The Real Life Story Of Picasso | Boring History

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We'll write my rotators Gather 
in no art degree required 

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tonight. 
If you've ever looked at a 

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painting and thought I could 
probably do that Picasso would 

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have had some thoughts about 
that. 

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So I'm glad you're here with me 
to learn something cool. 

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This is a carefully researched 
and thoughtfully written sleep 

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story built from real historical
accounts and shaped to be both 

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accurate and easy to unwind 
with. 

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Tonight, we're easing into the 
story of Picasso, not just the 

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famous paintings, but the long 
quiet process of experimenting 

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changing Styles and seeing the 
world in ways. 

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Most people wouldn't think to 
try This calm slightly boring 

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history. 
Helps you unwind? 

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Feel free to follow, drop a like
and tell me where you're 

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listening from and what time it 
is for you. 

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Settle in adjust that pillow a 
little maybe led a fan or some 

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soft background noise run and 
let's slowly drift into the 

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story. 
Well, come back my tired friends

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settle in. 
Get comfy. 

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Tonight, we're going to spend 
some time with one of the 

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strangest and most human stories
in the history of art, which is 

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the story of a boy who arrived 
in the world already. 

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Knowing what he was going to do 
with it and spent the rest of 

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his life. 
Doing it with an intensity that 

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never once let up His first word
was pencil. 

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Not Mumma not the Spanish 
equivalent of whatever Amala 

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infant in 1881. 
Typically produced first. 

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According to his mum, what the 
infant Pablo reached for, with 

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his new mouth was the word for 
the thing. 

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He most wanted a shortening of 
the Spanish, lapis pencil pits 

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peas, a demand dressed up as a 
word. 

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He was born on the 25th of 
October 1881 in a house on the 

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plaza, de la mesa in Malaga on 
the southern coast of Spain. 

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And he arrived into a family 
that was already organized 

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around in a way that would have 
made his trajectory probable, 

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even if he had turned out to be 
merely talented, which he did, 

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not, his father was Hussey Ruiz 
Blasco. 

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Jose was a painter and a teacher
of painting, a methodical and 

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technically accomplished man who
had spent his career painting, 

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the kinds of things that the 
academic tradition expected of 

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him, still life's pigeons birds.
In general, the occasional 

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landscape the human figure 
rendered with careful Fidelity. 

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He was not a radical, he was not
chasing anything new. 

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He taught at the School of Fine 
Arts in Malaga and he curated 

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the city's Municipal Museum. 
And he painted his pigeons with 

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the patient devotion of a man 
who had found his subject, an 

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intended to stay with it. 
He also recognized what? 

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He had produced by the time 
Pablo was seven Jose had begun 

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teaching him formally in the way
Jose understood teaching which 

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was the way the academic 
tradition understood it copy the

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masters draw from plaster casts 
draw from live models. 

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Build the foundation before 
attempting the structure, the 

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foundation went in very fast. 
The boys hand moved with a 

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shortness that Jose who 
understood what she in a 

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painter's hand. 
Looked like recognized as 

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something outside the normal 
range. 

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He began bringing his son into 
his own work. 

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Asking the boy to help finish 
paintings to add the legs to a 

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pigeon, composition to complete 
a section of background The boy 

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was better at it than he was. 
At some point when Pablo was 

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around, 300 painted on a canvas,
he had started and understood 

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that. 
The thing had happened. 

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That the child had arrived at a 
place, he himself had never 

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reached and was not going to 
reach the story that has been 

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passed down, possibly a 
Pocketful. 

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But consistent with the accounts
of people who knew the family is

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that Jose gave his palate and 
his brushes to his son and 

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stopped painting. 
Whether the gesture was as clean

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and final as the story suggests 
or whether it happened, more 

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gradually in the legend. 
Heidi did it into a single 

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moment. the underlying fact is 
documented in what Jose produced

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after that point, which was very
little He had been surpassed by 

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a 13 year old the 13 year old in
question. 

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Had by this point already spent 
several years compulsively 

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filling every surface available 
to him in school which he hated 

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with the thoroughness of someone
who finds the pace of 

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institutional learning genuinely
painful. 

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He drew instead of listening his
teacher allowed him to keep a 

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pigeon in the classroom alive 
one. 

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Because Pablo would not stop 
drawing pigeons. 

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And the teacher had concluded 
that the easiest path was to 

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provide the subject. 
He drew on the margins of his 

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school books. 
He drew on the walls, he drew 

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the way other children. 
Breathe, which is to say, 

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without thinking about it as a, 
continuous Baseline activity 

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that ran underneath everything 
else. 

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The family moved several times 
during his childhood Malaga 

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first, until Pablo was 10. 
And then like arunya on the 

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Northwestern coast of Spain 
where Jose had taken a 

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professorship was cooler, and 
grayer and less, beautiful than 

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Malaga, and Pablo, missed the 
South, the way children missed 

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the specific textures of the 
first place they knew. 

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He kept working. 
The move to laccaria produced a 

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small formal Sketchbook in which
he recorded the city around him,

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the streets and the faces, and 
the harbor with the 

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observational, Precision of 
someone who uses drawing the way

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other people use language as 
their primary method of 

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understanding what they are 
looking at. 

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In La coruna, his sister 
Conchita felt ill with 

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diphtheria. 
She was seven years old, Pablo 

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made a private bargain with 
himself during her illness. 

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The kind of bargain that a 13 
year old makes with the 

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universe. 
When the universe is not yet. 

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Demonstrated, its terms clearly 
He told himself he was stopped 

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drawing. 
If she recovered drawing was the

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thing, he valued most, 
absolutely. 

