Author: Carlos

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I have always remembered that when I walked to read a document or book, I immediately began to write notes and draw pictures on its pages. It was a circuit composed by these 4 activities, notes and drawings that illustrated what I was reading and learning.

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We must keep in mind that this process of reading-writing-drawings is like a factory-warehouse that we can be permanently filling and emptying.

I have already pointed out that in drawing, as in writing and reading, there is a virtuous circle, which we are now going to explain and which is expressed in my Manual for Walking, Reading, Writing and Drawing.

During reading or writing, images are generated that we must be attentive to capture, comprehension and interpretation.

The process generated during read-write can be appreciated through an analogy (Manual for walking, pp. 51-57), and I recommended it in the case of generating images and capturing them while drawing.

Now, what kind of reading or writing can we develop? You yourself will get to know which are those types and genres that your artistic creation encourages, in all orders.

I have also pointed out that this process is reversible, back and forth. In my practice it has happened to me that writing feeds my paintings and at the time, after months or years, that painting inspires me a poem or some story; in fact, some of my sketches that I have developed during my walks I have used them in some novel, concretely, there are several that I am using in this epoch in the accomplishment of my novel Dialogues in a place of La Mancha.

Nevertheless, what is important is to point out the strength that exists in this virtuous circle of reading-writing-drawing that propels our unconscious to recover part of what has repressed the consciousness and that it exposes as graphic and mental images.

There is a relationship between these three activities, that of reading, writing and drawing, so I will expose some ideas on the subject, hoping that there will be a motivating effect to carry them out.

One can suppose that these activities are flows, and both are constituted by words and images, with the consideration that they have opposite senses; one has as source of origin the mind of the individual, that is to say, it emerges from there, and the other has for destiny this organ, that is to say, it arrives at him.

In no way should they be considered as opposite activities, since they belong to the same circulation, which are developed in the same conduit, within which are transported those fundamental elements that are words and images, as well as the different categories of knowledge, such as ideas, propositions, concepts, etc.

We must place a little emphasis on the conceptualization and functioning of this means of conduction -of two senses-, since knowing it and understanding how it works, allows us to prepare ourselves in a better way to develop these activities.

We can imagine a scheme and consider it as a virtuous circle, that is, that it can produce an effect according to its material, spiritual or artistic essence, and that is flowing through the image of a “pipe” through which the different elements of knowledge are conducted. Through it comes, with a sense, the information to the human mind, in the case that concerns us, by means of reading, and once processed, it must flow, in the opposite sense, out of the mind, through writing or any other means (oral, thought, images, drawings, etc.).

The better we understand the functioning of this virtuous circle, the better we will be able to advance in the joint development of these three activities; which are intimately related, even if we are not aware of it, because the information that reaches our mind, through reading, is processed and remains to be used. What it procures and provides itself is an immense “arsenal” that can be used to process any product, such as writing or drawing. I must clarify that everything we indicate regarding writing can also be considered attributable to drawing, including certain varieties of plastic.

We can idealize this virtuous circle in the following way. The information that accumulates that way in point “A”, by means of reading, is equivalent to a pressure in the conduit, which will have to be released in point “B”, by means of writing; and at the same time, as we dislodge that information in point “B”, it will bring as a consequence a need for greater pressure, which must be generated in point “A”.

That is why many writers say: who reads assiduously becomes a writer.

LoyaLopategui, Carlos, Diálogos en un lugar de La Mancha, EMULISA, México, 2019. Distribuido por Amazon, disponible en edición Kindle: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0BSB15WS6.

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About the activity of writing, while we walk, it is advisable to take into account the following.

We should start writing light things, like a phrase, a sentence, a paragraph.

As a suggestion, if we do not want to do it on an artistic trend line (poetry, short story, novel, essay, etc.) or technical documents (article, report, research work, etc.) we can try to describe part of our own problems, of any type of them, for example, of the sentimental, labor, economic, loving or emotional field; what first comes to mind, at the beginning of our walk.

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We have already mentioned that writing is an ideal means to allow us to extract from our interiority what we feel and how we feel it. In other words, we could say it is an encounter with ourselves.

