose essential elements are precisely the game, the pleasure and the sense that arise from one’s unconscious.

1085, THE PAINTER QUIXOTE

In this attempt to move people to walk while playing, I am prolonging this Autothelic concept by extending it to the plastic, to painting, sculpture and drawing, and specifically to our theme of walking. Art for art’s sake, walking for walking’s sake, and so whatever activity we have to do, let’s look for that Autothelic solution.

Let’s extract the key elements of the concept AUTOTHELIC, as they are: ACTIVITIES, MOVEMENT, PASSION, ABSORBENT, PLAY, ART, UNCONSCIOUS FUN, and let’s review the concept “Game” with respect to those same elements, in its constitution and structure.

Having selected the primary characteristics of the game, we can extract: order, tension (mental and physical), movement (physical and mental), enthusiasm, passion, rules, celebration, competition, joy, separation from daily activities and currents, a specific place, site or space, abstraction, ecstasy, challenge, controversy, surprising other players, uncertainty, struggle, retribution, reward, insecurity, joy, rapture, enthusiasm and rhythm.

Let’s see their coincidence. Neither game, nor art, nor absorbing, nor fun, nor unconscious are located; however, game and art are the activities to be developed at the same time we walk; the absorbing, fun, and unconscious are equated to celebration, rejoicing, joy, abstraction, ecstasy, rapture.

In synthesis we can decide to walk always with the incentive that we will be able to combine it with the game and with the art (to read, to write and/or to draw) in a SELF-HARMONY (absorbent, amusing and exciting activity in itself): ACTIVITIES, MOVEMENT, PASSION, ABSORBENT, PLAY, ART, UNCONSCIOUS FUN.

On the other hand, we know that there is the kind of person who cannot perform their duties because they simply do not feel an obligation to do so, even though they know they have that moral or family duty or commitment (Post WALK, DO NOT PROCRASTINE, DO IT NOW; Future Post COMBATING BAD HABITS WITH THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM, SOLUTION TO PROCRASTINATION), however, I believe that if they would transform that obligation into some kind of game, they would not have that problem or at least they would lessen it: Obligations with SELF-CONTROLLED answers and solutions.

Finally, let’s look at some simple, non-competitive games, without having to read, write or draw.

When we find ourselves walking alone and do not wish to read, write or draw, we can transform contemplation into a diversity of games, which can encourage us not to fail, and continue walking, making it different. An autothelic playful contemplation.

For example, if we find ourselves walking in some place with trees, we can calculate the number of leaves that some low branch has and then count them to observe how much we were close to getting it right. If it is an open place, calculate the time that the sun would start to hide behind any cloud; or calculate the time that any cloud would start to cover it. Another game is that of cloud races: define which cloud of 2 or 3 will be the fastest; the cloud that is the furthest ahead in the sky wins or occupies the first place (competition?). Another game is to guess which animal, of those that exist in the field where we walk, mammals, birds or insects, we will meet first (again: competition?).

If the day is sunny, discover the shapes of animals that the clouds project over the barren lands that can be observed; when there are many clouds and they can be seen over the sky, discover the different figures of animals or other shapes that they mold with their own vaporous bodies.

Another game consists of discovering animal shapes that some large rocks projected with their shadows on sunny days. Even some rocks that stand out from the ground show extraordinary figures.

All these games can be played either in solitude or in the company of other people; but if we find ourselves walking in the company of a person we can invite him/her to play any of these games taking care that they do not become a competition, warning that they are played just because of their attractiveness and fun, in themselves. In this line of walking accompanied, we can suggest making some word games, but this will be presented in Future Posts PLAY, WHILE WE READ AND WALK, Post PLAY, WHILE WE WRITE AND WALK and Post PLAY, WHILE WE DRAW AND WALK, with the safeguard of not competing.

Walking together with playing we can transform them into autothelic activities. Everyone can invent the games that they like the most. But … without stopping walking.

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In the first post of the Blog, I commented on the experience of walking, pointing out the practice or custom that we have developed as individuals and as a human species, and also as a tacit invitation to enjoy walking. Later, in another post, I transmitted ABOUT MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF CREATION, with the purpose of making known in a clear way, that walking -in a specific way- had led me to create plastic and literary works, a very real circumstance -according to my personal experience. In both posts I have defined experience as that which is conquered and which leaves a FOOTPRINT in our being; examples about those activities and participations that we have done in the past and that have left us a certain knowledge, because of those events lived.

