“You
cannot see what you do not see.”—Apache Saying
Remember that
saying; we’ll come back to it.
ONE—From where you sit right now, which
way is West? No apps, no nada, answer the question.
TWO—What is today’s prevailing wind?
Does it differ from yesterdays? If so, what does it predict for today?
THREE—What was/were your loved one[s]
wearing as they walked out the door today?
“You
cannot recall what you never saw.”
Why
the Answers Matter
ONE—From where you sit right now, which
way is West? No apps, no nada, answer the question.
911: 911, what’s your emergency?
You: I’m on Oakhurst Street and I just
saw a man jerk a young girl into a pick-up truck and take off.
911: On Oakhurst? Which way are they headed?
You: Um…towards that place that sells falafel,
uh, you know towards the Interstate.
911: Which Interstate? Do you mean I-75
or I-40?
[Compared to…]
911: 911, what’s your emergency?
You: I’m on Oakhurst
Street and I just saw a man jerk a young girl into a pick-up truck and take
off.
911: On Oakhurst, which way are they
headed?
You: West on Oakhurst.
911: Got it, we’ll get patrol on it now.
TWO—What is today’s prevailing wind?
Does it differ from yesterdays? If so, what does it predict for today?
[Imagine
this scenario—actually happened over the past two days.]
Me: [Working with my new pup, Tosa Wana
on agility and woods skills—I say to the Missus.] Gorgeous weather, winds been
a little southerly all morning up till around an hour ago. Starting a gentle shift
from the west.
The
Missus: And…
Me: If it kicks back south and then
west again, we ought to batten down outside furniture and gear, may storm
tonight.
[It did. It
is. As folks who have been through our August tornado woes, we pay attention to
the weather good and bad. It always says something.]
THREE—What was/were your loved one[s]
wearing as they walked out the door today?
[Imagine
this scenario.]
911: 911, what’s your emergency?
You: I think my daughter is missing; she’s
not come home and was supposed to be here over two hours ago.
911: How old is she?
You: Seven.
911: What was she wearing?
You: Um…
You get the
picture.
Details
matter even when we think they don’t.
In good
times and bad, the familiar world around us is speaking to us, laying sign,
emitting spoor.
Too often we
only turn up the sensory attention [situational awareness] in times of alert or
possible concern but…consider that that which pricks our consciousness to
attention is often too little too late.
Tales and
clues have been there singing their song as soon as you wake up in the morning.
We too often
turn off to the familiar thinking we “know” what we see everyday and yet, consider
the simple questions we have asked.
“You
cannot see what you do not see.”—Apache Saying
The
following is from linguistic-anthropologist Keith Basso’s Wisdom Sits in
Places. This is a conversation he had with Cibecue Apache horseman, Dudley
Patterson.
Basso: What
is wisdom?
Patterson’s
reply.
“Your
life is like a trail. You must be watchful as you go.
“Wherever
you go there is some kind of danger waiting to happen. You must be able to see
it before it happens…If your mind is not smooth you will fail to see the
danger…If you make your mind smooth, you will have a long life. Your trail will
extend a long way. You will be prepared for danger wherever you go. You will
see it in your mind before it happens. How will you walk along this trail of
wisdom? Well, you must go to many places. You must look at them closely. You
must remember all of them. Your relatives will talk to you about them. You must
remember everything they tell you. You must think about it. You must do this
because no one can help you but yourself. If you do this your mind will become
smooth. It will become steady and resilient. You will stay away from trouble.
You will walk a long way and live a long time. Wisdom sits in places. It’s like
water that never dries up. You need to drink water to stay alive, don’t you?
Well, you also need to drink from places. You must remember everything about them.”
Situational Awareness,
that is, occasional awareness is not the way of the Warriors of Old.
Always Awareness
was the Way.
A persistent
Opening of the Sensorium.
All the
scoutcraft in the world, all the bad-ass tactics you can shake a tin of Black
Rifle coffee at are for naught if one does not, cannot see.
For more on persistent
always awareness based on Indigenous Warrior Ways have a look at our Suakhet’u Program.
Resources
for Livin’ the Warrior Life
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