Mindfulness, or what they refer to as “stepping back”, is one theme that resonated with me throughout our readings on Native American rhetorics. Both Powell (2012 – and it was actually Madhu Narayan in Powell’s piece) and Riley Mukavetz (2014) discuss the difficulty and value in “stepping back” during the meaning-making process. Narayan considers getting students to “step back from the rush of events in their narratives, to reflect upon the action, to think through the effect their stories might have on their readers” (390). Riley Mukavetz takes time to “pay attention to [her] body, listen to it, and re-orient [her] own mental, emotional, and physical self” when she steps back (116). She also admits she had to train herself to step back, and Narayan describes it a difficult thing to do: “it takes a great deal of courage to stand outside of our own narrative for a moment and ask, ‘What is this story about? What is it doing to those who may read it?’” (390).
In his book chapter “Pausing to Reflect: Mass Observation, Blogs, and Composing Everyday Life”, Walker encourages a similar act. He explores the value in stopping to consider how technology can increase everyday life’s influence on collective knowledge and the mediating possibilities of attending to embodiment as we live it. Specifically, he considers how blogging may offer insight into how writing can allow us to embody everyday practices, power, literacy, culture, and identity, arguing for the significance of understanding how written words shape our lives along with other people’s lives. Difficult or not, they are all advocating for time and space to be mindful of one’s self and how our bodies and actions fit into a bigger picture.
Being mindful and aware of context seems key to effective communication, relationships, research, and… living, but I agree that it can be challenging. It is something that I attempt to practice on a daily basis, and some days I am better at it than others. Along the way, I found a strategy that is useful to aid in the process of stepping back: finding verbs. Let me explain.
Finding Verbs
Cultural rhetorics values actions. As Powell asserts, proof is in doing. But when facing new, complex, and grand ideas or concepts, it is often difficult to know how and where to begin or what and how to (re)consider things if you feel stuck. One way to step back that I have found to be useful is identifying what verbs or actions are involved in the conversation or activity. For example, when I think about practicing mindfulness in everyday life, the idea seems a bit overwhelming at first. How can I do this? Where do I start? What does it look like? Riley Mukavetz says she had to train herself to step back and be mindful, but she doesn’t explain what this training involves. Narayan provides some aspects she considers in stepping back, but they are rather abstract and vague. In order to step back and start to understand mindfulness, I can start to construct it with the actions it may involve. I can make the idea more concrete by looking for the verbs. Narayan’s steps include reflecting and thinking, but my steps are a little more detailed.
In order to step back, I would first need to stop whatever it is I am doing, which (for me) involves actual physical stillness – arms at my sides, not talking, being still. Next, I need a kind of ‘reset’ action that would embody my shifting a frame of mind: breathe. Taking a couple of deep breaths can lead me to reflecting on what I have been doing, what I am thinking about while doing that, how I feel physically and mentally… Next I wouldchoose. I would choose what I want or need to keep doing what changes I want to make, what I have control over, what to let go if I don’t have control over it… After this I wouldact, putting these decisions in place. By doing these things, I would be striving to act in a mindful and intentional way.
Another example of finding verbs in order to clarify and organize meaning comes from a writing retreat that I was a part of a couple of weekends ago. As a member of the Tar River Writing Project leadership team, I worked with k12 teachers from across the disciplines, people from the North Carolina Natural History Museum, and poets from the Sacrificial Poetry Project to develop make-cycles focused on various scientific concepts. The products can be used k12 classrooms across the disciplines. By the third and final day of the retreat, the visualizing voice group, who was focusing on sound waves was stuck, was still unsure about what they were doing and seemed just plain frustrated. As an outsider, I offered to try and help but was unsure about how to go about it. Before getting started, they put their computers and notebooks aside, and we decided to take a deep breath and just have a conversation about their ideas.
The four members of the group started by briefly describing what they were thinking about doing and why they wanted to do it. In an informal conversation, they described some of the activities they were considering and how they may fit together and play out. Initially, I was listening while also taking notes on the details of the various activities, but I quickly realized that their ideas were not fully formed yet. Because the ideas were still taking shape, part of their frustrations came from a tendency to get hung up on details without having a bigger picture.
I x-ed out the notes involving details, put my pen down, and decided to really listen and be present rather than jotting down notes. My decision to try and listen in a meaningful way included being quiet while maintaining eye contact or nodding my head in agreement at certain points. I also asked clarifying or critical questions to encourage them to clarify certain aspects. In order to focus on the broader ideas, I encouraged them to focus on the actions that were at the root of each activity and the project overall. When they got stuck or bogged down in details, I encouraged them to return to the activity’s verb.
After only ten minutes or so of conversation, we had a ‘big picture’ that was sketched out by six verbs: write, record, map, analyze, remix, and reflect. The six verbs created areas of focus that could be delegated out to members of the group, and because goals and objectives are often tied to verbs, they also allowed us return to the purposes of the activities throughout the process. The verbs allowed us to take a step back, gain perspective, and move forward. They made the project seem more manageable.