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In this post, I think it is necessary to clarify certain aspects about the use of the word WALKING and its derivations.

The word WALKING, has been used at all times and in all cultures, as a metaphor, allegory, comparison, figure, simile, and translation; apart from its natural and established synonyms of Advance, Circular, Glide, Go, Err, Go, Arrive, March, Move, Depart, Pass, Exit, Transit, Move, Jog, Wander, Come, Travel, being used in substitution of Going, Functioning, Movement, Orienting yourself, Directing yourself, Focusing, taking a certain Order, Guiding yourself, Driving yourself, Discipline yourself, Tending towards, Moving, and some more; In addition, other twinned words such as Path, Route, Way, Passage, and other translations, which gives it a great capacity for use as a metaphor for almost everything, with the implicit understanding that it does not mean that it is certainly found “walking” physically. The use of the word WALKING -its derivatives and desinences- unfolds spreading to the generality of the predominances of the human experience.

So far my comment on the word WALKING, by which I mean that we must always be aware of the meaning that we give it or that we are told, to better understand what it is trying to mean.

Up to there my comment on the word WALKING, with which I want to mean that we should always be aware of the meaning we give it or are told, to better understand what it is trying to mean.

Up to there my comment on the word WALK, with which I want to mean that we should always be aware of the meaning we give it or are told, to better understand what it is trying to mean.

Now, let’s return to the concept of experience. Some time ago, Julián Marías wrote an essay about the different ways in which human beings ignore their experience in order to carry out their different activities, aspects that I have always had in mind, since I read it in the early 70’s, during my last semester at the University; especially when I was -and I will continue to be- at a fork in the decision making process or choosing to “walk” on another path in life.

Now then, in the present post I try to become aware myself -and in this way to transmit it- that there are those 2 scenarios that Julián Marías mentioned, where the human being ignores his experience; one of them is the involuntary oblivion, that in a frequent, daily and unconscious way -and sometimes even consciously- forgets the experience he has had in all aspects. The other stage – infrequent – is the denial of experience and we practice it when we find ourselves conscious but upset, situations that are part of our existence and that we reflect in our behavior and attitude towards our social environment.

Both the forgetting and the denial of an experience can arise from a repression of the consciousness, a significant blockage in the consciousness, generated by external stimuli, alien to our will.

Ortega y Gasset expressed “…if our life consists of deciding what we are going to be, […] that our life is above all to meet the future. …] It is not the present or the past that we live first, no; life is an activity that is executed forward, and the present or the past is discovered later, in relation to that future”. Existence is a concatenated series of decisions; and much of what we decide to achieve and attain that future of life is based on our experience gained in the past. The present feeds on the experiences of the past, to reach the future, in the past, we have acquired them, in the present we use them and evaluate them in the future reached; however, at certain moments we hesitate in taking actions and decisions, because sometimes we distrust them.

FORGETTING OUR EXPERIENCES

We said that sometimes we forget our experiences, why do we forget them and on what occasions?

Generally, they are unconscious acts that lead us to forget certain experiences because they provoke a nervous or emotional shock, a violent and unforeseen commotion that upsets or disturbs us, and even generates psychological depressions. The consciousness blocks the memory and causes us to forget everything that is related to that experience.

Usually, we place our own experience in confrontation (reasoning) with other knowledge and with the similar experiences of other people we know and have heard about. It is a continuous, cyclical and complex process. Even without that process of confrontation and reasoning, sometimes, if not mostly, we enter into controversy. I also mentioned Ortega y Gasset, relating to Kant: … experience is not only the pile of data transmitted by the senses, but it is a composite of observation and geometry; it is a grid built by pure reason. He succinctly defined experience as a mixture of sensitive observation and reasoning.

