Craig Constantine

«Partage» with Stany Foucher →

Published August 12 · All posts on Aug 12 · Movers Mindset

«Partage» with Stany Foucher

What new formats and practices best transmit Art du Déplacement’s culture—beyond technique—so practitioners can reflect, connect, and grow together?

Art du Déplacement’s culture is deepened through «partage», reflective practice formats, and distinctive training like vision work and night missions.

Still, I had the fear, but I knew where I was, where I was going, [and] how— I knew myself better, basically. So this very strong experience with my friends, and this strong experience of failure— That was really an in between moment for me. […]There is before that training session at the «Dame du Lac» experiencing all this. And then there is me discovering more about my inner self and being very different in the way I approach fear.
~ Stany Foucher (1:33:00)

The discussion frames Art du Déplacement as a living culture rather than simply a set of techniques. Stany’s recently published, French-language book is highlighted as a deliberate choice, made with the awareness that language shapes who can engage with the ideas. (Craig and Stany hope that an English translation can eventually be created which captures the subtlety and depth of the material.) The strengths of books—slower pacing and deeper digestion—are compared to the reach and immediacy of video. This leads to exploring audio as a practice medium, with the idea of podcast-led movement sessions modeled on audio yoga classes. The conversation also touches on the value of building shared reference points across the community, so practitioners in different places can connect through common experiences.

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Flow state →

Published August 11 · All posts on Aug 11

Actually, flow — the state of “effortless effort” — was coined by Goethe, from the German “rausch”, a dizzying sort of ecstasy.
Friedrich Nietzsche and psychologist William James both considered the flow state in depth, but social theorist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, is the true giant in the field.
~ from, How to Enter a ‘Flow State’ on Command: Peak Performance Mind Hack Explained in 7 Minutes

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A tidy tour of the history and current status of what we know about flow state.

This will give you hope →

Published August 10 · All posts on Aug 10 · Podcasting

Ira Glass is a champion for the Many Voices that public radio’s mission says it values. This American Life is not the voice of record, but a record of the voices around us. The stories are as fully strange and hopeful and funny and harsh and romantic as America itself…and occasionally all at the same time. They sprawl outside the usual standard-issue broadcast confines, telling about the way it actually was, what it felt like, what really happened. Ira is their shepherd, their piper. But it was not always that way. Ira’s Transom Manifesto, which will appear in serialized form over the course of his time with us, begins with his utter lack of talent at this work. We think Ira’s failures will give you hope. — Jay Allison
~ from Ira Glass – Transom

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This is a sprawling, multi-part piece by Glass. It’s part manifesto and part autobiography. It’s well worth the read. I know my may seem odd—it’s just the opening paragraph that’s written by Allison.

Stand up. Turn it up. →

Published August 9 · All posts on Aug 9

The other day—I forget why—I decided to put on some music, and I just happened to be working standing-up (at my adjustable height desk.) An hour later, having made huge strides on work and on changing my mood, this occurred to me.

Petulance →

Published August 8 · All posts on Aug 8

If you’re regularly having arguments with well-informed people of goodwill, you will probably ‘lose’ half of them–changing your mind based on what you’ve learned. If you’re not changing your mind, it’s likely you’re not actually having an argument (or you’re hanging out with the wrong people.) While it can be fun to change someone else’s position, it’s also a gift to learn enough to change ours.
~ Seth Godin from, How to win an argument with a toddler

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It warms my heart whenever anyone describes an argument—what an argument actually is, not rather a fight which too many people refer to as an “argument.”

I’m not the tantrum-throwing child Godin is (among others) referring to— but too often I can be the next child over in the stereotypical classroom: The petulant one. Yikes!

Mainstream brings nuance →

Published August 7 · All posts on Aug 7

These are examples of what we call “friendterpreting.” We use this term to describe the times when a hearing or deaf signer steps into a spontaneous, informal, or conversational interaction to play some sort of language-facilitating role with another hearing or deaf friend, usually a signer as well.
~ Rachel Kolb and Timothy Y. Loh from, How Deaf and Hearing Friends Co-Navigate the World

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I remember when seeing someone using ASL was unusual—At first, TV programs that were important, or which really wanted to reach deaf people—that the signer was all I could really see. Now, ASL is so common that it’s just people talking; arguably, it’s even more polite than regular talking which is always audible, versus ASL which is easily out-of-sight. I’ve even considered advocating my wife and I start learning ASL now… partly because eventually one of us will be deaf enough that we’ll need it. But—and I would never have thought of this 40 years ago—it’s also extremely useful for communicating in situations where one cannot be heard.

New medium, same challenge →

Published August 6 · All posts on Aug 6 · Podcasting

The need for such a contest more than 100 years ago is revealing enough, but the reaction of the judges to the prize-winning plan turned out to be even more so — and it says a lot about why business models for audio production and broadcast remain a struggle.
~ Julia Barton from, In 1924, a magazine ran a contest…

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If one squints slightly, it’s all just the same issue: Things consume resources—radio, TV, podcasts, web sites for blogs, social media platforms—and take people’s time to create. It’s not possible for everyone to listen (read, web surf, etc) to everything for free, because reality is real.

Beach daydreams →

Published August 5 · All posts on Aug 5

Watching a fire, too, fills the eyes and releases the imagination to drift.
~ Matt Webb from, Beach daydreams, lost at sea

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For a few years now we’ve had a standing date for camping near a beach at the end of summer. This little collection from Webb touches on some of the why.

Metalepsis →

Published August 4 · All posts on Aug 4

If it’s used in the right way, I love it, of course! I mean, I used to joke that the goal of a filmmaker is to be Fellini-esque, you know, when your name means something in that way? We often say something was a very Fellini-esque experience. So if you say a film is Cronenbergian… I like that. The thing that does bother me a little bit is “body horror,” because I never use that term! It was a young journalist who invented that term and it stuck, it’s out of my hands. But I would never have thought that what I did was body horror.
~ Patrick Heidmann from, David Cronenberg – The Talks

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I recently managed to get caught up on The Hansel and Gretel Code, a podcast from my friend Curtis Cates. (I started years behind, so that I had 42 hour+ episodes to listen to.) It was so worth it. First off, great podcast on a very interesting to me topic. Also, I learned about the concept of metalepsis.

Reading the Wikipedia page doesn’t really do it justice. But listening to Curtis talk about metalepsis, and in particular unpacking all the context around some innocent seeming word or phrase really made it clear. For example, in certain centuries and in certain circles of well read people, “planing the planks of our coffins” isn’t just an interesting phrase… for those certain people it brought to mind a whole other complex social and political issue complete with its own colorful players.

Some sort of thistle? →

Published August 3 · All posts on Aug 3 · Snark

There are these quite large, spiny plants along a trail I frequent. Even those of use who are thorny and unfriendly occasionally dress up nice.