Blog

🔊 Listen to Post

I have already referred, in some previous Posts, to this one I am publishing; for example, in Post WALKING ALONG 2 IMPREGNABLE SUMMIT OF FREEDOM, I mentioned that: “It is one thing to approach the concept of freedom by certain complicated paths [1st scenario] and another to approach freedom itself, to discover it, feel it and exercise it [2nd scenario], proposing in that Post a scheme to achieve it. Perhaps the latter is more difficult”.

Traducido al Español

I have decided to carry out the first scenario – that of approaching this point of understanding the concept – by means of this post, which I have divided into several parts, which I will present as I analyze different authors. It will be an important and intense effort, and I will have to carry it out with caution, since it will be necessary to become clearly aware of what the thinkers I have selected have written about the concept of freedom and their inclinations towards the practice of walking, in an indirect way.

One of the aims of this attempt is to find out where Freedom now stands at a fork or crossroads? At some point in its historical journey, perhaps it shows a reasoned walk up to these moments. From these indirect views to have the prospective of where it will – or should – go in the future. In future Post THE WALK OF LAW, FREEDOM, HISTORY, JUSTICE AND OTHER VALUES I mention the way Freedom walks, as I observe it: “The walk of ‘FREEDOM’ is swift and energetic, like the flight of a free bird in the sky. Each of its steps is expansive, always seeking new horizons and opportunities”.

There are a few concepts about which we need to be quite studious and very analytical, and freedom is perhaps the most important of these and, moreover, truly inextricable.

To walk towards that point of understanding the concept of freedom and to know its bifurcations is our purpose.

Many, many thinkers throughout history have devoted their intellectual efforts to study, analyze and evaluate these two scenarios. All their views on the subject are acceptable and worthy of consideration. But, very few have written and given their opinions on the natural, innate and spontaneous activity of “walking”; I have no doubt that a high percentage of them liked to walk and did it, consciously or unconsciously, as an exercise to “liberate” their ideas: thinking and writing.

Also in the field of art, the concept of Freedom is involved in an essential way.

There is a potential controversy regarding creation itself, especially in the context of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to recreate new versions of masterpieces by great painters. The introduction of AI into the artistic world has raised important questions about originality, authorship and aesthetic value.

On the one hand, AI technology makes it possible to recreate works of art that mimic the style and technique of famous painters, which can be a form of homage and a way of experimenting with classical styles in a modern context, but it also presents a disruption and “pseudo-homage” by multiplying the works of those creators who produced an original and limited body of work in terms of the number of their works, which could now be greatly expanded.

From a positive angle, it is argued that these recreations can be a way of revitalizing and reinterpreting fine art.

There is no doubt that from now on, some artists will embrace AI as another tool in their creative arsenal, as it is demonstrative that these new technological means catapult creativity in human beings.

The freedom of creation in art in this age of the onset of AI reflects the constant evolution of the very definition of art and its purpose in society. It is essential to explore new forms of expression and reinterpretation of masterpieces through technology and to observe their cultural impact (1).

I propose in this Post, divided into several parts, to make a discursive-conceptual disruption or discharge by pouring out the most important ideas (conceptions) of a number of thinkers – 20 or less – that they had about freedom and try to focus on relating them allegorically to walking. An analysis of their thoughts in order to approach them methodically and reasonably, giving them a certain plasticity (flexibility) and thus involve them with an activity that they obviously performed but never mentioned, walking, but which – with reasoned intuition and sensitivity – we can incorporate into their conceptions. It is an exercise on my part that will allow me to refocus their thoughts and gain additional insight from them about freedom, and with imagination, their inferential relationship to walking.

There are approximately 20 thinkers and from each I will set out their thinking, in a very concise way, on freedom by analyzing some of their own books that they wrote on this subject. In addition I will have to make a great effort to research what walking might have meant in their lives. The latter could be likened to an essayistic exercise, if I may use the term; a challenge that kept me engrossed (busy) for a couple of months as to what would be the procedure and formula that could lead me to such an illustrative essay.

Throughout this study on freedom, I kept the formula in mind: To walk is to move forward and to feel free.

To approach – metaphorically walking – what has been thought, analyzed and expressed about the concept of freedom, may perhaps be a motivating invitation to confront ourselves with what freedom means for the human race. It could also guide us to delve deeper into the thinking of one or more of them, which would lead us to read and, I would like to take this opportunity to tell you, to do so by walking. With this idealized sequence, a new circle of Freedom-Reading-Walking could be fulfilled; a forced but achievable analytical process, and perhaps we will find in this formula some stimulation (motivation, invigoration) to carry it out. Most probably, we will discover a gap and want to fill it; however, the ideal means is the binomial “reading-walking”, with which a basis of functional approach between freedom and walking could be achieved, and reading would be the functional (analytical) bridge required to achieve that approach.

Some time ago, I once asked the following question: “Freedom: Existential longing, mental mirage or metaphysical reality?” Apart from going through some answers and opinions, analyzed and reasoned, trying to define what it consists of, I also tried some mechanisms to make it “felt” in some of its most elementary forms, just by walking (Post WALKING ALONG 2 IMPREGNABLE SUMMIT OF FREEDOM).

Freedom gains strength in function of its absence; the more we feel we don’t have it, the more we long for it. I have already mentioned on other occasions that it is easier to talk about that which impedes, hinders or is incorrectly called freedom – that is, the forms of “non-freedom” in society – than about that which really is freedom.

Walking allows us to feel and live “sensorially” that full force of our interiority, regardless of the types of our emotional chains. It allows us to move away from the mass fervor of consumerism (commercial hedonism), from the mass advertising envelope, as we are constantly being told that freedom is “a bonus” to be gained by acquiring things. When we walk along a country pavement, we say: “I breathe fresh air”; and that is nothing more than an allegory of feeling free, free from the things that imprison us, our commitments, obligations, physical things, from everything that makes us feel tied down.

Just to get a little closer to its definition, we can mention a classification of this concept in 2 aspects, which are not the only ones; the first one is constituted by psychological freedom, of a spiritual, psychic, mental and metaphysical type, which is defined with 2 words: inner freedom (Future Post WALKING AND INNER FREEDOM-WALK-RWD SYSTEM AS LIBERATION); and the second is made up of physical, civil, political, economic freedom, with all its rights, of worship, of association, of expression and others, also defined with only 2 words: outer freedom.

Now, the system of reading, writing and drawing, while we walk, is a possibility that we have at hand to move away from these chains. Those 3 fundamental activities that make up the System are linked to freedom, as we walk, we feel free from our bonds.

In a story in my book Evanescent Stories (2), entitled “THE TREE OF EXISTENCE; AND FREEDOM?”, I present a dialogue between the consciousness and the unconscious, -all the stories consist of a dialogue between these two mental entities-, which describes the struggle we engage in with ourselves for not understanding what is happening to us and for not being able to feel free. I quote myself:

“Freedom is the random space where none of the mental functions find a place. Disharmonies that must turn back, searching for the intuition of that reasoned instant that imprisoned generates our own reaction to exist.

It is paradoxical to blame each other.

Healing is the very yearning for freedom, that self-presence in the balance of the source of feeling and reason, of suffocation and subjugation; for the sole purpose of knowing and feeling that we are alone; condemned to hide in the memory of our own being, consuming that strangulation of deep solitude, the product of hopelessness, of being authentically us, and only us.

That is not being.

The vital horizon is observed when freedom is oneself.  

And what comes next? My unconscious conditions are confused.

Nothingness. Absolutely nothing. Only hell. Blood flows at 103 degrees when freedom is taken away.

Let us not resist. Every movement is a creator of itself; even if we find ourselves at these limits, we should not aspire to recreate only if the other dies”.

So much for this part of the dialogue between these two entities seeking harmony.

The title of my book, “Freedom 103” (3), comes from this story, because there are 103 authors that I study and analyze their views on the concept of freedom.

The series of dialogues between the consciousness and the unconscious summarises our perennial struggle to be free. When our being is curtailed in its possibilities to act freely or is blocked, at that point of intransigence and despair, our blood begins to overheat (103°F) and boil if we do not manage to emancipate ourselves from our chains, whatever they may be, personal or external.