All this is related to the acquisition of experience during the opportune vital stages of the existence of any human being: during infancy, childhood, puberty, adolescence, etc. While we are alive, we are on the move, we are walking. (Future Post WALKING AND VITAL OPPORTUNITIES)

As an example of a vital experience -during adolescence- that the human being -man and woman- must carry out by himself/herself, and encouraged by the parents, is to leave the parental home at a certain age (Post THE WALK AND THE INSTINCT TO LEAVE THE PLACE OF ORIGIN); if we do not carry it out in a timely manner, we will surely have negative experiences for a long time, and this will reinforce our inclination to forget and deny our own experiences. One could explain this by way of a question: What correlation exists between these two aspects of experience and the footprints that our feet have left on the various paths decided and taken by ourselves; or, in the scenario of being kept in our father’s house? This locution should not be understood as meaning that we should abandon our loved ones.

If we continue to lengthen this process, we will experience unpleasant emotions, acquisition of negative habits, sufferings, anguish, misfortunes, and distress; however, as we know, we could come to determine an identity between a negative experience (feeling) and a correlation with a vital opportunity (Future Post WALKING AND VITAL OPPORTUNITIES), so we could transform those negative experiences into positive and nourishing ones.

I must point out that almost 100% of our actions are based on past experiences, so these 2 modes of action, although not numerous, can be significant in certain moments of our lives, on the whole stage of oblivion, so I would like to point out below certain relevant steps within the WALK-RWD system, of reading, writing and drawing, while we walk, which can help us in our performance (empirical) to have world, to achieve adequate learning and fruitful experiences.

They are somewhat complex to achieve. The first thing we must do -as I have already exposed in other occasions- is:

1. Take the first step preparing ourselves to “walk”;
2. Refuse to suffer or have any negative feeling;
3. Become aware and accept that we have certain negative feelings (experiences), identifying them by name;
4. Make each experience (feeling good or bad) correspond with a vital opportunity;
5. Listen to our unconscious, in any of its symbolic languages.

The 5 points should be carried out during the practice of the WALK-RWD system, since this will lead us to communication with ourselves.

DENIAL OF OUR EXPERIENCES

We also said that on other occasions, to a lesser extent, we deny our experience. On which occasions do we deny it, and why?

Generally we refer to negative life experiences, which are those that have greater significance in our lives.

It is unquestionable that we doubt our own experience and this leads us to carefully observe other perspectives similar to the experience of which we have uncertainty, suspicion, hesitation and insecurity.

This type of case arises in certain typical and unmistakable occasions and generally are conscious acts that lead the person to the denial of certain experiences that he or she has had in the past. It occurs when we detach ourselves from reality, or deny it, from that reality of our own, from that which has served for us as the source of our existence; it does not mean that we disconnect from life, but simply that we are invaded by a sense of disorder, of failure, of denying ourselves, and therefore we deny our own experiences, even if they have been positive. And not only do they deny themselves, but they drift away and get lost. This is related to mental and emotional health, and to the tranquility of every human being, man and woman, child, young, adult or old.

These are times when life feels like it’s coming to a halt. A resource that we can use to clarify our mind, our emotions and our thoughts, is to go for a walk, because as we have mentioned, to live is to march, to march is to walk forward, always to walk.

By walking we continue to live, we hold on to life.

In these cases we must put into practice the WALK-RWD system with the structured activities of reading, writing and drawing, while we walk, which as we have already demonstrated also in other spheres of human behavior, is going to help us in our (empirical) performance of having a world, of achieving adequate learning and fruitful experiences. And in a similar way we will have to carry out the same steps that we recommend for the stage of oblivion:

1. Take the first step by getting ready to “walk”;
2. Refuse to suffer or have any negative feelings;
3. Become aware and accept that we have certain negative feelings (experiences), identifying them by name;
4. Make each experience (feeling good or bad) correspond with a vital opportunity;
5. Listen to our unconscious, in any of its symbolic languages.

The 5 points should be carried out during the practice of the WALK-RWD system, since this will lead us to communication with ourselves.

These steps recommended both for the stage of unconscious forgetfulness and for that of conscious denial, will help us to listen to our interiority.

Each individual is the creator of his own experiences, and the process of bi-univocity that develops between the conscious and the unconscious, throughout life, is what places the being in the trajectory of all of them.

Therefore, all our experiences arise from the conjunction of these 2 functions, so they are all part of our personal and individual essence.

