Walks to Remember During a Pandemic: ‘With memory I was There’
Louise Ann Wilson
Is there a walk that you long to do but can’t due to the current stay at home restrictions we are experiencing due to COVID-19? If so, could you make a memory-map of that walk? Your memory-map could be of: a spring-time or a winter walk, a walk in a garden, a walk to a place you never thought you’d reach!, an every-day or local walk, a walk in a distant place, a once-in-a-lifetime walk, a work-related walk, a family walk, a friendship walk, a group walk, a celebratory walk, a pilgrimage, a solitary walk, a scientific walk, a creative activity walk, a therapeutic walk, a childhood walk, an indoor walk … It could include: stopping places, viewing places, picnic places, sleeping places, swimming places, narrow places, lying-down places, herding sheep places, orienteering places, grafting places, scattering places, recovery places … MEMORY-MAPPING The activity of drawing a memory-map is the most important thing – not the finished product. Through remembering you can be transported beyond the physical limits of a room or a house. Your memory-mapping can be undertaken alone or as a shared activity with others of ALL ages – family, friends, groups. It can be done in person or at a distance. I’ve done memory-mappings via Skype and at times people have drawn a map on behalf of a person unable to mark-make themselves. You can create as many memory-maps of as many walks as you wish – this could be a one-off or a daily or weekly activity. Your memory-map can include words, lines, symbols. It can be pictorial, graphic or abstract. It can be drawn in pencil, crayon, felt tip or a combination of materials. Please draw your memory-map on one side of a sheet of paper only – this will make it easier for me to upload, if you’d like to share it. PROMPTS Here are a few prompts designed to help you think about your ‘walk to remember’ and things you could include in your memory-map: • Where (place, region, country) is your walk to remember? • Where does your walk begin and end? • What route does your walk follow? • When and how often do you walk your walk? • Is there a specific reason or a purpose for your walk? • Do you walk alone or with others – if so, who and why? • Are there any specific landmarks along the way that are important? • Are there any particular stopping places on your walk? • Are there any actions/activities/jobs associated with your walk? • What sights, sounds, smell might you notice on your walk? • Why are you no longer able to walk your walk? • Do you have any photos relating to your walk? • Do you have an object associated with your walk? SHARING YOUR MEMORY MAP Your memory-mapping can be a private exercise. However, it would be great to create a collection of Walks to Remember During a Pandemic: ‘With memory I was there’ So, if you are happy to share your walk please scan/copy it and upload it to a Drop Box folder I’ve created. Just email me (louise@louiseannwilson.com) and I’ll invite you to that Drop Box. Please include a short 80-word description of your ‘walk to remember’ (the prompts could help with this). Plus, if you have them, photo/s that relate to your walk (3 photos max.). Before you upload it, please title your ‘walk to remember’ in the following way: [Name/s of the walker/s] [place] Walk: [A few words to describe the walk] e.g.: Margaret Crayston’s Upper Eskside Walk: ‘As a Child, I walked this valley everyday’ Please write this title on the memory-map itself and on any files and the Drop Box folder. I will then add your walk to remember memory-map, description and photo/s to the website page that I’ve created. See, https://louiseannwilson.com/work/walks-to-remember-during-a-pandemic-with-memory-i-was-there BACKGROUND Walks to Remember During a Pandemic: ‘With memory I was there’ is inspired by a ‘surrogate’ walking project I’ve been working on over the last few years in which I re-walk walks people can no longer do but long-for – a process that involves participants drawing a memory-map. That project is inspired by Dorothy Wordsworth who, when living at Rydal Mount, became bedroom-bound, relying on memory to transport herself back into the landscapes she once walked: No need of motion, or of strength, Or even the breathing air: – I thought of Nature’s loveliest scenes; And with Memory I was there… Extract from the poem “Thoughts on my Sick-Bed” by Dorothy Wordsworth. See, https://louiseannwilson.com/work/womens-walks-to-remember