Tag Archives: Ritual

Culture

Posted on September 6, 2022 by julianstodd

To the extent that it is discernible at all, culture is held in our lived experience, framed by the architectural structures of the built environment, our behavioural and codified rituals, our systems of individual and shared belief, imbued tokens of … Continue reading →

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Social Leadership Leaves: Tokens, Totems, Rituals, and Gift

Posted on September 10, 2018 by julianstodd

I’m visiting my friend Imogen today, a wonderful potter, in her new studio, to discuss creating some Social Leadership leaves: these will be small ceramic pieces, representing the leaves of Social Leadership Trees, and carrying personal messages. These are pieces … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Rituals, Artefacts, and the Cohesive Forces of Community

Posted on September 5, 2017 by julianstodd

When i met with Valerie yesterday, she gave me a gift: a small wooden pebble, decorated with some indigenous art, inscribed with the word ‘vision’. She gave different pebbles to other people, each different: considered, kind, meaningful. And worthless. At … Continue reading →

Posted in Meaning | Tagged , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Declaration of Independence

Posted on July 6, 2016 by julianstodd

In something approaching, but failing to achieve, respectful silence, shuffling in subdued light through the cavernous rotunda, separated from our prey by a sheet of bulletproof glass, the group comes within sight of the Declaration of Independence. Well: a copy … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

DC: Performance Space and Stories

Posted on July 4, 2016 by julianstodd

This is a city geared up for performance. Architecture subdivides space: we can view buildings as a mass of wood and stone, glass and steel, the physical components of construction, or we can view them as the space that they … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Words About Learning: Transition

Posted on April 18, 2016 by julianstodd

Spending tonight as an airport hotel: tedious spaces divorced from any notion, any semblance of normality. Not even a footpath back to civilisation: this is a transitional space, a space between where i came from and where i want to … Continue reading →

Posted in Words About Learning | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Cambodia Diary: Temples

Posted on January 22, 2016 by julianstodd

The mass of architecture simply delineates space: It subdivides and subtracts from the sum total of the world, partitioning off a series of spaces purposed for ritual, function or play. Be it mud walls, steel doors or stone ramparts, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Emergent Ritual

Posted on October 26, 2015 by julianstodd

The meaning of things can fall into history, even when the artefact itself persists. Like why we shake hands. Or give three kisses on the cheek. Or bow. Rituals, embedded in our culture, but not in any sense natural behaviours. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflection | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Handshakes

Posted on May 18, 2015 by julianstodd

Not the ones exchanged in meetings, where we gauge the strength of grip, the number of shakes and the dampness of the palm, but rather the ones between experiences. Working this week on the design of a programme for new … Continue reading →

Posted in Choreography | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Shadow of Ritual

Posted on May 5, 2015 by julianstodd

We’re working on a boat today, a Dutch barge, converted into a rather splendid houseboat. Four of us, coming together to share ideas in person, to co-create a story, to learn. This morning, we sat on deck, with a teapot … Continue reading →

Posted in Reason | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments