One thing I learned – and was reminded of – at Epic2022 was the richness and value of ‘just’ paying quiet attention. I knew this already, but like physio it’s not much good knowing it without actually doing it. (Which I also knew already. But.)
Watch and the world will reveal itself
As part of the conference, I took a half day tutorial on Spatial Ethnography from Gemma John (from HumanCity) and Sophie Goodman. I’ve always been interested in architecture and urban design and this was – quite shamelessly – a treat rather than something I expected to be able to put into practice immediately in my work.
I registered for the conference late, and only discovered the night before the session, after I’d arrived in Amsterdam, that I had reading and a homework assignment to do for the tutorial the next morning. I also had to give a talk the next evening – which I hadn’t finished writing – and I also had a busy afternoon in the office scheduled. So it was hard to make myself make the time. But I’m glad I did.
The assignment was to quietly observe a public space for 10-20 minutes. So I got up at the crack of dawn and parked myself on a bench outside my hotel. And watched.
It’s so rare that I just sit still and watch. I’m usually busy. I was amazed at how patterns of use and movement simply revealed themselves to me as I watched, without my doing anything, or trying to do anything. That was a powerful lesson. And it’s one I need to practice more.
Listen and listen some more
The other attention lesson I (re-)learned at Epic2022 was from a session designed by Allegra Oxborough, from AERO Creative, and run by two researchers from Headspace, Jonathan de Faveri and Chelsea Coe. The session title was “When Resilience Becomes Resistance: Recultivating Intimacy through Relational Mindfulness”. As a warm up, the audience were asked to do some call outs about their own experience, in response to topics the facilitators raised about vulnerabilities in their own experience of research. This raised the trust level in the room, and made it clear that participation and sharing was encouraged, and safe. We then did a guided group meditation, then split up into groups of three. We were asked to individually focus on an experience that inspired awe in us, and then share that out with the others. The instruction was to listen without any interruption for three minutes. There was then a share out from the individual groups to the larger group. I liked the overall organisation and flow of the session, as it became quite intimate without being pushy about it.
For me, the real highlight of the session was noticing what happened when I listened without participating. Although I fancy myself a good listener, and I do a lot of interviewing, I found it was surprisingly hard to do nothing. Interestingly, so did both my small group partners – both also professional researchers – when it was their turn to listen.
When we were each talking, we didn’t feel inhibited by not getting verbal feedback – our stories unfolded freely, and in layers, and, I think, with more depth than would have happened if we as listeners had contributed actively. But it felt so unnatural to not contribute actively, not even with paralinguistic cues. I “know” that silence can be very powerful – but to get the benefits – you need to practice it explicitly. (Like physio.) This is something I will try to bring into my interviewing more.
p.s. What I talked about is my favourite woodland, which is my go-to spot for a sit.
Rethinking the relationship between outcome and effort
I learned from and was inspired by Epic2022. One of the things I (re-)learned was that sometimes good insights come from not leaning in, and striving hard to analyse or explain, but from simply stepping back and really paying attention.
Stepping back out into the traffic of everyday life and work, doing nothing except paying attention is usually not all that’s needed to get stuff done. But it’s worth remembering that it’s freely available in your toolbox.
Insight analysis 