Walking is not the total solution to remove such chains, but it does help us to mitigate various emotional ailments. Let’s do it by choosing a place outside urban areas and take a book and a notebook with us. Let’s read that book – chosen in whatever way – that brings us release and rescue that aching part of our being. Let us observe the open space (contemplation) and let us unburden our sorrows by writing them down so that they too fly freely out of our being (Future Post WALKING LETTING TRANQUILITY FREELY).

Let us give ourselves permission to walk and make it a privilege that has virtually no monetary cost. Let us do these activities as a fundamental act of freedom.

Back in Post WHAT WOULD THE GREAT THINKERS RESPOND ABOUT WALKING?, I presented a short response from each of the 74 thinkers I chose. I elaborated those answers in a revealing and meaningful way, albeit in a funny way, about what for some reason they had distinguished themselves in their creative work.

I get to thinking that if we had a compilation of their views on walking – if they had made them – we would have an excellent assessment of what the exercise of walking is. Obviously, with this writing I do not pretend to achieve that, or even something close to it. J.J. Rousseau wrote a whole chapter on the subject of walking and it is really very interesting to hear what he thought (Future Post WALKING IN J.J. ROUSSEAU, analysis of his ideas on the subject). But the rest, he wrote almost nothing about this natural practice of the human being.

The first 3 authors I analyze, are the ones I propose below, and in each of them we will walk along the two stretches of the road that I am sure we will be able to know where we are standing and where we are going:

1.            Eliade, Mircea, “The myth of the eternal return”, Ed. Alianza-Emecé, Spain, 1951.

Although it is not a book devoted to the subject of freedom, it contains a small section on this concept that is very interesting, as it deals with two aspects that make it essential to include it. The article is called “Freedom and History”.

The first issue is about the creation made by the human being (pp. 148-149) who attributes his creative impotence -of modern man- to the part of the being that has been captive to a mythical horizon governed by archetypes, and sometimes reduced by them. He has long been disabled – for a long time – to take the risks that lead him to the same creative acts, and he is limited – immersed in history – by his own way of conceiving freedom. The archetype is his actual model of freedom. According to my approach, this first aspect has much to do with walking: Creation, Creative Powerlessness, Archetypes: Post WALKING AND THE ARCHETYPE “MAGIC”. PART I; Future Post WALKING AND THE ARCHETYPES-THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS, scheduled for publication July 1, 2024.

The second aspect that Mircea studies places the human being as the maker of history. To the extent that man advances towards modernity and becomes embedded in it, to the same extent his incapacity to create it increases; either because of his own impulse of several centuries, even millennia – says Eliade – that he achieves it alone, or because his leadership has been deposited in a few characters who lead the masses towards historical tasks exclusive to them, forcing them to carry out harmful actions and prohibiting them from acting naturally. It is thus an apparent freedom for the majority of mankind.

It is a freedom that is philosophically deterministic or indeterministic but defined by an elite, and ultimately a fictitious and non-existent freedom.

In a synthetic way, M. Eliade proposes a disposition of actions of modern man governed by archetypes that restrict him, on the one hand, in his creativity or creative activity, and on the other hand, in the worst case, defined by a small number of people who tell him what he must do and when he must carry it out. This development becomes increasingly difficult and complicated as our actions become more historical.

The author compares modern man with archaic man, the latter being a free and creative being, unlike the former who has been bound in his creative behavior. “The man who aspires to be historical cannot aspire in any way to the freedom of the archaic man with respect to his own ‘history’, because for the modern man his is not only irreversible, but also constitutive of human existence”. He makes this confrontation without reaching a definitive conclusion about his historical conditioning and about his relative freedom; however, he does foresee a future where historical man must seek and find the new man, who is the creator of his own freedom; to this end, and with the purpose of overcoming this archetypal cyclical – infinite – archetypal horizon, he proposes a philosophy of freedom, without excluding the supreme divinity and under the new condition of spirituality of the Faith-God binomial. 

Modern man has been restricting himself in his creative work, limiting himself to creating only history. The archaic permanently recreated his cosmic traces and infinitely repeated his cosmogony, which transformed him into a free and creative being (a creator). The modern man has not transcended his historical state and has not been able to achieve the creation of a new man, a challenge that will have to be resolved in the future.

Its conceptual and functional linkage (relationship) with walking: We can say that Mircea Eliade, being a historian of religions, focused on “hierophany” and the manifestation of the sacred in the world, which led him to consider that freedom could be related to transcending worldly limits and connecting with the divine. In this context, walking for Eliade could be interpreted as a means of seeking that spiritual connection and escaping earthly limitations; a natural practice – like all those of archaic humans who were free and creative – and one that we should engage in intensively as in its origins. Modern man is limited by his own cultural conditionings and in order to place himself on the path of freedom he will have to walk, which is a “costless” practice, and as he continues walking he will encounter some forks and difficulties on the way, but at least he would have started with a natural archaic action of freedom.

Simmel, Georg, “The individual and freedom”, Ensayos de crítica de la cultura, Península, Spain, 1986.

Georg Simmel (1858-1918), who has been considered the self-consciousness of modernity, presents in this work a diversity of analyses on vital issues -religious, historical, aesthetic, philosophical and social- among which is freedom, and from whose final chapter “The Individual and Freedom” derives the title of this book. The twenty-six chapters that make up the book are critical essays on culture, which give us an insight into the thinking of this German sociologist and philosopher. The author criticizes all those scientific and technological instruments that can be detrimental to what we intuitively understand as life.

His analysis of freedom is embedded in the socio-historical study of the development of individualism as a longing of the citizen “to feel the autonomy of his person” (p. 272).

Like many historians, he locates the Italian Renaissance as the starting point of this individualistic movement, through which the formerly anonymous subject strives to be recognized, differentiated and admired by being able to “develop his forces, to freely unfold” his potentialities and his life.

In order to understand the approach of Simmel’s analysis of these two concepts in the essay “The individual and freedom”, where the author tries to vindicate them as the essence -internal/external- of the human being, it is convenient, if not necessary, to read also the previous essay entitled “The great cities and the life of the spirit” -in this same book- where he exposes the human evolution from the most closed social nuclei to the great metropolises of the beginning of the 20th century. In it, he describes the multiple apparent contradictions that arise in this development and which Simmel uses to explain the paradox of freedom in modern times.

In the essay “The Individual and Freedom” his analysis begins in Europe in the Middle Ages, where he investigates the incipient tendency towards individuation that was curbed at that time.

Individualism as a sign of freedom tried to be accentuated in that period, seeking differentiation through productive activities as a form of fulfilment in society.

In the 18th century, individualism evolved and came to have a meaning that corresponded more to the interiority of being; freedom was sought as a yearning that would allow the citizen to transform his various external limitations, concealing them in his ontological interiority.

Free competition was at its peak as the only way to move forward in that society in the process of rebirth (Posts PLAY AND WALK-PART I. NO TO COMPETITION, YES TO FUN; THE GAME AND THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM. PART II. NO TO COMPETITION, YES TO FUN).

The division of labor coupled with competitiveness are the ontological projection of its inability to find its essence (being).

An insurmountable struggle between economic – physiocratic – forces and a renewed striving for spiritual liberation are characteristics of this cultural development. The defends of freedom, sustained by a natural equality, brings man face to face with history, an arbitrary and artificial becoming for the human condition of which he was beginning to become aware.

The author argues that “the deepest problems of modern life stem” from the individual’s claim to preserve his autonomy and uniqueness in the face of the arrogance of society and its constraints, of what has been historically inherited by the culture and technology that proliferates in the cities and suffocates life, within each individual.

But just as the big city suffocates and constricts individual freedom, it also offers a kind of refuge or shelter from their reserved and isolationist behavior, towards which the vast majority of the population tends, by ceasing to have contact – even visual contact – with their fellow human beings; in this anonymity, a certain greater personal freedom is breathed. It can easily be observed that the urban individual, whom Simmel calls the “urbanite”, is freer in comparison with the close, guarded and prejudiced relations of small towns or rural villages, which socially compress the inhabitant only because of their proximity and lower density.