From now on, we must take each of our experiences more seriously, no matter how simple we consider it, because they are dialogues between the conscious and the unconscious, which enrich us by knowing – or trying to know – what is communicated between the two of them.

Many times it is not understandable why certain things happen to us; however, every experience, good or bad, is a product of those dialogues that develop in our deep interiority, between the conscious and the unconscious. (In the book “Evanescent Stories” (*) I present dialogues between the conscious and the unconscious in the mind of a writer). ) And I can assure you that they are more easily understood during our walks than if we struggle sitting on a couch or in a bed. There are several posts published where I refer to this type of benefits that the WALK-RWD system has to know our interiority, I will mention some of them:

1. Post PRESERVING AND AFFIRMING HEALTH, CREATIVITY AND TRANQUILITY
2. Post DIALOGUE WITH OURSELVES AS WE READ AND WALK
3. Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING. PART I.
4. Post DRAWING AND THRESHOLDISM, TO KNOW OUR INNER SELF
5. Post WHY AND WHAT TO DRAW FOR? THE GREAT BENEFITS WHILE WALK
6. Post DRAWING, TO KNOW BETTER OURSELVES
7. Post WHY AND WHAT TO WRITE FOR?
8. Post WALKING AND THE ELECTION OF LONELINESS. PART I
9. Post OTHER DEVICES TO READ AND WRITE, WHILE WE WALK

Should we really avoid FORGETTING and DENIALING certain experiences, or should we only become aware of that FORGOT or that DENIAL?

The character most interested in starting to walk is our unconscious, which is the one most favored. Let us not have the least doubt. He has the answer.

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As I already mentioned in Post THE WALK AND THE LACK OF TIME-PART I, I consider that the availability of time and its administration is fundamental for the realization of any activity. There are many authors who have analyzed the concepts of free time and leisure, throughout history, among the most important ones: Theodor W. Adorno, Louis Althusser, Tommaso Campanella, Jean-Marie Domenach, Joffre Dumazedier, Jean Fourastié, Georges Friedmann, Luis González Seara, France Govaerts, Johan Huizinga, Vladimir Ilich Ulianof Lenin, Herbert Marcuse, Karl Marx, Margaret Mead, Miro A. Mihovilovic, Wright Mills, Frederic Munné, Martin Neumeyer, German Prudensky, David Riesman, and 500 other thinkers

I believe that these two concepts, free time and leisure, should be studied together, since they are interdependent.

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We do not intend to propose recommendations of any kind for the achievement of an increase in free time or leisure, based on an increase in labor productivity, but exclusively to seek a motivation on how to use them through the WALK-RWD system, and according to the availability of both of them, outside the committed activities of each individual. That is, we will not focus on mentioning how to “build” them, but only on how they should be used to apply them in those activities that allow us to really enjoy ourselves and with real pleasure, free from social and work conditioning.

We must look for truly free activities that are independent of work, family and social schemes, as well as independent of the consumer industry, in order to organize, arrange and use these two times, free time and leisure time.

There have been dozens of definitions of these two concepts – free time and leisure – throughout history, depending on the era and the ideology itself, which bringing them into this space would be impracticable and not at all constructive, since one part of them makes them synonymous and another presents them differently and in cases even antagonistically, to mention only these dissonances. However, it is obligatory to start from their definitions that allow us to achieve these objectives of ordering, disposition and use.

Nor is it the purpose of this paper to clarify the confusion that has existed in the understanding of free time and leisure, however, we will start from the 2 definitions of both concepts, to try to be clear about what we intend about that motivation of how to use them in the WALK-RWD system.

There are differences between free time and leisure. Free time is that which human beings can dispose of outside of their work, family and social obligations, and which they are free to dispose of and use in the activities they wish and prefer. However, it is, in some way, conditioned by certain sectors of commitment. There is a direct relationship between free time and the needs, obligations and conditioning of all those sectors that compromise and overwhelm the human being. Seen as needs, we would have the following activities as part of these sectors: the physio-psychic-religious: sexual, nutrition, sleep, religion, etc.; the economic: work, transportation, domestic, etc.; the socio-cultural: friendships, recreation, holidays, games, sports, etc.; the family: paternity, maternity, education of children, holidays, etc. Notwithstanding this classification, the activities that would correspond to the free time sphere itself could be some of the same, selected in a freer way: fun, holidays, recreation, festivities, study, education of children, rest, outdoor walks, games, sports, etc.

