De-landscape

A proposition to de-landscape

In response to the question, how to be together otherwise? I decided to work on a lexicon. This lexicon is a work in progress, and I think, always a work in progress.

At the top of my lexicon is ‘walk-with’. Walking is a strategy for being slow, being present, and being within a journey with others and incorporates all elements of place/country. Being on a walk with others offers space to learn, develop new insights, and share experiences.

This idea of ‘walking-together’ is also a way to understand active space, authorship, commons, and ownership, creating an ‘unlikely commons’. By walking together, we are naturally sharing and are part of a process. There are times where different participants set the pace, direction, and intention of the walk.

This shared space thus becomes or has the potential to become a space of deep-listening and enables participants to engage in a strong-silence. Strong-silence being a positive state of being silent that is grounded and respectful, confident and respected.

In this lexicon, I have considered the nature of language, particularly thinking the language used by positions of power, colonial structures, and conquer. From reflecting upon western capitalism and the continual push to win, I have elected to propose weakness to denote respect for the fragile and allow positive failure.

Through respect for the fragile, we embrace that we are part of a complex, interconnected, woven system. Fragile by nature, this system is not a place to conquer but coexist, hence the proposition to de-landscape.