Curiously, it is in the big cities where Simmel finds that the freedom from prejudice enjoyed by the urbanite becomes a refuge to solitude (Post WALKING AND THE ELECTION OF LONELINESS. PART I, Post WALK IN SOLITUDE, AN ANALOGY OF LIFE) and freedom ceases to be linked to the vital feeling of happiness, as a synonym of well-being. In other words, greater freedom will not always guarantee a higher level or degree of well-being.

It is therefore necessary to search for a new category that reduces the being to what it truly is in itself, freed from everything that is not akin to its nature and that is not essential to it. Practicing Laissez faire as a doctrine that will allow him to become “free” in the economic and social aspect, by leaving all forces – economic and social – in full freedom for the human being to reach his natural harmony and happiness.

In short, Simmel sees freedom as the goal and longing of a personal ideal expressed in the movement – or phenomenon – of individuation that re-emerges in the 18th-19th centuries as a massive demand of the population for a life of personal freedom without ties or oppressions imposed by a cosmopolitan society dominated by a few.

This ideal – sought in the armed movement of the French Revolution – also poses since then a (practical-theoretical) antagonism between two of its main objectives: freedom and equality; for freedom cannot occur naturally in an environment of complete equality and undifferentiating.

Freedom is complementary to diversity and tolerance of differences, hence it is wrongly placed in hostile and oppressive environments.  Equality cannot be realized in capitalism either, because this system implies the levelling of all things, including the human being – because of its exchange value – and money, which trivializes the inner-external life of individuals and prevents a harmonious and satisfactory existence.

Freedom is not only the positive part of the phenomenon, equality is its indispensable condition, but the human being is affirmed in his free acting and feeling when he accepts that he is different before others, and this will be the premise that will give meaning to his being, to his existence within his human condition.

Its conceptual and functional link (relationship) with walking: We can say that for Georg Simmel, a sociologist who examined the interaction between the individual and society, freedom lies in the ability to distance oneself from social norms and conventional structures. Walking could be seen as a solitary activity that allows the individual to escape momentarily from social expectations, experiencing a sense of freedom by being on the move and breaking away from the usual constraints. For the same reason, we should walk as it is akin to our human nature and therefore essential. To achieve freedom, we would have to follow the laws of nature itself, i.e. by walking we could make it visible and also feel it, because its manifestation is synonymous with walking. To walk daily is to make freedom perpetual. Our existence will not be imposed on us by others.

3. Schopenhauer, Arthur, “La Libertad”, Premia Editora, Mexico, 1981.

Freedom, according to Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), is a state sought by the human being as an ontological entity and response, that is, required by the very essence of being. Achieving it implies the non-existence of impediments of all kinds and the lack of needs or the satisfaction of needs.

Depending on the type of needs and difficulties in satisfying them, the author defines three categories of freedom: physical, intellectual and moral.

Physical freedom is achieved voluntarily in the absence of material impediments. Political freedom is a derivation – or section – that belongs to the whole of physical freedom.

The author defines physical freedom as the power to act in the face of impediments, and moral freedom as the power to will. Moral freedom is free will.

Any category could be achieved by the absence of any “needy” force.

All needs present themselves to the being in terms of levels or degrees of being able to fulfil them. Thus the degree of a need determines the ontological will in the being’s acts to satisfy it.

As Schopenhauer demonstrates, every fact or phenomenon is governed by the universal principle of causality, no thing or circumstance escapes this law, which presents itself under three aspects, corresponding strictly to inorganic, vegetable and animal bodies, respectively: causation, excitation and motivation.

In causation, bodies are subjected to physical, chemical and mechanical transformations.

Excitation is the most representative form in the plant kingdom, as the changes or modifications that plants undergo are generated by this function.

Motivation is the form of causation unique to animals, including humans. It is the response that originates through understanding (depending on the level of intelligence on the animal scale), as it responds in addition to the other two categories to a requirement for understanding in order to analyze, appreciate and make deliberate choices to satisfy their needs.

In this category, arousal is complemented by a higher faculty that manifests itself as a response to motives (in exclusively sentient animals; in the sentient, abstract-thinking human being). Each response is provoked by a motive, which – in the human being – is transformed or converted into a will when it becomes conscious.

In this will, in this ability to choose, the power of free will is established, but for Schopenhauer it is a relative freedom. As there is no absolute power of the conscious self over the will, there can be no absolute freedom.

The author views the human character as individual, empirical, unchanging and innate, and thereby makes it clear that this dissimilarity is irreconcilable with the existence or the position of free will, in which a man can act in two equally opposite ways. The unborn being who, not having a conscience, might be thought to have no need and therefore: is he free or not? It can be argued that he is free insofar as he does not know his needs, but he is the most dependent and most constrained being insofar as he is absolutely dependent on the mother.

Schopenhauer describes some thoughts of philosophers before him and of other pseudo-thinkers on the doctrine of free will and likewise takes into account the positions of certain theologians on the subject. He focuses on these arguments of his predecessors and analyses them against the reasoning that if God created everything, including man, then any attitude (or decision) of man – considering the relation of causality and necessity-effect – is not responsible for it and therefore there is no free will, since the will would have no freedom of power to desire or not to desire. Schopenhauer mentions that this situation led the church to take hold of this problem and to determine that God had granted – by his divine grace – the human being free will, by means of which man can act freely for or against himself.

Schopenhauer, acknowledging the Kantian doctrine on the coexistence of freedom and necessity, concludes that the empirical need for action of the human being coexists with transcendental freedom, with that freedom that is not part of experience. It has been a mistake to attribute freedom to action, since the human being carries out his activities acting under a necessity that conditions him.

Man seeks to be what he desires and wants, and what he does depends on what he is. For Schopenhauer, freedom exists in man but outside the domain of his individual actions and can only be understood in its transcendental essence.

Its conceptual and functional link (relationship) with walking: We can say that Arthur Schopenhauer, as a philosopher, considered freedom as an unattainable ideal due to the impulsive and instinctive nature of human beings. For him, true freedom consisted in freedom from desires and passions: man can act freely for or against himself. To speak of freedom is to speak of the essence of being. Achieving freedom implies overcoming impediments of all kinds and satisfying the natural needs of the individual. Walking is a natural practice, therefore, walking is freedom. How well do we know that need to walk in ourselves? Knowing that need would put us on our feet immediately, its practice could be seen as a way to temporarily free the mind from worldly concerns, allowing a respite from the desires and ties that Schopenhauer considered limited true freedom.

EPILOGUE

There are 2 existential paths: one that leads us towards freedom and the other that opposes it. Let’s walk the first path and orient ourselves towards our natural freedom.

(1) Loya Pinera, Rodrigo & Loya Lopategui, Carlos, Visiting Inside the Artworks of Great Painters, EMULISA, Mexico, 2023. Distributed by Amazon, available in Kindle Edition: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3GMC9KR.

(2) Loya Lopategui, Carlos & Pinera, Edel C. , Evanescent Stories, EMULISA, Mexico, 2021. Distributed by Amazon, available in Kindle Edition: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B86GMS8W.

(3) Loya Lopategui, Carlos, Libertad 103, EMULISA, México, 2009.

Traducido al Español

🔊 Listen to Post

This post is a complementary part of Post THE BLOCKED WRITER AND THE WALKS, dedicated to the Plastic artist. I will repeat some aspects that I mentioned in that Post, because I consider it very important for those people who have the labor speciality in plastic creations, even for those who make them as a hobby; besides that the plastic specialties have been differentiating more between their different fields, than the literary ones; that is to say, we have been getting used to listen more “indications, invitations to works, samples in museums, etc.” about the different genres in painting, sculpture, graphic arts, design, and a dozen more categories of plastic arts; and for this reason I present, for this group of concomitant arts, the simple process to achieve the unblocking, based on essential elements of the WALK-RWD system, which can help us in cases of “mental blockage”, both light and intense.