Leisure is carried out within the availability of free time but that the human being carries it out with an absolute freedom to choose the activities that he prefers, that he likes, and that are not within those needs, obligations and conditionings, conscious or unconscious, of those sectors of commitment and overwhelming.

Free time is a concept of temporality and availability, a more quantitative than qualitative concept; while leisure is a concept of having full knowledge, both of taste and enjoyment, and of absolute consciousness of freedom, it is a more qualitative than quantitative concept. For this reason, in the exercise of leisure there is no rule, canon or norm that we can use in a universal way, because each individual must carry it out according to his desires and tastes, and always according to his sphere and intellectual torpor of freedom.

We could point out that doing nothing could fall into the basket of leisure, since that is what that person wants to do: do nothing.

Agreeing to what we have defined, according to my personal experience, we could assure that without free time there can be no leisure; it would be called otherwise, for example: idleness, work inactivity, indolence, unproductive activity, no work or unemployment, irresponsibility. The word leisure comes from the Latin licere, which means allowed, licit; in the same way, other languages use this Latin root to construct that word: in French loisir, in Portuguese lazer, in Catalan lleure (and oci), all those words have that root that expresses in itself their legitimacy as a right to enjoy that time of rest, recreation and fun.

In spite of their differences in quality, free time and leisure, they gravitate around three common practices: rest, fun and the development of the personality, which resound in a transcendental way, looking for the human being’s self-realization.

In order to transmit symbolically the suffocation of the present society, as for the availability and scarcity of the free time, I allow myself to present (infra) in the following pages, 3 plastic works of the series CHRONOPATHENIA, where we can observe clocks that are disconcerted and delirious for not being able to accompany with Mr. Time. They are exhibited in lightweight structures, with virtual assemblies, located where time has been passing with reluctance and ease. Their purpose is to highlight and confront the awareness of time used by human beings (the hours, the months, the years) by repeating these journeys through these places.

360-CHRONOPATHENIA III

There are many questions that come to mind on this subject of free time. Are the activities that are carried out in free time freely chosen? How much does the individual develop fully and freely in his free time? Does free time really allow the individual to free himself from the conditioning of society and from the alienation of work? Does the accurate and appropriate use of free time allow the individual to have access to culture? Does it allow him to develop personally in terms of his talents and qualities?

Leisure is considered one of the essential elements of human life, and the United Nations Organization places it in its Charter of Human Rights as one of its own, in Article 24: “Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay”.

359-CHRONOPATHENIA II

Throughout the various theories, certain semantic confusions have arisen with respect to these two words, about leisure and free time, however, we will try to differentiate them if we consider it necessary.

Lenin expressed that Free Time is the time dedicated by the free worker to rest and perform activities outside his work to improve himself and with his relatives.

The Epicurean theory held that tranquility of the soul is a necessary state to achieve happiness (Ataraxia). It recommended rest of the body and soul, for recurring times, to find inner harmony and happiness.

Prudensky said that Free Time was that which was not dedicated to work but to rest and activities for intellectual and physical development.

Munné, in his book Psychosociology of Free Time (“Phycho-Sociologie du temps libre”), in order to clarify the concept of leisure and free time, goes back to the Greek and Roman positions. From the former, he investigates this Greek ideal: the skholé: “it was not a simple doing nothing, but its antithesis: a state of peace and creative contemplation – dedicated to ‘theoria’ – in which the spirit was immersed”; which meant that they should have time to enjoy for themselves, disconnected from work. Skholé, -which its etymology means to stop, to cease-, originally its daily use was to be unemployed, to have free time for oneself.

This position of skholé was not adopted by the Romans – with the exception of Zeno and his Stoicism (Future Post WALKING AND THE STOICS) – but that free time was defined in their otium, “as time for rest of the body and recreation of the spirit, necessary to rededicate oneself – once recovered – to work or public service”. According to Munné, he considers that the freedom of the individual, inside and outside working time, plays a determining role for the exercise of leisure (Posts EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY IN OTHER FIELDS and THE SYSTEM CAN BE INCORPORATED TO COMPANIES). “Leisure is time left over and free from work; that is, time that is not paid and therefore not sold to work, that belongs to the individual and in which he or she can act spontaneously through freedom of choice”. In accordance with this, if we analyze the question from the point of view of work, the time when the individual – man or woman – no longer goes to school, and making abstraction of the other daily activities, we can point out free time as that which the worker has since leaving his workplace, which he can use for any activity, and – in our case – specifically for walking.

Huizinga expresses in his book Homo Ludens: “Games serve as a recreation of work, as a kind of medicine, because they relax the soul and give it rest. But leisure seems to harbor pleasure, bliss and the joy of life. This joy, that is, this no longer tending towards something that one does not have, is telos: end of life. But not all men seek this enjoyment in the same things. And that joy is best when the man who enjoys it is the best and his endeavor is the noblest. It is clear, therefore, that in order to fill one’s free time, one must learn something and be formed [educated], but not with things that are learned by necessity of work, but by themselves. For this reason the ancestors have counted [including] music in the [paideia] – education, training, culture – as something that is not necessary or even useful, as is, for example, reading and writing, but that serves only to enjoy during leisure time.”

Let’s head towards our goal. It will certainly help us to discover our own world of walking, if we become more aware of the concept of free time and leisure as well. Free time is the time we look for, try to have, to carry out activities that are not compulsory (or imposed), or also, time dedicated to rest and distraction; and leisure is an essential and vital behavior of the human being, in which he feels a freedom to do or not to do, but it is not a synonym of laziness, negligence, indolence or disinterest, or to waste time. (Post WALK, DO NOT PROCRASTINE, DO IT NOW)

We must orient ourselves psychologically towards discovering and highlighting our free time. We often do this in correspondence with our leisure time. For both, freedom of decision and action, is the determining factor in achieving effectiveness. (Future Post A GOOD WALKING AND A GOOD BREAKFAST)

Regarding the category of time that we will deal with in this post, free time, there are various theories, from the sociological and psychological point of view that have been formulated around this concept. Basically, I am interested in highlighting its characteristics in relation to walking. But first we will present some definitions and clarifications about free time, in order not to get confused in the comments about these theories.

– Free time is the time available to develop leisure, distractions and spiritual activities such as art, religiosity, etc.

– Free Time is the time available to enjoy the surplus produced in productive activities, whether paid or unpaid, and to seek full development, either individually or collectively.

361-CHRONOPATHENIA IV

Leisure must be considered as the time that the individual allocates for his rest and relaxation, even if he chooses to develop certain activities but without an obligation, but prefers them for pleasure.

Perhaps it is the obligation that differentiates leisure from other activities that are carried out outside the committed and overwhelming sectors that we have pointed out, and which the individual is obliged to carry out: domestic work, religious activities, social and cultural life, care and education of family members, festivities, etc.

Leisure would thus be governed by freedom -full or not, conditioned or not- and the taste of a person to choose the development of any activity, and not feel obliged to carry it out.

Thus, leisure is a response of denial both to compulsory work (paid or not) and to those other committed activities, such as those we have pointed out: family, religious, civic, social, sports, educational, festive, etc.

For the individual, the practice of leisure is indispensable, within free time, because it allows him/her: a) To be himself/herself and to affirm him/herself; b) To develop an important part of his/her personality; c) To develop and expand his/her creative capacity; d) To compensate the imbalance generated by normal (daily) fatigue and that of total exhaustion, achieving physical and mental rest, by distracting him/herself through games, amusements, hobbies, walks, etc. In summary, LEISURE allows, provokes, forges, develops and affirms the individuality and character of the human being within the WALK-RWD system, practicing it in an integral way, reading, writing or drawing, while walking.

We have to be relatively careful about the way and use of both free time and leisure time, not to transform them into “temporary spaces” that are retracted into an alternative everyday life, because they can become something existential in our lives, as a compulsory action. I must insist that we must use our free time with a self-defined freedom, without conditionings, and that the activities we develop, within that time, are carried out with taste and passion (Post LOOKING FOR PASSION IN THE REALIZATION OF THINGS, WHILE WE WALK).

