It is a new experience for me. First the blind fold. I recall we tried to walk on the street with eyes closed when we were in junior high school. And a friend would walk with eyes open, and warn us about steps, people or other obstacles. But we could not do it because we fear that by the time our friend warned us about the obstacles, it'd already be too late. Anthea did not direct me verbally, but put her arm around my waist and guided me by slightly adjust her force on her arm. This makes me a lot easier to follow. There are all kinds of researches on the physical distance in different countries. Me, from Asia, is known for physically distant. But for me personally is not true. I think as long as one does not cross the line, some friendly physical contact is very welcoming. I've seen people with a "free hug" sign in Barcelona last month. I tapped one of the girls on the shoulder and gave her a hug. It felt great. Also, it is interesting to see people, esp. Europeans, when they are greeting me, they are not sure if they should kiss me on the cheek, like they do to their fellow Europeans, or they should just keep a distant. A lot of times, I will have to make the move and embrace them. Just thought this is kind of funny.
Touching the tree also feels nice. Acer Pseudoplatanus (or Gewone Esdoorn in Dutch, in English would be something like pseudo-plane maple) is the tree friend Anthea picked for me. The bark feels smooth, and there is no low branch in my reach.I can feel the tree is tilted to one side, but it is still strong. I pushed it, it didn't shake a slightest bit, so I couldn't hear the sound of the leaves shaking. It is also very thick. I can't have my arms closed when hugging it. It is reliable. It feels like to lean on the tree. I put all my body weight onto it, and it feels so safe and comfortable that I can even take a nap like that. And here are some photos of my tree friend.
After that Anthea took me through a different route to back to where we started, and unfolded me. It didn't take me too long to find my tree friend back, because Anthea didn't take me too far away, and the fact that the tree is tilted make it easy to recognize. It's also interesting to see the tree and compare to what I imagined it to be. They are a little different.
Later we gathered and the professor Gail Whiteman asked us to reflect on the experience. Some student said that they found the tree with instinct. I did rather by logical thinking and finding my direction back, because the tree was not too far from the class, and we passsed by some very recognizable places like a bridge and the bird house, as I can hear the birds sound. But I think I would try this again and ask my friend to do it through a much longer way, and then find my tree friend.
I think it would be an interesting thing to do with friends. The blind folding and guiding helps to build friendship by giving yourself to your friend or/and look after your friend. And it is something different from the daily life. And by experiencing something new we can already enhance the friendship.
So, if you haven't hugged a tree yet. Do it, or better, with a friend.
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