Traducido al Español

We must distinguish between inhibition and blockage. To be inhibition or discouragement is to have lost the taste for the activity, for the subject, for the image, for what the motif represents, for the very reason why we decided to paint that picture, etc., in other words, it is to lose the “taste for doing”. Being blocked is due to another cause, such as the loss of inspiration, of creativity, specifically the interruption suffered in the flow of ideas, in this case of graphic, plastic, visual and pictorial ideas. However, at some point in the presence of any of these conditions, they inter-influence and sometimes confuse each other.

This is another of the great benefits that the WALK-RWD system has, helping to unblock those people who suffer from feeling blocked in their creative work, which allows through its application, concrete help in the improvement of both morbid stages.

“These inner conflicts and confusions will have one of two main (and several secondary) results: The artist will become completely inhibited and produce nothing, finding his talent imprisoned in the mesh of conflict, and will turn his back on art to some other activity. The other possibility is that he will deviate from his most fruitful line of development to produce defensive distortions of what would otherwise be more legitimately his own – namely, his own self, which, after all, is the source of his claim to originality”. Schneider, Daniel E., The psychoanalyst and the artist, F.C.E., México, 1974, p. 22.

Concretely, I recommend two paths of action for plastic creators.

FIRST WAY: To have several options.

The first is that all plastic creators should have several possibilities in their productive work; not only to develop one work, but 2 or 3, in which they can unload their skill, creativity and ingenuity. That is to say, if they dedicate themselves to painting, to have several works in process in order to always have a more pleasant option than another.

You could also choose to work in another plastic genre, such as sculpture, artistic design, etc., in order to be able to produce several works alternatively, if you have felt blocked in any of them. We should always have several options of artistic plastic creation, so that the mind does not stop. If the blockage arises, we can move on to work on another work in the same plastic genre or in another, immediately; always alternating one and the other because the mind is freed in this way and can thus be re-channeled in its creative processes.

This is very important because the mind gets stuck, regularly when it remains “pressed” in the same work, due to lack of creativity. And it gets worse when we want to “rationally” force it to develop a job in which it no longer generates any creative process. That is why, when we take away this conscious pressure and give our mind other options to create, it dissipates – freeing itself from the purely conscious rational forms – and re-enters into its normal way of being prodigal in creating ideas and imagination.

The artist must know that he must not definitively interrupt his artistic creation, whichever way his unconscious leads him to communicate.

“The artist expresses only what he can express through the interpretative transformation of his unconscious. His masterpiece will be that which presents his central conflict, his most serious psychic wound”. Schneider, Daniel E., The psychoanalyst and the artist, F.C.E., México, 1974, p. 330.

SECOND WAY: Walking.

Now, if we cannot count on several possibilities of simultaneous creative work, then we can use the alternative resource that is walking, which never fails; most of the time in an immediate way.

In this other way of action, I am addressing painters – but it is similar for any other person who has to develop creative activities, not only plastic works – who feel paralyzed in their creativity and artistic exercise and cannot continue painting the work they have started with a lot of enthusiasm; the only thing they have to decide is to go for a walk for a couple of kilometers (or miles) during some days (3 or 4) taking with them, in each walk, an interesting book, and related to the plastic theme they are developing (either text for the theme itself or a book specialized in paintings, for example, the 10 most famous painting works, etc.). ). Be willing to read some pages during your walks and not forget a sufficient number of blank sheets of paper (or a small notebook) to draw some sketches that come to your mind, to restart and continue with your own work (Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING. PART I; Future Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING. PART II). Any word or phrase will redirect you to your own document, unblocking it, or any plastic work that catches your attention can unblock it.

He must also know that his conscious function will be blocking his unconscious.

“When a man adheres so intensely to the image of his beloved, he reveals the fundamental characteristic of all great artists, precisely that adherence of his love, of his psychosexual energy, his intensity, his determination to possess that image, if not in reality, at least through the internalizing psychic process which consists in incorporating it literally, making it part of his own ego and projecting it infinitely, modeling it, restoring it, by way of unconscious atonement for having devoured it, by way of unconscious atonement for having devoured it. This is what analysts mean when they speak of the ‘restoration of the destroyed object’ through its recreation in art, thus losing ‘a piece of themselves’, but gaining through this process the reward, pleasure, and relief of art…. “. Schneider, Daniel E., The psychoanalyst and the artist, F.C.E., México, 1974, p. 195.

This psychosexual energy is one of the ways in which the artist will be able to unblock himself when he knows of its existence (Future Post PSYCHOSEXUAL ENERGY AND WALKING).

Walking allows the unconscious to surface more easily, freeing it and encouraging the flow of ideas and greater creativity.

The steps to be taken are easy and concrete: 1) Start walking, 2) Start reading another document or a book about plastic works, 3) Abstract yourself entirely from your own work to be painted and concentrate on the text of others or on other paintings, 4) Continue in this way until the unblocking is achieved.

It is important to point out that the type of “document” or the book of plastic works to be accompanied during the walks must be analyzed in a certain way, so that it is ideal and effective, and is not another element that causes us rejection or boredom; it will have to be a document that attracts us in an extraordinary way.

The system does not fail and you will never be alone again when you feel blocked mentally, because you can always resort to this method, since it will allow you to free your imagination, your creativity and your intuition. In other words: it will free the unconscious from the shackles of consciousness and rationalism.

Let’s keep in mind that the enemies to defeat are rationalism and conscience, which are stubborn and cause blockage, for which I recommend these 4 previous steps within the second path, walking.

In short, there are two ways of action that can be exercised to avoid blockage, and they are complementary:

1. Have several options for simultaneous plastic creation, where the mind can freely choose which one it feels most attracted to, productive and creative, during daily moments of creative work.

2. Start walking reading, writing or drawing (WALK-RWD System).

Both courses of action are not exclusive and must be carried out permanently, that is, always give the mind several options in its process of creating, and walk every day for at least 20 to 30 minutes; and if you manage to get lost in your documents (texts and plastic images) -suggestive and stimulating-, continue with it as long as you are enjoying it, and thus your mental block will be eliminated.

I have no doubt that by staying alert with these 2 courses of action, no creator can ever remain blocked for more than 24 hours.

Traducido al Español

🔊 Listen to Post

The Alpha Male is defined as an animal that by its very nature is conductive, that is, it is able to lead other elements of its own species and itself.

Traducido al Español

The definition of “Alpha Male” refers to a male who is perceived as the dominant leader in a social group, whether in an informal or formal situation. The term “alpha” has been generated in studies of animal behavior, in which the “alpha male” is the dominant leader of a group of animals. In popular culture, the term “Alpha Male” has been used to describe men who see themselves as dominant leaders in social situations, whether at work, in sports, or in social interaction in general. They are attributed to characteristics such as self-confidence, competence, security, bravery, and aggressiveness. However, they are also associated with toxic and discriminatory behaviors and attitudes such as misogyny, homophobia, and violence.

With respect to other animals, the term “Alpha Male” refers to the dominant position of a male within a social hierarchy of a group of animals. In nature, animals have complex social structures that allow them to cooperate and compete for resources. In many cases, males compete for access to females and resources such as food and territory.

The “Alpha Male” is the dominant leader of a group, and has preferential access to resources and females. In some cases, the “Alpha Male” also protects the group against predators and other dangers. The term originated – as already mentioned – in animal behavioral studies, and is used to describe the dominant male in many types of animals, including primates, wolves, lions and many others.

In general, the “Alpha Male” is characterized by having a high social status within the group, being aggressive and showing a strong ability to compete with other males to maintain his leadership position. However, there are also exceptions and variations in the way animals establish their social hierarchy and leadership. In some cases, males may be more collaborative and less aggressive leaders, and the term “Alpha Male” does not always apply.

With regard to the activity of leading members of a group, the term “Alpha Male” refers to a dominant male who leads and controls members of his species. He often leads and guides the other members of the group, ensuring that they follow his orders and maintain the cohesion of the group. He establishes his dominant position through aggression and intimidation towards other males in the group, and often uses physical power to impose his will. In addition, the alpha male may also use communication signals, such as growls and body postures, to establish his leadership position.

Once the alpha male has established his dominant position, it is common for him to guide and control group members, directing their behavior and movements. He may decide where to look for food and water, which routes to take to avoid danger and set a timetable for the group. In some cases, the alpha male may also make important decisions about breeding and mate selection.

