Street Wizards of Oz
Something most people don’t know about me is that I’m actually a qualified Street Wizard. And just like that famous Potter dude, as a younger fella I spent time learning my craft on the cobbled streets of London.
I didn’t have a wand though. Just my eyes, ears, nose and other alternating senses you find yourself tuning up while cruising around searching for answers.
Street Wizarding is kind of like Pokemon Go, but without needing a robot in your hand to find things.
They just appear.
It’s natural to us when we find ourselves slowing down, tuning into the space and recognising patterns. Without giving away too much; you will have to join us for a session (see below).
An ecology of practice, combined with ecologies of the physical and dare I say, meta-physical worlds.
And, like the foundations Reunion is built on, we find ourselves asking questions: ‘What’s the world need of me?’, ‘Can we turn this into a party?’. Or the one that keeps reappearing — ‘WTF do we do now?’
In his book ‘Sand Talk’, Apalech man and senior lecturer in Indigenous Knowledges at Deakin University, Tyson Yunkaporta teaches us about the wisdom in everything.
“In this way of knowing, there is no difference between you, a stone, a tree or a traffic light. All contain knowledge, story, pattern.”
This also brings to mind a conversation with Rise Up alumni and Japanese Olympic climbing coach Takako Hoshi, where we were chatting about information that is found in ‘Ba no Kuuki wo Yomu’ translated to ‘reading air’. The Patterns we can recognise when we truly listen in relationships with each other.
Look out for a reunion workshop with Takako on rediscovering unspoken language at the end of September.
And it makes sense that the streets can come alive, there are narrative patterns above and beneath us, moving ‘round and through us.
We just have to spend some time patiently awaiting their call.
When I was 27 and studying advertising in Brixton’s South London, we had a bunch of wild and wonderful humans drop by our Church (our study space was a loft above a church).
I wouldn’t call him Dumbledore or Gandalf in this tale, but there was a fella who came in to facilitate a session with superior Wizardry.
He’s also the fella who brought Street Wisdom to life, and his name is David Pearl.
His session was along the lines of experiential living, positive impact and life design.
I’ll never forget, he began with an invitation for us to all sing opera. A nervous tension arose. We were 36 humans from across the globe and only a few could hold a note, but I remember it sounding surprisingly OK. A superior Wizard indeed.
His session was infused with play and pushing boundaries — something I’d later learn to be perfect for finding group flow — and is still one of the best workshops I’ve attended.
David came in several times throughout the year to mentor us and I always made sure to make time to jam with him. One thing he said, which took me many years later to implement, went something like this:
‘One day a week, I don’t take my phone or answer emails. All digital is off and I have auto-responders where needed. They are for me to ride my bicycle wherever in the world I desire and spend time exploring with my family. It’s a total disconnection from digital to get connected with the more important things.’
Life design has become famous now through the likes of Tim Ferriss, Mari Kondo & Derek Sivers. But I have a sense David’s been doing it a long while too.
David’s assembly of careers in opera, film and theatre have allowed him to traverse that knowledge into a super power for helping people find their voice and make art within their businesses.
“Business is theatre, life is acting.” says David.
Watch the full video for a radical introduction to his work.
The other morning I was sitting down by the beach, listening out for a way to return-serve on the fatigue we’re all experiencing from being in front of screens.
I began to walk back home along my street when it dropped in; the session was right under my nose.
It’s time to hold Street Wizarding sessions for the Reunion crew. They’ll be digital, but I knew David’s social venture Street Wisdom, had been practicing and effectively delivering them ‘round the globe.
So if you would like to join us for a live session with David to learn more about this phenomenon— Register here
I’ll also be one of the Wizards for the first digital World Wide Wander on 25–27th of September. Join our mailing list to be kept up to date on this
But before you go, here’s a little anecdote about my time learning how to find wisdom in the street before I started facilitating as an official wizard:
My fondest memory of Street Wizarding was with David as the lead, wandering the streets of Camden amidst the markets and rich history of all sorts.
I distinctly remember buying my first book on poetry and feeling the presence of Amy Winehouse in art and being. She’d only passed away a few years earlier.
The Canals sang to me, fresh coffee and BBQs invaded my nostrils and the colour green exploded all around. I even shared a mini-party with some homeless guys as we admired the fact that somebody had a full sized cow mannequin in their backyard.
I didn’t have any money, but I gave them a spare tinnie I had in my backpack. Most likely a shitty thing to do in hindsight, but we were all stoked at the time…
We returned to a group circle, where we had the option to share what we’d found. I explained a few penny drop moments for me about my current projects and following my heart.
However, there were two things of note that I’ll never forget:
One fella, about my age, was full of chatting when we went to our first stop on the wander. Telling me about his love of music, theatre and life etc.
When it came to his opportunity to share he said, “nothing came through.” When asked if he’d like to share anything later he shook his head and remained quiet. The expansive energy from the rest of the crowd was dark in him. He remained distant as we moved on to the next person. I suspected he had had possibly the most profound breakthrough of the group, a deep cathartic realisation, and was still processing it. I never found out, but I still feel that this was monumental for him.
The other story was from a lady who cried tears of sadness into tears of joy about an illness in her family. It wasn’t just that she’d had a breakdown leading to a breakthrough, it was that the group held her through it, with one of the members dropping in to lend a shoulder to cry on and an invitation to have tea on her farm at a later date.
14 strangers having completely different experiences, all within the same few kilometres. That’s magic to me.
We know that the resonance travels with our breath and via the wind so I can’t wait for us to hang out with David and practice wizardry together.
That link to join David and the Reunion Crew one more time ;)
