plan deliberate experiences
overview
Anything can be an experience depending on how you perceive it. But you can also deliberately plan experiences and embed them throughout your daily or weekly schedule.
A Deliberate Experience is any out-of-the-ordinary act you plan in advance: something you don’t normally do. It doesn’t have to be radical or grand, just something you don’t usually do (or haven’t done in a while).
Deliberate Experiences will open your senses and make you more alert and perceptual. This is an optimal setup for Observing, sensing, and collecting raw material for inspiration and future creation.
Because Deliberate Experiences break your routine or preplanned agenda, you might need to prepare them in advance and find the time to have them. Doing so has the added value of taking some time off (even if only for ten minutes) and allowing your brain to let go of your primary tasks and challenges.
actionable steps
Plan and embed Deliberate Experiences between other activities.
Make sure they fit in your schedule. Deliberate Experiences don’t have to be time-consuming, but you should plan the appropriate time, place, and means to avoid rushing through them.
Have the Experiences.
In your Insight Journal, describe what you sensed and felt while having an Experience. Capture also any insight and thought you had, even if they seem unrelated to the experience itself.
examples
The following are examples of activities most people would find to be out of the ordinary. Thinking of such experiences could be a creative challenge by itself, increasing this practice’s benefit.
See the Experience! seempli Play for additional Experiences.
Example 1
Fly a kite. If you don’t have one, building one or even only buying one could enhance the experience. Take some time to go to a nearby park, feel the wind and how it controls the kite. Be mindful of the forces that act on the kite and on you. Watch the kite dancing. Use this opportunity also to watch the sky.
Example 2
Learn a few words or sentences in a language you don’t know. Listen to the sounds — they might be sounds you don’t usually hear in spoken language. Notice the difference between the way a word is written and how it is pronounced.
Example 3
Watch a movie you never thought of watching. It might even be in a genre you aren’t generally attracted to. Don’t concentrate only on the plot, especially if the genre is new to you. Be mindful of the soundtrack, the camera movements, and anything that makes this movie or genre special.