However, it is important to note that not all animals have a social structure in which an alpha male dominates and controls other members of the group. Some species have more egalitarian social structures, where males and females have similar status and share responsibilities in decision-making and group protection.

The most prominent animal species, where the “Alpha Male” is considered to be dominant, leader and router, are the following:

1.            Wolves: Wolves are animals that live in packs and have a hierarchical social structure in which the alpha male leads and directs the rest of the group.

2.            Lions: Lions also live in hierarchical groups known as pride, where the alpha male is the leader and protector of the group.

3.            Chimpanzees: Chimpanzees are social animals that live in communities led by an alpha male who establishes social order and controls the behavior of the other members of the group.

4.            Elephants: In elephant herds, the alpha male is the leader and protector of the herd, and is responsible for making important decisions about foraging and protecting the group. However, there is a variant on this, as detailed below.

5.            Gorillas: Gorillas live in hierarchical groups led by an alpha male who directs the behavior of the group and protects the females and young.

6.            Bison: Bison form herds led by an alpha male who protects females and young and directs the behavior of the group.

7.            Deer: In deer groups, the alpha male is the leader and protector of the group, and is responsible for defending the territory and selecting females for breeding.

Eagles: In eagle pairs, the alpha male is the leader and protector of the nest and brood, and is responsible for territory defence and foraging.

9.            Orangutans: Male orangutans establish their leadership position and control the behavior of other group members through aggression and intimidation.

Some of the species that inhabit water and that can be observed significant Alpha Male behavior are:

1. Dolphins: Dolphins live in complex social groups led by an alpha male who directs the hunting and behavior of the group.

2. Sharks: In some shark species, such as the white shark and bull shark, Alpha Male behavior can be observed where the largest and strongest males dominate the other members of the group.

3. Whales: Humpbacks and gray whales live in nested groups led by an alpha female or alpha male who leads and protects the other members of the group.

4. Orcas: Orcas live in nested groups led by an alpha female or alpha male who directs group behavior and is responsible for foraging and group protection.

5. Catfish – In some catfish species, such as the yellow catfish, Alpha Male behavior can be observed where the largest and most dominant males control the feeding area and behavior of the group.

6. Hermit Crabs: In hermit crab groups, the alpha males are the largest and strongest, and they are the ones with access to the largest and most protected shells for their use.

It is important to note that not all species have Alpha Male behavior and that in some species the social structure is more egalitarian or female-led.

Furthermore, in nature there are some species where the female leads or leads the pack. That is, not all species have fixed hierarchy systems, and in some cases, leadership may vary depending on the situation or availability of resources. For example:

Elephants: Also in this species of animals the female leads, known as the matriarch. She makes important decisions for the herd, such as finding food and water, and guides the other members in various situations.

Hyenas: In hyena society, females occupy higher positions in the social hierarchy than males. The dominant female leads the group and has alpha status.

Lemurs: Some lemur species, such as the ring-tailed lemur, have social structures where females are the leaders and make decisions for the group.

Geese: Geese are also known to follow a matriarchal social system, alternating with males. The alpha female leads the group and plays an important role in protecting and guiding the group during migrations.

Regarding the action of Routing and Walking of the Alpha Male, we must mention that the alpha male does not necessarily go to the head of the group or in front of it. In each group of animals, their position varies: in most of them, at the beginning, they lead their herd with their walk, but in others, they place themselves in a position that allows them to direct them but also watch out for attacks by predatory animals and also watch over the largest number of its members (components), especially the pups (puppies) and the elderly and weak or sick.

Regarding the aquatic fauna, there must be other types of behavior, but we leave this area aside.

It is very simple to understand how the alpha male leads his group with his walk.

His direction is his own way of walking, it is a routing to the group; that is to say direct, accompany, orient, focus, regulate, adjust, establish, govern, administer, guide, drive, show, arrange, act, drag, move, comply, adjust, lead, carry, transport, carry, push, command, organize, govern and straighten his pack all the time.

Finally I would say that it is not necessary to be an alpha male or even something that looks like it to walk, that’s right: what are we waiting for, let’s start walking!

Just one more thing. It is convenient to know if we will walk in a group or alone, situations that we analyze in Posts WALKING AND THE ELECTION OF LONELINESS. PART I; and WALK IN SOLITUDE, AN ANALOGY OF LIFE.

The wolf (lupus) is the animal that I have admired for this function, which I define as the one that best cares for its family group.

Let’s be wolves and walk all the time and every day.

Traducido al Español

🔊 Listen to Post

Julián Marías in his book Three views of human life (Salvat, Spain, 1971, p. 93), says: “Empiricism is, literally, a ‘thinking with one’s feet'”.

Traducido al Español

Julián Marías uses the word “empiricism” to mean -perhaps- that it is a current of thought that is far from being an acceptable discipline for the creative and cognitive functions of the human being (Posts THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING. PART I; THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE), since it provides us with results coming from experience and not by reasoning, implying (?) that one must think and reason with the mind and for this there are other currents that are based on this principle. (*)

Perhaps this is what Marías wanted to convey with the word “literally”, however, regardless of his philosophical or etymological reasons, his “ironic” locution is very valid, since the feet play a fundamental role in making our mind work better.

I am going to base myself on the latter to elucidate and clarify the subject.

My thesis in this respect is the following. When the human being stood upright on his lower limbs, he generated a vertical flow of force and energy, from his feet to his head, following a perpendicular line to the ground on which he was walking.

According to anthropological experts, before this position, the hominid ancestors of “Homo Sapiens” moved on their four limbs and this flow ran through their body as shown in the following image, avoiding (eluding) the perpendicularity, as they denied it (they blocked it, limited it, inhibited it, hindered it, avoided it, prevented it, prevented it) with their transverse, almost horizontal position. At the present time, this can be confirmed and validated as an absolute truth.

The angle θ, in the best of hominid positions, was close to 45°, whereas when they rose and became Homo Sapiens that angle reached 90°.

The increase in brain mass and IQ, the same circle of anthropological experts, associate it with the fact that he was able to free his hands and transform himself into Homo Faber (Future Post HOMO FABER AND HIS TRASCENDENT WALK). This is also true. However, it was that vertical flow that developed his brain with the greatest efficiency and greatness. My thesis is: his verticality generated a flow -circulatory- from his feet to his head, creating a kind of fountain of creation and intelligence and with a more vigorous power and strength.

In the following figure we can observe the evolution of the flow line, until it reaches the perpendicular.

This hominid rose up in the same way that plants rise up when they fall to the ground for a certain reason, keeping themselves alive, looking for that perpendicularity.

This is very often observed in coconut palms, on the seashore, and especially in young plants, when they are blown to the ground by strong winds, because their trunks bend and do not break, and their roots remain stuck to the earth (or sand). After a short time, they begin to rise at the top.

It is a living and moving spectacle that we can observe in nature.

It is often explained that these palms seek the sun, and it is true, but the fundamental reason is that it is the position which enables them to grow strong and secure, but the great thing is that they live longer and more vigorously in this way.

Let us return to our thoughts on Empiricism, if one who is experiencing can think (to paraphrase Lessing: “I prefer to return to my path, if one who is walking can have a path”).

The mind allows us to reason and imagine – among other functions – which leads us to estimate how circumstances – of whatever kind – will present themselves in the future.

Experience is what we got from our actions, because we decided to act or were forced to act. Those acts represent attempts at reasoning, thinking or some other function of our mind, even though they are qualities of our brain. Hence we can conclude that the empirical is the real, it is supported by experience. In other words, and coming closer to the epistemological: the empirical is the knowledge obtained a posteriori.

In one of my writings, on 17 May 1991, I expressed: “I do not know of other things, but my spirit dwells in my hands. Of my intellect I do not know, but my spirit dwells in my hands”, referring exclusively to my artistic creation, to my creative spirit; many years later, in December 2020, reading what Rousseau wrote: “I can only meditate when I am walking. When I stop, I stop thinking; my mind works only with my legs” (O’Mara in his book In Praise of Walking: Rousseau, J. J. and Cohen, J. M., 1953, The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau, Penguin), oriented me to the fact that my mind dwells in my legs and feet, referring to my thoughts, my reasoning. I had already acquired this understanding through my deeper studies and analysis of walking, which I carried out during the last months of 2005. What Rousseau said helps me to reaffirm it.

