THE FOOL METHOD

How to Be an Eco-Fool?

Tao, Zen, Ecology of I and the Fool's Sandbox

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HOW OUR TEN-DAY ADVENTURE WORKS

Ten days of solitude with nature, while attending a full-time online course with Fools from around the world.

Alone with nature. In dialogue with Fools. No performance required.

A rather unusual arrangement, I admit.

But we think it might be a lovely way to spend ten days.

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1. Choose Your Own Little Corner of the World

Find a place in nature where you would love to spend ten days on your own.

A cottage in the mountains. A quiet house beside a river. A room overlooking the sea. A little village surrounded by trees.

Somewhere you can step away from your usual interactions, responsibilities, and routines.

Somewhere you can enjoy being entirely yourself, without an audience.

You choose the place. We provide the adventure.

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2. You Don't Have to Go Far Away

If travelling or renting accommodation is too expensive, don't worry.

Find somewhere close to home where you can spend your days surrounded by nature.

A garden, a quiet park, a nature reserve, a peaceful spot near a lake, or somewhere under a particularly welcoming tree.

Arrange your days so that you can be there from morning until evening, away from your usual interruptions, while still attending the online sessions.

Return home at night if you wish.

The idea is not to spend money.

The idea is to spend time with nature.

And nature, fortunately, has not yet introduced an admission fee for looking at clouds.

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3. Bring Your Own Little Classroom

You will need a phone, tablet or laptop with an internet connection.

For our live Zoom sessions, you will need a quiet place where you can sit comfortably, listen, speak and occasionally do something rather foolish.

You will also need a little space to move around for our theatre games and experiments.

Nothing elaborate.

We are exploring the I, not staging Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

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4. Your Phone Will Occasionally Go for a Walk

Some of our sessions will take place while we are walking in nature.

You might be walking through a forest in Sikkim while another Fool is wandering along a beach in Belfast.

We shall be connected through an audio conference.

Sometimes we may talk.

Sometimes we may listen.

Sometimes we may simply walk together in silence.

You will need mobile internet and earphones for these sessions.

Choose safe, familiar walking routes where using your phone will not distract you from your

surroundings.

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5. Become a Fool

When you enter the Fool's Sandbox, you may leave your usual identity at the gate.

You can be Fool Satee, Fool Amir, Fool Maya, or Fool Whoever-You-Like.

You may use your real first name or invent one.

We shall address one another as Fools.

No titles. No qualifications. No impressive introductions.

Your real registration details remain with the course organizers, but you need not share your personal history with the other Fools.

For ten days, you can take a little holiday from being somebody important.

A surprisingly exhausting occupation, being important.

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6. Meet in the Fool's Sandbox

The Fool's Sandbox is our online course home, hosted on LearnWorlds.

Here you will find:

• Daily notices and the next day's timetable

• Readings, stories and course materials

• Invitations to games and experiments

• Messages and conversations with other Fools

• Links to our live Zoom sessions

• Space to share observations, photographs and short videos

You can visit the Sandbox between sessions whenever you wish.

Think of it as a little village square.

Without the traffic.

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7. Follow the Daily Timetable

Each evening, the next day's timetable will appear in the Fool's Sandbox.

We shall have a full programme of readings, discussions, games, theatre and experiments, with generous breaks.

Our days may include morning gatherings, nature walks, shared readings, theatre activities, individual explorations and evening conversations.

Some activities will be done together online.

Others will be done alone in nature.

There will be lunch breaks, tea breaks and plenty of opportunities to wander off.

You will know what is planned and when.

No surprises involving compulsory mountain climbing.

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8. Read, Discuss, Play and Experiment

Our course explores Tao, Zen and the Ecology of I through the Fool Method.

We shall investigate the many characters we call “I.”

The worried I. The angry I. The loving I. The frightened I. The wonderfully ridiculous I.

There will be stories, conversations, theatre games, role experiments, observations and questions.

You may be invited to try a different response, notice an old habit, imagine another point of view, or observe something in nature.

There are no examinations.

No marks.

No ideal personality waiting at the finish line.

We are not here to perform being wise.

We are here to explore being alive.

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9. Do Your Experiments Alone in Nature

Between our online sessions, you will have invitations to explore things on your own.

You might observe a tree.

Watch how water finds its way around a stone.

Try spending an hour without correcting anybody.

Notice how many different I's appear during an ordinary afternoon.

Or write a little conversation between yourself and a particularly opinionated cloud.

Some experiments will involve your thoughts, habits and relationships.

Others will involve the living world around you.

Your observations are yours.

You may share them in the Sandbox if you wish.

Or keep them entirely private.

The cloud won't mind.

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10. Make Little Films of Your World

Occasionally, you may be invited to record a short video or take a photograph of something you discover in nature.

A river. A bird. A tree. An interesting shadow. A small drama involving two ants and a biscuit.

You can upload your discoveries to the Fool's Sandbox and share them with other Fools.

Imagine seeing ten different landscapes from ten different corners of the world!

No professional equipment required.

Your phone will do.

And if you prefer not to share, that is perfectly fine too.

We are not holding auditions for National Geographic.

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11. Visit the Fool's Lounge

During our tea and lunch breaks, the online Fool's Lounge will be open for those who feel like company.

Drop in for a chat.

Meet another Fool.

Continue an interesting discussion.

Share a joke.

Or simply listen.

You might make a new friend on the other side of the world.

And if you don't feel like talking to anybody, close your computer and go back to your trees.

Nobody will be offended.

Well, perhaps the trees, if you forget to visit them.

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12. Enjoy the Whole of Solitude and the Whole of Togetherness

This is the heart of our experiment.

You spend your ten days in your own chosen place, in the company of nature.

And you attend a shared course with other Fools through the Sandbox and Zoom.

You have a full programme available to you, but participation in individual activities is your choice.

You may speak or listen.

Join a game or observe.

Visit the Lounge or spend the break alone.

You never have to reveal personal experiences or perform a personality for anyone.

You need not sacrifice your solitude to belong.

And you need not sacrifice belonging to be alone.

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13. Who Can Join?

Fools of every age, gender, nationality, culture, background and belief are welcome.

You don't need to know Tao or Zen.

You don't need theatre experience.

You don't need to be spiritual, artistic, athletic, extroverted or particularly good at anything.

You only need curiosity, a willingness to explore, and the practical ability to participate in the online course.

Younger Fools may join through suitable age-specific arrangements and parental or guardian consent.

And if you don't believe a word I say, you are particularly welcome.

We shall have something interesting to discuss.

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14. What Should You Bring?

A few practical things:

• A phone, tablet or laptop and reliable internet

• Mobile data and earphones for outdoor audio walks

• A quiet place for Zoom meetings

• A little safe space for movement and theatre games

• A notebook and pen — your Fool's Diary

• Comfortable clothes and suitable walking shoes

• Whatever you need for ten days of safe, comfortable living

• A sense of curiosity

You may leave your impressive personality at home.

It probably needs a holiday too.

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15. What Will You Take Home?

Who knows?

Perhaps a little more freedom from your familiar habits.

Perhaps a different relationship with your thoughts.

Perhaps a new friend.

Perhaps an idea for an adventure.

Perhaps ten days of much-needed rest.

Perhaps the discovery that you can be alone without being disconnected.

Or perhaps you will simply return home with a collection of photographs of trees and an inexplicable affection for people called Fool.

And if you accidentally get struck by enlightenment, do let us know.

We shall try not to make too much fuss.

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READY TO BE A FOOL?

Ten days. Your chosen place in nature. A worldwide company of Fools.

Come as you are.

Being human is quite sufficient.

JOIN THE FOOL METHOD

The trees are not expecting anything from you. Neither am I.