One More Thing
Another way that I step back in my meaning making process is by sketching out or doodling the texts while I am reading. The page from my daybook below is one example of what this verb looks like.
In his book chapter “Pausing to Reflect: Mass Observation, Blogs, and Composing Everyday Life”, Walker encourages a similar act. He explores the value in stopping to consider how technology can increase everyday life’s influence on collective knowledge and the mediating possibilities of attending to embodiment as we live it. Specifically, he considers how blogging may offer insight into how writing can allow us to embody everyday practices, power, literacy, culture, and identity, arguing for the significance of understanding how written words shape our lives along with other people’s lives. Difficult or not, they are all advocating for time and space to be mindful of one’s self and how our bodies and actions fit into a bigger picture.
Being mindful and aware of context seems key to effective communication, relationships, research, and… living, but I agree that it can be challenging. It is something that I attempt to practice on a daily basis, and some days I am better at it than others. Along the way, I found a strategy that is useful to aid in the process of stepping back: finding verbs. Let me explain.
Finding Verbs
Cultural rhetorics values actions. As Powell asserts, proof is in doing. But when facing new, complex, and grand ideas or concepts, it is often difficult to know how and where to begin or what and how to (re)consider things if you feel stuck. One way to step back that I have found to be useful is identifying what verbs or actions are involved in the conversation or activity. For example, when I think about practicing mindfulness in everyday life, the idea seems a bit overwhelming at first. How can I do this? Where do I start? What does it look like? Riley Mukavetz says she had to train herself to step back and be mindful, but she doesn’t explain what this training involves. Narayan provides some aspects she considers in stepping back, but they are rather abstract and vague. In order to step back and start to understand mindfulness, I can start to construct it with the actions it may involve. I can make the idea more concrete by looking for the verbs. Narayan’s steps include reflecting and thinking, but my steps are a little more detailed.
In order to step back, I would first need to stop whatever it is I am doing, which (for me) involves actual physical stillness – arms at my sides, not talking, being still. Next, I need a kind of ‘reset’ action that would embody my shifting a frame of mind: breathe. Taking a couple of deep breaths can lead me to reflecting on what I have been doing, what I am thinking about while doing that, how I feel physically and mentally… Next I wouldchoose. I would choose what I want or need to keep doing what changes I want to make, what I have control over, what to let go if I don’t have control over it… After this I wouldact, putting these decisions in place. By doing these things, I would be striving to act in a mindful and intentional way.
Another example of finding verbs in order to clarify and organize meaning comes from a writing retreat that I was a part of a couple of weekends ago. As a member of the Tar River Writing Project leadership team, I worked with k12 teachers from across the disciplines, people from the North Carolina Natural History Museum, and poets from the Sacrificial Poetry Project to develop make-cycles focused on various scientific concepts. The products can be used k12 classrooms across the disciplines. By the third and final day of the retreat, the visualizing voice group, who was focusing on sound waves was stuck, was still unsure about what they were doing and seemed just plain frustrated. As an outsider, I offered to try and help but was unsure about how to go about it. Before getting started, they put their computers and notebooks aside, and we decided to take a deep breath and just have a conversation about their ideas.
The four members of the group started by briefly describing what they were thinking about doing and why they wanted to do it. In an informal conversation, they described some of the activities they were considering and how they may fit together and play out. Initially, I was listening while also taking notes on the details of the various activities, but I quickly realized that their ideas were not fully formed yet. Because the ideas were still taking shape, part of their frustrations came from a tendency to get hung up on details without having a bigger picture.
I x-ed out the notes involving details, put my pen down, and decided to really listen and be present rather than jotting down notes. My decision to try and listen in a meaningful way included being quiet while maintaining eye contact or nodding my head in agreement at certain points. I also asked clarifying or critical questions to encourage them to clarify certain aspects. In order to focus on the broader ideas, I encouraged them to focus on the actions that were at the root of each activity and the project overall. When they got stuck or bogged down in details, I encouraged them to return to the activity’s verb.
After only ten minutes or so of conversation, we had a ‘big picture’ that was sketched out by six verbs: write, record, map, analyze, remix, and reflect. The six verbs created areas of focus that could be delegated out to members of the group, and because goals and objectives are often tied to verbs, they also allowed us return to the purposes of the activities throughout the process. The verbs allowed us to take a step back, gain perspective, and move forward. They made the project seem more manageable.
One More Thing
Another way that I step back in my meaning making process is by sketching out or doodling the texts while I am reading. The page from my daybook below is one example of what this verb looks like.
Work Cited
Walker, P. (2012). Pausing to reflect: Mass observation, blogs, and composing everyday life. In K.L. Arola, & A.F. Wysocki (Eds.) Composing (Media) Composing (Embodiment). Logan, Utah: Utah State, 43-59.
Walker, P. (2012). Pausing to reflect: Mass observation, blogs, and composing everyday life. In K.L. Arola, & A.F. Wysocki (Eds.) Composing (Media) Composing (Embodiment). Logan, Utah: Utah State, 43-59.