The feet are bellows [feet = bellows that drive the flow of blood and nutrients to all parts of the human body] that belong to the lower extremities and work together with the rest of their constituent parts (components): legs, thighs, knees, ankles, toes. They supply various elements and substances to the rest of the body, supporting it and supplying it with blood and other nutrients that the body generates itself.

The more we use our feet while walking, the more effective is this blood supply to the whole physical body and the brain.

While it is the heart that has the function of propelling the blood to all parts of the body, the feet are its main helpers – walking – to achieve this in a more efficient, harmonious and relaxed (restful) way (**), which without this help the heart would usually work harder to achieve.

 (**) Blood is propelled to all parts of the body by the heart, which is the engine of blood circulation. The heart is a strong, steady muscle that pumps blood through a system of arteries and veins. The heart is divided into four chambers: the two atria and the two ventricles. The right atrium receives oxygen-poor blood from the body and pumps it into the right ventricle, which propels it to the lungs to be oxygenated. The left atrium receives oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and pumps it into the left ventricle, which pushes it out to the rest of the body. From the heart, blood flows into the arteries, which are the blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood to different parts of the body. The blood travels through the arteries to the capillaries, the smallest and thinnest blood vessels that allow the blood to interact with the body’s cells. The deoxygenated blood returns from the tissues through the veins, which carry it back to the heart to be oxygenated again. In short, the heart propels blood to all parts of the body through a system of arteries and veins, allowing the constant circulation of blood and the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the body’s cells.

This bellows energy that is generated by the feet, as they rise and fall while walking, is similar to the energy that trees generate to move the substances they process up from the root level to the highest leaf canopies [bellows that drive the flow or sap of plants].

In Future Post WALKING WITH THE TREES, I have made certain analyses and calculations, obtaining the amounts and conclusions that are set out below. These are data that can be considered definitive, however, they may suffer some slight adjustments from this moment to the date of publication, which I have scheduled for March 15, 2024.

Transpiration of plants is the vital (capital, crucial, fundamental, essential, central, strategic) moment when they start to transfer and deliver their nutrients to us. In the whole process of generation of nutrients that have allowed them to feed themselves over a period of time, this point of elimination of excesses or waste represents an essential function – recurrent and enduring – for the survival of all living beings on the planet (***).

(***) Trees, as has been defined, do not dispose of a specific volume of easily defined surplus. The process of nutrient generation in trees involves photosynthesis, in which leaves capture energy from the sun and use it to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen. The glucose is used for the growth, reproduction and maintenance of the tree. In this process, trees also produce waste substances, such as additional oxygen or small amounts of organic compounds that are not used by the tree. In addition, they take up other substances from the soil through their roots. However, these quantities are minimal compared to the amount of nutrients that the tree produces – by taking them from its environment and the subsoil – and uses for its growth. The volume of waste produced by a tree cannot be calculated in a precise and generalised way, as it varies according to various factors, such as tree species, age, environmental conditions and nutrient availability. In addition, tree litter may also include fallen leaves, dead branches or uneaten fruit, which contribute to nutrient cycling and soil fertility. The process of nutrient generation is complex and dynamic, which makes it difficult to calculate, but certain results were reached.

According to the results obtained in the aforementioned post, this transpiration or elimination reaches 0.004729911 m3/hectare/day, which on a global scale represents an emulsion of 4,060,000,000 x 0.004729911 = 19.2 million cubic meters that are spread in the earth’s atmosphere by plant transpiration every day.

The following table shows the power generated by trees – of different heights – in a normal climatic state, during their lifetime; and the comparison with the power generated by the feet of a human being, when walking a given number of kilometers or miles.

According to the results obtained in the same Post, the FORCE generated by our feet in their performance when walking, combined mechanically with the rest of the components of the lower limbs, equivalent to a power of 9 Watts or 0.012 HP, is required to perform a normal walk of 30.45 Kilometers or 18.91 Miles. This performance is equal to the power generated by a water pump during 60 seconds of work. A 27.5 meter high tree manages to generate the same power equivalent of 9 Watts in 9.45 days of its life.

The average lifespan of a tree is 30 years, so it will be able to perform this operation 1,158 times during its lifetime, releasing its beneficial substances into its environment.

The ability of trees to take all the substances they process – RED ARROWS – from the soil by means of their roots and from the environment with their leaves, trunks and stems, up to the highest parts of them, and it is the leaves, in greater quantity, – but also their stems and trunks -, by which the substances already processed, dislodge them to the outside environment, disseminating them to places – with the help of the air and the wind – up to hundreds of kilometers away from their fixed place, is pointed out.

This simile of the generation of Force and Power of walking with the trees is the basis for the mechanism that occurs with the feet and which gave the Post its name, since it is this quality that makes the brain function better.

Finally, I would like to write down (transcribe) the 4th Principle of the WALK-RWD system, which has been developed through the analysis of the function that the feet have and develop in the human body, together with the results that we have obtained in other Posts that we will present in the future.

4th Principle of Upright Verticality

 “Every human being must walk permanently achieving a position of uprightness to optimally perform the tasks and functions as Homo Faber and Homo Sapiens Sapiens, to promote, strengthen, expand and increase them “.

(*) Webster’s dictionary defines Empiricism as follows: “1 a) a former school of medical practice founded on experience without the aid of science or theory, b) quackery, charlatanry; 2 a) the practice of emphasizing experience especially of the sense of the practice or method of relying upon observation, experimentation, or induction rather than upon intuition, speculation, deduction, dialectic, or other rationalistic means of the pursuit of knowledge b) a tenet arrived at empirically; 3 a) the theory associated especially with the British philosophers Locke, Berkeley and Hume that all knowledge originates in experience, b) logical empiricism, radical empiricism, or scientific empiricism.”

Traducido al Español

🔊 Listen to Post

The aim of this Post is to help identify and define for each of us what our own healthy Vital Opportunities are, and to a large extent, to have a better knowledge and understanding of them.

Traducido al Español

Vital Opportunities are a difficult subject to analyze as it involves the human attitude towards needs of all kinds. Each human group presents conceptual variations around its understanding, philosophical, anthropological, social, etc., however, we will approach them through the application of the WALK-RWD System and its fundamental activities, which will allow its adaptation and facilitate its understanding and use.

Let us briefly look at the anthropological philosophical thinking of human behavior in relation to the satisfaction of any need, in its surrounding reality.

“In ordinary experience we connect phenomena according to the category of causality or purpose. Depending on whether we are interested in the theoretical reasons or in the practical effects of things, we think of them as causes or as means. In this way we usually lose sight of their immediate appearance, until we can no longer see them face to face. […]. It is characteristic of man’s nature that he is not limited to one specific way of approaching reality but can choose his point of view and thus pass from one aspect of things to another”. E. Cassirer in Philosophical Anthropology, F.C.E., 1968, p. 251.

Space, time and number are continuous and infinite magnitudes, and are pure intuitions. Space and time provide the logical foundations for number, for mathematics. Only under the regulation of these three intuitions can the representation of the remaining things be realized, that is to say, by means of them and only by means of them can phenomena be produced in human consciousness. These three magnitudes permanently bind us to reason and do not allow us to meditate peacefully and undisturbedly on objects without their participation. Ernst Cassirer is quite solid and meaningful in his ideas when he asserts that existence – of any human condition, need or activity – is accessed through space, time and number. Each factor or entity that constructs itself independently achieves a hypostasis that structurally considers the principles and norms of a whole functional system in which it is immersed. All the images and impressions that the human being receives from the outside, he shapes and transforms into the kind of languages, which, voluntarily or not, consciously or unconsciously, he uses to understand, apprehend and process them in his personal inner source, and once translated, he communicates them to his outer circumstance.

