A Guide to Loving Water
Ritual and Research Exercise in Connecting with a Plant, Animal, or Body of Water
PAW (Plant, Animal, Body of Water) is a practice offered by poet, curator, and creative collaborator, Lina Russo. 1By participating in this ritualistic, research-based practice, you will seek to develop a kinship with a sibling in the natural world.
The final product is a creative project of your choosing and a relationship that will hopefully extend past the project's end.
PHASE ONE: CHOOSE: Choose an animal, plant, or body of water. Know that you will spend a long time with your chosen source. Imagine the potential creative project you will make at the end of this process. (If you choose an animal, do not choose a domesticated pet. Connect with the wild. Connect past lines of domesticity and human comfort).
PHASE TWO: LEARN: Research and then research some more. Learn as much as you can about your chosen source. Take notes and annotate documents. Be aware of what peaks your interest. Listen to sounds. Listen to podcasts and watch movies. Visit your source if you can. Spend at least a week dedicated to learning. If you can, share some of your findings with others.
PHASE THREE: CONNECT: Pay attention to your dreams. Mediate with your source. Think about how you can converse with your source without reinforcing harsh lines of projection and marginalization. If you’re a writer, aim for a daily journal practice. This journaling will help feed into your final project. Create an altar. Dedicate a physical space like a notebook to your time working with PAW.
PHASE FOUR: CREATE: Begin your creative work. If the structure is comforting to you, spend time working within a particular form. Are you being called by a zuihitsu, a chapbook, a graphic novel, or a series of essays? Be open to changing your form as the project takes shape.
EXAMPLES: RELATED WORKS:
Manatee/humanity by Anne Waldman (book)
Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals by Alexis Pauline Gumbs (book)
‘The Whale and the Waltz Inside of It’ from Bright Dead things by Ada Limón (poem)
Killa Whale by Andre Nickatina (song)
How It Is: A Native American Creation Story by V. F. Cordova (Center for Applied Studies in American Ethnicity, Colorado State University, 1994) (book)
“Indigenous peoples view the body as an expression of the sensual manifestation of spirit [or energy]. Death and the body's ultimate decomposition into the primal elements of Earth, wind, fire, air, and water mark the transformation of one’s relatives and ancestors into living landscape, its plants, animals, waters, soils, clouds, and air. This is a literal biological truth as well as a metaphoric one hence, the meaning in Chief Seattle’s statement, “I cannot sell the body, the blood and bones of my people.” Life and death are transformations of energy into new forms, the material and energetic fuel of nature's creativity. Death is understood as a metamorphosis, wherein the spirit of the deceased does not disappear, but becomes part of the animating and creative forces of nature".” Cajete 2000, 21.
I mistakenly attribute this to Anne Waldman in my video intro to please disregard that!