Regarding leisure time, we recommend in the same way, whether it is about activities to develop and improve the personality, to compensate the imbalance caused by fatigue, or to flourish and expand the creative capacity; we should always select those actions that we carry out with passion. Here again, we should be creative and not fall into repetition (forced and routine activities) which could generate – again, in its case – states of depression, which is nothing more than boredom or pathological boredom. [TAEDIUM VITAE: Boredom of life. Taedium vitae is usually the consequence of an inactive life without object, without meaning (V. Frankl)].

Now, what is our path to develop in order to freely dispose of our free time? Although it is true that the great majority of us feel that we do not have enough free time (Post THE WALK AND THE LACK OF TIME. PART I), we must analyze our position from the point of view of the mood and conditioning that we have every time we have the idea (disposition?) of walking.

As we have been able to understand, we find ourselves in a serious problem when we feel that we don’t have enough free time and in that way we justify not giving our organism a deserved comfort that it obtains through the WALK-RWD system, complementing walking with reading, writing and drawing, besides the great variety of other benefits that are obtained during its practice.

The WALK-RWD system requires free time and leisure; in other words, we can separate leisure from free time and give ourselves the minimum opportunity to practice the system, in an integrated way. Let us think that its application is a symptom for a necessary and compensatory rest of the efforts and physical and mental wear and tear made in a previous period, measuring the free time that we use immediately.

Let the walking with freedom be the first link that a modern human being can forge in today’s productive society, regardless of the structure of the society itself and the type of production of goods and services, in order to initiate a process of his own – mental and emotional – to be able to meet himself, by going back in time, as far as walking with freedom is concerned, as he did thousands of years ago (Post HOMO-ITER, MAN WALKER. PART II). To reach again a complete development and to transform oneself into a different human being with the incentive of being able to take the first steps to experience an evolution by one’s own decision (free or even self-conditioned but aware). The free time destined to activities that will open the way for him to be more authentic in the satisfaction of his true needs (Post HOMO-ITER, MAN WALKER. PART I).

Specifically I could point out what I have described about the practice of the WALK-RWD system, considering free time and leisure, in sequence of the following 3 steps:

1. ORGANIZATION of free time and leisure

– The 3 structured activities in the WALK-RWD system, Reading, Writing and Drawing, plus the others that can be enjoyed additionally (meditating, contemplating, abstracting, creating ideas, clearing the mind, being in solitude, concentration, relaxation, etc.), while walking, must be chosen freely and independently from social conditioning and the consumer industry.

– To define them according to our personal taste, that is to say, to point out and select those that we can develop when we walk, specifying to them taste and enjoyment, assignment of time of accomplishment, periodicity and inherent satisfactions.

– To order the selected activities according to our free time.

2. DISPOSITION of free time and leisure.

– Make a personal plan on the distribution and use of free time, so that you have a strategy for each activity selected (Recommendation I made in Post THE WALK AND THE LACK OF TIME. PART I).

– Define some parameters of feedback as well as real independence from social conditioning, for an evaluation of the efficiency of the process.

3. USE of free time and leisure.

– To review the plan on a daily basis to assess whether the activity or activities planned are truly free and independent of work, family and social patterns.

– To review whether our inclinations are conditioned by the consumer industry. Possible feedback of the designed plan.

– Application of the WALK-RWD system that will have been homologated to the real disposition of free time and programmed leisure.

This programmatic sequence of the WALK-RWD system will take us by the hand to fulfill the 3 functions of free time and leisure: a) rest, tranquility and energy replenishment; b) entertainment, fun and the elimination of boredom/unpleasantness; and c) the free manifestation of personality, its development and the self-realization of the being.

To conclude, I think it is necessary to comment something about leisure and free time at this time we are going through, in this year of 2021. Perhaps we can or should be more creative by taking actions with a greater awareness of “how” to use and manage the free time we have, allocating part of it to the activities that we like and satisfy us the most, to the real use of our leisure time.

An important part for time management in general will be presented in the future Post THE PROPER MANAGEMENT OF SLEEVE TIME (floating time) IN THE DECISION TO WALK.

Are we entering into a new practice of free time, a freedom to really practice authentic leisure? Are we initiating a social change that will modify the lifestyle, and therefore the personal and collective use of social time, that includes new patterns of free time and leisure?