The concept of Vital Opportunity is an ideal means of satisfying needs of a certain kind, as well as transforming unpleasant emotions, negative habits, sufferings, anxieties, distresses, misfortunes, sufferings, into pleasant, wholesome and healthy ways of feeling, perceiving and appreciating them.

Every Vital Opportunity that comes our way can help us to repair, understand and avoid those regrets and afflictions that we are constantly suffering and enduring, as well as give us an indulgence to our needs.

Every Vital Opportunity consists of these 3 pure intuitions, and therefore it is difficult not only to understand them, but how they can be identified (space and time) and quantified (number) for their utilization.

However, there is a great possibility to define, in each particular case, an identity between a negative feeling (need or suffering) and a vital opportunity.

The programme to carry out this identification of the great world of Vital Opportunities consists of 4 steps:

STEP 1. Get ready to walk;

STEP 2. Identify our needs and refuse to suffer or have any negative feelings.

STEP 3. Become aware and accept that we have certain needs and certain negative feelings, identifying them by name;

STEP 4. Match each unpleasant feeling and each need (or several) with a Vital Opportunity.

By achieving the first step, we will have advanced 50% of our commitment to move forward and “be able” to implement any Vital Opportunity, whether we seek it or it presents itself.

Let’s look at how we can take that first step. To do this we must understand the aspect of “power”; that capacity we have to achieve anything.

If we refuse to feel negatively, we will be opening the door to a possibility (juncture, circumstance, chance, eventuality, opportunity); we will be fighting against the conditioning of everyday life and social norms, we will be opposing all that we sense is negative within ourselves, we will be showing ourselves against that which has prevented us from achieving or attaining some vital opportunity, some level of pleasure and to live it to the full.

Before I go on to detail how to put vital opportunities into practice – to seek and find them – to reach a certain level of satisfaction and to eliminate our negative feelings, I will express a few words about the significance of Vital Opportunity.

SIGNIFICANCE.

Its understanding is linked in the answer to why I have used this concept to face the process of vital development of a person, at any moment of his existence. Concepts such as happiness, prosperity, success, fame, etc., are generally used and do not allow us to be fully aware of what they mean and how they are measured, except by the very parameters that the suffocating society embeds in us, and leads us through them all, without fully understanding them; and worst of all, without knowing how essential they are to the well-being and full development of our being.

According to the most common opinions, we are told that the vital opportunity must be understood as that circumstance which, within the existence of each individual, is a fundamental juncture to propel him/her in the social, working and creative environment, in some sense and to some degree, and which allows him/her to live (or survive) without asphyxiation and with full awareness of what he/she is and what he/she can become. Each vital opportunity is a possibility for personal development, through the use of one’s own physical and mental capacities, and with which to respond to our desires, expectations and commitments to ourselves. Let us keep in mind that this concept does not isolate us from the society that overwhelms us and that the opportunities themselves are, in part, defined and structured by it. They are all factors of change and improvement.

In our conception, vital opportunities are not only great, sporadic and opportune moments that we can seize, but, apart from their opportunity, which is fundamental, they are also small encounters, but above all, they present themselves continuously, i.e. daily, and therefore we must seize them daily, since all these opportunities lead us permanently to others.

With this expressive (verbal) binomial of “Opportunity” and “Vital” we refer to important moments in the life of an individual or community in which important and significant decisions can and must be taken that will affect their future and well-being.

However, there are other types of opportunities; as large a typology as required. They may be educational, professional, personal or economic, physical and mental health, and all offer the possibility of improving the quality of life and achieving personal goals and objectives.

Due to social conditioning, perhaps, the opportunities that we are most aware of and seek out are economic ones. Economic opportunities include times when decisions can be made that affect an individual’s (or community’s) financial and economic situation. Specific cases of economic life opportunities are:

– Acquiring vocational education and training: this can increase the chances of getting a well-paid and stable job.

– Starting a business or entrepreneurship: this offers the opportunity to generate income and build long-term wealth.

– Investing in the financial market: this can be a way to build wealth and protect against inflation.

– Buying property: can provide a long-term investment and a place to live.

– Saving money: can be a way to prepare for uncertain times and ensure long-term financial security.

These opportunities can have a significant impact on a person’s (or group of individuals’) financial life, so it is important to assess them carefully and make informed decisions.

The rest of the typology is very similar in format to the economic opportunities, so we will not spend more time describing them.

We can be sure that for each person, man or woman, over the course of a lifetime, there is a different set of vital opportunities, although the vast majority are repeated, but to a different degree and importance.

By definition, vital opportunities imply the quantity and supply – essential and sufficient – of satisfiers, so we should always take advantage of these moments and encounters in an optimal way.

Each individual must analyze and investigate in which personal circumstances he or she can increase the number of vital opportunities of which he or she can make use; but more decisive is that he or she can know the conditions in which he or she can identify and can put into practice one of them (a vital opportunity).

We can say that for each human being there is a special set of vital opportunities, and so we could ask: The greater the number of vital opportunities, the greater the number of satisfaction for each person? The answer is left to each person to structure according to his or her own circumstances.

CHARACTERISTICS OF VITAL OPPORTUNITIES

The main and common characteristics of vital opportunities are four: freedom, consciousness, will and change. All are structural and functional.

Vital opportunities, in general, are always involved in dissimilar circumstances and their occurrence depends on us and the external environment. We must eliminate chance, coincidence and eventuality from our circumstances. We must not let ourselves be carried away by “chance”. We will have to be more assertive and more timely in choosing a vital opportunity, because we have sought it out, and to put it into practice as a real handhold; the entrance to a portal where we can discover the solutions to our discomforts. I could say that we will have to act with precision and urgency; which will give us an additional advantage to find various answers that will make us more “aware” of those circumstances. Part of our analytical and decision-making position must be supported by a timely environment of speculation, sufficient reflection, which allows us to strongly probe our emotional, economic, physical and responsive positions. Anachronism must be eliminated, we will have acted in the “here and now”.

Freedom is generalized in all of them, it is immersed in each one, participating in a general as well as in a specific way.

Vital opportunities are just that, opportunities to satisfy pressing and basic human needs. If a vital opportunity is available, it must be made available.

In general, we can always identify some negative feelings or unpleasant emotions and relate them to the Forging Factors (FF) of the opportunities that human beings require for their survival and stable existence.

Without pretending to be exhaustive or definitive, the following table sets out the functional relationships between Negative Needs or Negative Feelings and the Forging Factors (FF) of human Opportunities.

The FF to be considered are elements that are used to determine the Human or Vital Opportunities, being these activities (actions, acts, practices) that human beings can carry out and that lead them towards the treatment and achievement (attainment) of these essential FF for their existence and survival.

Each individual must personally identify these functional relationships, through their own experience and knowledge, either because they have lived and felt them, or because they perceive and intuit them; that is, become fully aware that they exist within our being, and finally, achieve a functional correspondence of each unpleasant feeling or need – or several of them – with a human opportunity.

VITAL OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAMME (VOP) TO BE REALISED

Let us now look at the vital opportunities most related to our theme of walking, that is, those that are more related to our health and our state of mind. They are those that include key moments when decisions can be made that affect an individual’s physical and mental health and well-being.

I have been able to develop a functional and systematic scheme where we can make a Vital Opportunities Programme (VOP) that serves as a model of personal behavior, with the specific purpose of taking advantage of the 4 Vital Opportunities that I consider essential in human existence.

The mechanism to achieve the Vital Opportunities Programme, as I have called it, consists of practicing the 4 steps indicated at the beginning of the post, enabling and disposing of 4 vital opportunities.

This programme consists of projecting the Vital Opportunities of Bifurcation, Conscious Experience and Liberation, together with that of Walking. Starting with the first step, let’s analyze our negative feelings and emotions and look for the functional correspondence between these and Human Opportunities.

Some examples of health related opportunities include:

– Adopting a healthy lifestyle, by taking regular walks and including a balanced diet, which allows for stress reduction.

– Getting regular medical check-ups: to detect and treat health problems in a timely manner.

– Take preventive measures: such as getting vaccinated against diseases, avoiding smoking, alcohol and unprotected sun exposure – while walking – etc.

– Seek professional help: if mental health or emotional problems occur.