All our thoughts, when writing them, enter a threshold, which amplifies and emphasizes them in our consciousness making clearer and confronting them in a more understandable, affirmative and accepting way.

I have expressed in other moments, the following: “Of course, this process [thresholdism] works not only for the senses but for the rest of the mental and spiritual perceptions of the human being. It works along the extreme limits of sensory uptake, as a continuous process, without sensory interruptions; from the minimum reaction of capture of any sense or mental function (lower border) to the maximum capture (upper border) “. Writing  -as well as drawing-  allows us to introduce ourselves to this process that I have called thresholdism (In my book Tap Tap, Plastic and Poetry, Emulisa, 2017).

Later, in a short period of several weeks, we can write a letter, an acrostic, a palindrome. Afterwards, feeling a little more secure, a poem, and later stories and why not, an essay; to arrive, if you wish, even to write a short or perhaps long novel. For any of these options, you must have an inclination and taste for what is selected and what is to be done.

If we have mentioned writing about the problems that afflict us, it is because I believe that they are closer to our emotional memory, and it is easier for us to describe them in writing, however, we can also write the good things, events and experiences that have happened to us or well they happened to us on the previous day. Those little or big experiences that we have had, in recent days. Also, on the other hand, we can read a page of the book that we carry with us and write a text summarizing what we have understood of its content, with no more than 20 words.

To be writing in a brief, shallow way, as we have pointed out, does not require further organization, since only the hand is “let go”, without any goal or task.

I invite you to read these other writings:

WHY AND WHAT TO WRITE FOR?

OBJECTIVES OF THE SYSTEM

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Loya Lopategui, Carlos, Tap Tap, Plastic and Poetry, EMULISA, México, 2017. 

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To be able to concentrate on reading or writing does not require effort, just take the first step by walking and open a page of the selected book or begin to write the first words, the rest will come by itself.

Taking the initial step and reading the first words generates such a powerful force that we continue to do so, in a motivated manner and without stopping.

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Once we begin the process, we forget everything and abstract ourselves in such a way that we do not feel time running.

Perhaps what is difficult is only the moment when we have to make the decision to walk and go to the path to take the first step; because later, being in the process we already feel encouraged to carry out those activities. What should we do so that we do not become lazy at the beginning of each walk?

In order to free myself from idleness and laziness, I have used various forms that I mention below. However, my experience tells me that the most important thing that never fails is to place myself on the path and take the first step.

– Believing in oneself

– Self-confidence

– Changing focus or perspective

– Love for oneself

– High self-esteem

– Changing the focus (or nuclei) of attention (or interest, mood)

– Thinking about what I’m going to read

– Knowing that I’ll be able to write

– Feeling good about myself

– My body will thank me

– I’m going to be able to read that document I’ve put off.

– I’ll be able to write the text I’ve been avoiding

– I will finish writing the conclusions of that essay that I have postponed indefinitely.

– Contemplating nature

– Feeling free to walk

– etc.

There are a lot of awareness and good intentions that we make when we listen to our inner voice. In general, we must accept ourselves as we really are; take care of and protect ourselves in all aspects of living; and love ourselves interiorly. Our thoughts must always be positive and self-confident.

The system itself changes the laziness and apathy of carrying out some of the activities that it involves, for the desire to carry out another; that is, it exchanges the laziness of reading for the pleasure of walking, and vice versa; thus one activity always impels to carry out the others.

Let us keep in mind that passion is a response of intrinsic and profound satisfaction of our intimate self, which we give to a positive attitude of that search for well-being and joy.

With respect to loving ourselves inwardly, we must keep in mind that if we do not love ourselves, we will not be able to love the things we do, nor the things we wish to do: we may wish to carry them out, but we will not truly love them. This also applies to our fellow human beings: only by loving ourselves can we love other people.

I invite you to read these other writings on the subject:

HOW TO WALK WITH ENTHUSIASM?

THE SYSTEM IS MOTIVATIONAL BY ITSELF

ONE STEP ONLY

WALKING, MEDITATION AND CEREBRAL WAVES

(walking-reading-writing-drawing) (walk-read-write-draw)

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We have already mentioned on other occasions, that the three activities that give foundation to the system: reading, writing and drawing, generate benefits that are common to them, but also accentuates each one of different degrees and also generate other fruits and advantages .

