Dear friends, lovers and fellow loiterers
TL;DR 10am Sunday we will walk together with Sonia Overall
How are you feeling today?
It feels really hard to start conversations with you at the moment, not a problem I often encounter, but to say I hope this finds you well sounds trite and all the lines I usually cherish just seem trite. I wonder how you are feeling. I’ve been oscillating between all the emotions it seems; today I yearned for people and places, felt deep sorrow at viral devastation, rage at political lies, self-pity I'm not home, terror at news images, joy at sunshine and sparrows, wonder at rediscovering lost photos, guilt I'm not more useful, luck at my circumstances, love for so many dear ones, hope we can make a more equitable and sustainable future and sorrow I’ve missed the first flourishing of goslings on the canal and that moment when the Paulownia trees in St Peters Square look as beautiful as their promise (did I say day? that's just the last hour....)
I’m sharing this because at the heart of psychogeography is emotion, and space, and connecting dots to find hidden truths and tell new stories. This is something we can still do wherever we are, inside or out, using windows or feet or wheels or beds or books. We’ve always strived to make loitering as accessible, diverse and welcoming as we can, and there’s still lots to learn, but we will find a (contradictory and doubtless winding) path through. The places we love are still there, waiting, holding, making space. When we find them they will be changed of course but so too are we.
I am glad its First Sunday and so, as we always do, those that fancy a bit of psychogeography will wander and wonder together. Of course we are still walking together alone but the advantage is that means loiterers beyond Manchester can join us – last month was fantastic and wide roaming – and so the experiments continue. One of the few bright spots in the gloom is how remote walking means we are able to join with friends who are not able to join us in Manchester on a First Sunday, and this increased connection to our cybermembers will I hope be a lasting legacy. For May I am delighted our expedition will be facilitated by Sonia Overall, one of my favourite walking artists and writers (some of you may recall we have used her beautiful drift deck to guide us in the past). Sonia has been organising a #DistanceDrift on twitter every Sunday at 10am for a while and I am looking forward to learning what she will share with us. To join in here is what you need to do:
1) Be ready to drift, however and wherever you are able, at 10am BST this Sunday 3rdMay
2) The prompt will be shared at 10am by the following means and you are warmly invited to share what you see, hear, smell and dream on your walk with us by whichever of the channels you choose:
twitter @SoniaOverall and @TheLRM #DistanceDrift
whatsapp (this is where I will mostly be) to join the group conversation please let me have a number, including international code, if you are outside the UK by emailing mlrose@thelrm.org or texting 07974929589 or dm me on facebook before 9.30 Sunday
facebook group “the loiterers resistance movement”
twitter @SoniaOverall and @TheLRM #DistanceDrift
whatsapp (this is where I will mostly be) to join the group conversation please let me have a number, including international code, if you are outside the UK by emailing mlrose@thelrm.org or texting 07974929589 or dm me on facebook before 9.30 Sunday
facebook group “the loiterers resistance movement”
NB I will not have access to update the website at 10am, if you struggle or refuse to access other methods please email or text me and I will do my best to find a way
3) Asynchronised walkers are of course welcome too as are secret and anonymous drifters, but we really do appreciate it when you share your experience
Please do remember to take care and keep safe. Most importantly of course this means social distancing and walking alone or with household members – the flaneur never existed but we are all flaneurs now.
Forgive me repeating myself but this is crucial: The LRM still firmly believe that “The Streets Belong to Everyone” although we can’t share them physically right now. Our withdrawal is an act of care and communality so please do not be an arse on Sunday or any day. We send love and strength to everybody who is working outside caring, caretaking, providing for us and doing other essential work, I know this includes many excellent loiterers. Thank you. Those of us able to do so fully recognise our privilege in being able to make a tactical retreat inside”.
If anyone has any thoughts or ideas for future walks together please get in touch, ideas for different tech always welcome too. This month I am also started a new postal project as well so if you fancy loitering by your letterbox you are luck. More soon
Take care
Love and golden apples
Morag