– Be informed about health: educating yourself about health and how to prevent problems can help you make informed decisions.

Decision-making within the Vital Opportunities Programme can have a significant impact on a person’s health and well-being, so it is important to consider them and make informed choices.

Now, within this Vital Opportunities framework that we need to look at, walking plays a major role. Let us take into account that walking is practically free in its development. Daily walking has an important relationship with the other three vital opportunities. Regular walking has a direct relationship with the Vital Opportunities because of its positive impacts on health, both physical and mental, in all individuals who do it. Some ways in which walking can influence Vital Opportunities include:

1. Improved health: walking can help prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, and a dozen other diseases, which we have already mentioned in previous posts.

2. Stress reduction: walking can be an effective way to reduce stress and improve mental well-being (Future Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND STRESS HORMONES).

3. Improved productivity: Walking can improve energy, concentration and decision-making ability. It increases productivity at work and in other activities (Posts EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY IN OTHER FIELDS, THE SYSTEM CAN BE INCORPORATED TO COMPANIES).

4. Improved self-esteem: walking can increase confidence and self-esteem (Future Post SELF CONFIDENCE AND SELF-ESTEEM IN THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM).

5. Strengthening social relationships: Walking can be a social activity and help strengthen relationships.

Decisions that lead us vitally to walk put us in a positive perspective that puts us on the path to the rest of the other categories of opportunities. And, note that I have only pointed out 5 points where walking exerts a magical force to put us on the path of opportunity. That is, daily walking has – without a doubt – a positive impact on many areas of life, including health, productivity, social relationships and self-esteem, which in turn can influence Vital Opportunities and help improve quality of life.

Let us now look at what those Vital Opportunities are. They are not just circumstances by which we can or should act; they are not just (mere) occasions where our bodies and minds are engaged in acting for the achievement of different ends. These vital opportunities are handholds or supports that allow us to feel and function with a high probability of certainty – almost 100% – of favoring a state of personal satisfaction, with oneself, and with the people around us, as well as a very acceptable state of health.

One action -physical and mental- that we should carry out to start this Vital Opportunities Programme, is to move away for a while from social conditioning, and let’s observe which would be the essential opportunities that would not help everyone to reach an authentic personal development.

FIRST VITAL OPPORTUNITY: WALKING.

One of the main pressing needs we have is to walk; it is connected to a great number of other needs and organic functions (Post HARMONY OF THE BODY WITH THE MIND; BODY PARTS FOR WALKING-THEIR CARE; LISTENING TO OUR BODY WHILE WALKING), but above all with the other 3 vital opportunities. It is an activity that we can always do and that will help us to feel existentially liberated. (Post WALKING AND FREEDOM; Future Post WALKING AS A SYNONYM FOR FREEDOM). If we manage to set foot on a path, we can also achieve other goals through the integral application of the WALK-RWD system, when reading, writing or drawing, as we have mentioned in several posts (Posts WHY READ AND WHAT FOR?; WHY AND WHAT TO WRITE FOR?; READING-WRITING-DRAWING, VIRTUOUS CIRCLE; DRAWING, KNOW BETTER OURSELVES; DRAWING AND THRESHOLDISM, TO KNOW OUR INNER SELF; WHY AND WHAT TO DRAW FOR? THE GREAT BENEFITS WHILE WALKING.

SECOND VITAL OPPORTUNITY: BIFURCATION.

Bifurcation is in itself a privilege, a canon, not an obstacle. The existence of bifurcations in our lives is another of our vital opportunities (Post WALKING, AN EXISTENTIAL METAPHOR. PART 1 OF 4; future Post SARUTAHIKO, GOD OF TRAVELLERS IN ANCIENT JAPAN). To have and to use the bifurcations that present themselves to us, is to respond to our vital opportunities. To be presented with a bifurcation in our lives is to have new possibilities to make decisions and take actions.

This vital opportunity of the bifurcation is the one from which we will gain a more effective and transcendental liberation.

It is an attitude of alertness that we can realize in all our activities, reasoning out what the possibilities mean in our personal lives: They are options for moving forward.

THIRD VITAL OPPORTUNITY: THE CONSCIOUS EXPERIENCE

This third Vital Opportunity is related to the acquisition of experience during the vital and opportune stages of any human being’s existence: during infancy, during childhood, puberty, adolescence, etc. As long as we are alive, we are on the move, we are walking.

By refraining from taking an action or a decision (2nd O.V. Bifurcation) we will continue to lengthen a process that leads us to continue experiencing unpleasant emotions, acquiring negative habits, suffering, anguish, distress, misfortune; however, as we know, we could come to determine an identity between an experience (positive or negative) and a correlation with a vital opportunity, so that we could transform those experiences into nourishing satisfiers. An experience – positive or negative – is the key that opens numerous doors that can lead to the satisfaction of needs and the alleviation of anxieties.

FOURTH VITAL OPPORTUNITY: LIBERATION

I prefer to call it Liberation rather than Freedom. The difference lies in the fact that Freedom is usually understood as something that is far away from us; very complicated, distant and difficult to reach.

Liberation is a word that is more accessible to me personally. I feel it will be available if I want it.

Let’s try to be more empathic, healthy, active, more positive, authentic, objective, and with that we will be liberated; we will feel freedom within ourselves, within our interiority. A simple and free practice is to walk. Let’s start walking and we can feel that we are freeing ourselves; moreover, when we read, write or draw, while we walk, this liberation is reinforced. This will allow us a greater capacity within ourselves to discover, select and reach the vital opportunities that our own being needs. We will become more aware of past experiences and the experiences we will have to have in the future. This must be a free decision and choice for ourselves. We will only have to seize that Vital Opportunity to WALK.

It is a matter of reciprocity. We feel healthy physically and mentally when we feel free, when we achieve that feeling of freedom in us, that we are not oppressed by anything. We feel good about what frees us.

What things free us? Walking frees us from oppression of ALL KINDS. It also liberates us to read, to write, to draw while we walk. Open space makes us feel liberation, freedom. We encounter open space; we encounter multi-colored wefts when we walk in the countryside; an encounter with that liberation. We will come to a collision with Freedom itself.

These activities that allow us to feel freedom are the ones that set us in motion, and with the movement we can feel our liberation and reach the other vital opportunities, to put them into practice.

ATTAINMENT OF VITAL OPPORTUNITIES

Freedom is a sine qua non-condition for the achievement of Vital Opportunities, so we must act in search of an existential metaphor to achieve, even if only for small periods, a specific physical, mental and spiritual liberation, and we are sure that by becoming aware of this resource, everything will become easier for us.

During our daily walk we can achieve this. This means that to the extent that we walk freely, becoming aware that we must rid ourselves of our negative feelings, we can move towards liberation from the social conditioning – of all kinds – that has prevented us from carrying out some fundamental activities, such as walking, and we miss some of the opportunities – in general – that are presented to us.

Social conditioning, usually translated into economic, social, professional, educational, political, urban and labor oppression, destroys the environment in which the opportunities that are available to each individual are developed, because they disorientate and blind us to them, we do not even observe them, let alone know that they can help us. These oppressions, in other words, create high contradictions in our minds (in the minds of individuals), which almost reach the level of being insurmountable.

The more individual freedom we feel and have, the more capacity we will grant ourselves to achieve certain Vital Opportunities.

The fundamental negative conditions are those we have with ourselves: guilt, fear, insecurity, frustration, pain, and a dozen other negative feelings that haunt our inner self, our intimate reality. Of course, we are also overwhelmed by economic deprivation, social deprivation, denial of success, lack of prestige, material emptiness. And of course, what commonly overwhelms the majority of the human race are physical and emotional ailments, but above all psychological ailments.

We will always have the choice to change and thus find liberation as we walk. This will lead us to mentally meet each of the Vital Opportunities we require.

Whenever we wish to put this programme into practice, let’s start by walking and then we can get to know our unpleasant feelings and negative emotions (ailments in general) and thus come to identify and qualify our own Vital Opportunities.

Final Note: With the publication of this Post we start the 6th consecutive year of the WALKREADANDWRITE Blog.

Traducido al Español