Regardless of whether the process itself will lead to a new model of life in general, we will have to be creative in order to take advantage of this circumstance and “build” a new category of free time and leisure for each of us.

This new kind of freedom we are experiencing invites us to think about it. Let’s analyze the binomials of: freedom-leisure, leisure-conditioning, work-leisure, leisure-alienation, leisure-consumption, compulsory activities-leisure, and let’s free traditional leisure with a new paradigm of personal development. As we can see before this multitude of discernments (dilemmas), this analysis will not be easy within practice. However, we will start working on a post future to advance towards this task (Future Post FREEDOM, LEISURE AND FREE TIME, IN A NEW PARADIGM. PART III), especially aimed at the probable (dis)stimulation or promotion of the WALK-RWD system. Are we approaching living in a free society, or on the contrary, an alienated society?

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In a town in Las Huastecas, a region of Pre-Hispanic Mexico, at the beginning of the last century it had an alley among its “urban weft” that had enormous popularity throughout the Veracruz region because it had a double name.

It was a alley to walk, like any other, but with that characteristic that made it different, because from the moment he took the first step the passer-by felt somewhat involved and confused, precisely because of the names that the alley outlined.

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Don’t think that the person who entered it didn’t come out, or anything like that, but that everyone who walked along it came out satisfied with something they received during their walk along it. They were obliged – according to legend – to walk it in both directions. But one of them did not have the same effect as the other.

Their two titles insinuated something of what they would feel when walking along it; however, each individual – man or woman, child or old man – received different impacts on their person according to their personal experiences.

In order to be able to locate this alley, a novel fell into my hands and I transcribed one of its parts referring to the alley:

“In an early night looking for an inn that everybody had recommended to me, I came across an alley named ‘The novel’, it caught my attention and after asking once more how to orientate myself towards fancy food, I arrived at it and immediately asked for the special dish of the house which was ‘Estrujadas de chile color con camarones (Squeezed color chilli with shrimps)’. What a delight! The people who advised me on this place and this dish were right.

I was already tasting the shrimp and at one point, when the waiter was a bit relaxed, I asked him about that alley. He told me that a few decades ago a novel had been published that told of the tribulations of the priest of a village in the region and that some events seemed to have taken place there. He continued, almost without breathing, to explain to me that several neighboring villages had claimed to be the seat of that town, but as far as he knew it was never clear which one the author was referring to.

He added nothing more, as he went to customers (clients) that were demanding his service and that was all he told me at the time.

Two days later I met a couple who were wandering around in the alley area and I dared to ask them about that story and fortunately they knew it too. I was able to find out something else, for example that the real author of that book was not known either.

They told me that not far from that alley there was another one that had, curiously enough, two names. On one side you could read a plaque that said ‘Callejón de los Recuerdos (Alley of Memories) (Memories Alley)’ and if you approached it from the other end it had another one that said ‘Callejón de los Olvidos (Alley of Forgettings) (Alley of the forgotten)’. They told me:  “that if you walk down memory lane you start to evoke things that you have experienced and that you had erased from your memory; but if you approach it from the other side, which you reach via a small stone bridge, you forget all the bad things you have done. That is why people who believe in this legend recommend that you take your girlfriend or your wife to forget all the things you have done that she did not like.

I think he was trying to prove something in that alley and she was trying to make him remember some situation. I couldn’t see that.

The restlessness caught me, because the seed of curiosity was sown in me. From that moment on I was so interested in that story that I later returned to the inn to ask the waiter if it was possible to get that novel, the origin of the plaque. He could only add that the name had been given to it 8 or 9 years ago, and there was quite a celebration when it was placed”.

Before the name of “La novela” (The Novel), there were other names: “Un callejón más” (One more alley), which was probably given to change all those legends that no one wanted to cross; “La libertad de caminar” (The freedom to walk), probably to give security to the users. The interesting thing is that one day in March 2014 I made a trip to find it and finally I was able to find it. The proof is that you can still read its plaques hanging on the different walls with the different names it has taken.

Any alley can induce us to transpose some form of being and modify our walk through life. Let us look for our own alleys -with one name or with a double name- and go through them with the desire to find answers to our walk.

202. FOUR AT SUNSET

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