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Regarding why and for what we should WRITE while we walk, the benefits that we obtain are the following:

1.-We get to know and understand ourselves better.

2.-Various parts of the brain are stimulated, which have been slow or diminished by not using them.

3.-Reflection is potentiated.

4.- Allows us to move to faraway places through imagination and constructive fictitious.

5.-Renew the conscience and invigorates the unconscious.

6.-We essentially increase introspection.

7.-Increases logical, psychological and imaginative constructions.

8.-The dialogue with ourselves is increased.

9.-Increase all mental abilities, such as creativity, imagination, inventiveness, memory, conceptual thinking, intuition.

10.-We promote states of consciousness at the time of writing.

11.- We induce awareness processes as retrospective acts.

12.-Increase psychomotor attention.

13.-The symbolic means of the unconscious are promoted; symbolic images of the unconscious.

14.-In relation to the imagination, develops the ability to relive mental images and increases the possibilities of combination of images. It stimulates imagination and constructive fictitious.

And dozens of satisfactions more.

396. PENCIL

Literary production is correlated with the generation of sawdust from pencils.

I invite you to read this other writing:

OBJECTIVES OF THE SYSTEM

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(walking-reading-writing) (walk-read-write)

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I would like to emphasize that through drawing, that ability that we have  -much or little-n to represent through graphic images different ideas, conceptions, imaginations, thoughts, sensations that emanate from our interiority, whether consciously or unconsciously, we can in a creative way know and understand what we feel and what we think. This artistic medium allows us to respond, among other things, to what we want to be and what we are in the present moment.

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Great ideas occur during the process of this system, but with greater intensity when we develop our capacities to draw what we feel and think, what emanates from our interiority. It is not only the fact of drawing, but of giving free rein to that immense capacity we have of representing our sensations and thoughts, through images, which in our western system has generally been diminishing, deteriorating, and generally all our efforts are concentrated in the dialogue with the written letter, whether reading or writing. However, as we release our capacities in the plastic activity of drawing, we give credit to our creative and artistic possibilities. Function makes the organ.

In order to have a different mechanism than the traditional ones for translating these drawing images, I would like to briefly transmit what I have been able to observe and experience through a practice I have called thresholdism, which is a form that allows us to understand two or more elements that are contrasted in this system. The threshold is a portal defined at the limit of transition in which the elements, procedures, ideas, and in our case the information contained in graphic images are contrasted, enriching themselves by illuminating their essential constitutive parts. Analysts (observers and researchers) who could apply this procedure are encouraged and impelled in their creative and interpretative functions, becoming aware of the participation of the unconscious, which in turn is transmitted in this state of transition through the activated threshold.

In my book Tap Tap, Plastics and Poetry I resort to this system to evaluate the Macro-plastic Complexes that I use to determine the parts of each plastic work as to its outstanding characteristics. We can say that two or more elements are enriched for their assimilation, reaction and comprehension when they are contrasted at this threshold; that is, they are placed temporally, spatially and numerically at the threshold within their borders and are analytically confronted in this continuum defined by its “limit dimension” revealing its secondary (PII) and tertiary (PIII) properties. It is a process that begins and ends in a peremptory time; however, it has the faculty to restart again to bring us closer to our goals.

Passing through the threshold is similar to the activity of introducing a special contrasting liquid into the human body in order to observe it through X-rays, that is, the operating system provides us with both quantitative and qualitative analytical mechanisms to know the plastic elements of the whole work, as well as its essential constitutive parts, both basic and outstanding illustrative. Likewise, it has the object of obtaining the relative differentiation between (physical) sections of the drawing or painting, previously selected, with respect to the dominant plastic elements.

As in other writings I have mentioned, if anyone would like to have more information or some extra information about this that I have written in this or in some other, I can gladly provide you immediately all the information that you request.

I invite you to read this other writing:

DRAWING, TO KNOW BETTER OURSELVES

Loya Lopategui, Carlos, Tap Tap, Plastic and Poetry, EMULISA, México, 2017. 

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