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The only currency he had. 
That felt proportionate to what 

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he was asking for. 
She did not recover, she died in

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January of 1895 and Pablo did 
not stop drawing because the 

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bargain had not been on the 
other side and because he was 13

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and the need to draw was deeper 
than any bargain, he could make 

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against it. 
The family moved again that year

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to Barcelona. 
Barcelona in 1895 was not what 

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Malaga had been or what likoria 
had been. 

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It was a city in the middle of 
something. 

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The modernist movement that was 
reshaping Catalan architecture 

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and art and intellectual life 
simultaneously and Tony Gaudi. 

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Building his impossible, organic
structures across the city. 

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The cafes full of people who are
arguing about what art was 

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allowed to be and what it was 
not Jose had taken a post at the

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city school of fine arts, The 
Yacht jaw and he arranged for 

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his son to take the entrance 
Examination for the advanced 

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course in classical art and 
still life. 

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The examination normally took 
students a month. 

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Pablo completed it in a week, 
the jury admitted him at 13. 

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Looked at what he'd produced and
admitted him to the advanced 

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class rather than the standard 
one, the examiners were 

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astonished according to the 
accounts that survived in the 

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particular way that 
professionals are astonished. 

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When someone young does the 
thing they have spent their 

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careers building toward and does
it without a parent effort, and 

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is 13. 
Pico said, later looking back at

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these years that he had never 
drawn like a child. 

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When he was 12 he said he drew 
like Raphael, it was a statement

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about what childhood had 
actually been for him, which was

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not a period of gradual 
development toward competence. 

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But a period of refining, 
something that had arrived 

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essentially complete. 
He did not yet know he was going

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to break it. 
He was 13 years old, and living 

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in Barcelona and drawing like 
Raphael and the century. 

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He was going to reshape was 
still 17 years away from ending 

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Barcelona. 
In 1899 was a city with Paris on

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its mind. 
The modernist movement that had 

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been reshaping its architecture 
and intellectual life. 

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For the better. 
Part of a decade was explicitly 

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oriented toward what was 
happening in France, toward the 

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painters and Poets and musicians
of Monmouth. 

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Toured the particular 
electricity of a city that had 

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decided it was at the center of 
everything and was conducting 

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itself. 
Accordingly the artist in 

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Barcelona's, Bohemian circles 
spoke Catalan rather than 

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Spanish called themselves 
nationalists. 

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But their hearts, as one 
contemporary, observe a noted 

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was set on Paris. 
They were watching from a 

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distance and preparing to close 
it. 

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The castle arrived in this city 
at 15 and understood it 

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immediately. 
He began spending his evening's 

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at Elsa's Catra, the four cats 
Aven in a neo-gothic building in

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the gothic quarter that had 
opened in 1897 and advertised 

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itself as an in for the 
disillusioned. 

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The name referred both to the 
four Founders, who had 

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established it and to leshan the
famous Bohemian Cabaret in 

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Monmouth that had been the model
and the aspirational, the walls 

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of the four cats were hung with 
paintings by Ramon Casas and 

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Santiago Russian. 
All Two of the founding painters

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and On Any Given evening. 
The room contained writers and 

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Architects. 
And musicians and young painters

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who were arguing about what art 
was and was not supposed to be 

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doing, which was the argument 
that Picasso had been waiting 

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his whole short life to be part 
of? 

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He made himself useful, 
immediately, Peter Romero who 

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ran the tavern commissioned him 
to design the menu. 

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The casso produced a cover that 
showed a group of clients seated

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in front of the building's 
facade. 

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A work that was immediately 
compared to the style of Ramon 

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Casas. 
Who was the most admired painter

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in the room and whom Picasso had
identified as the person worth 

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studying. 
Picasso studied him. 

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He also began producing charcoal
portraits of the regulars 

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between 50 and 100. 
And 150 of them hung in the main

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room in February of 1900 for 
what was effectively his first 

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public exhibition, the portraits
were pen and ink and watercolor 

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quick and observational 
caricature edging toward genuine

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likeness and they showed what 
the next decade of his work 

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would confirm that Picasso saw 
people, the way other people see

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surfaces all the way in on the 
first look, he was 17 years old.

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He met Carlos in the spring of 
1899 was a painter and poet. 

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The son of the American Consul 
in Barcelona. 

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One year older than Picasso and 
drawn to the same. 

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Bohemian experimentation that 
Drew everyone in that room. 

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They recognize something in each
other immediately. 

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Particular recognition that 
happens between two people who 

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are both in the early stages of 
becoming something and consents 

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the same quality of becoming in 
the other person, they set up a 

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shared Studio at riera De Sancho
on 17, d e, c. 

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Was funny and Brilliant and 
already in some difficulty with 

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himself that his friends managed
as best they could. 

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In September of 1900, the two of
them left, Barcelona for Paris 

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together. 
This was the thing. 

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They had been building toward 
everyone in that room, at the 

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four cats had been building 
toward it and now they were 

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going The universal Exposition 
was open in Paris and Picasso 

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had a painting accepted for 
exhibition. 

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There, the first time, his work 
had been shown outside Spain. 

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They arrived in Monmouth and 
moved into a studio that had 

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been vacated by the Catalan 
painter isidre Noel A cramped 

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and productive space in which 
they worked, and argued and went

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out into Paris and tried to 
absorb as much of it as possible

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in the time of available in 
Paris, Cassandra's fell in love.

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Her name was Jermaine gargallo, 
a model who had become part of 

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their Circle and the love was 
not returned in the wake of 

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Sergio must needed it to be. 
He had always been volatile, 

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mood swings and depression that 
the people who knew him had 

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learned to manage and Jermaine's
refusal opened something in him 

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that did not close Picasso. 
Watching his friend deteriorate 

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suggested, they leave Paris for 
the holidays. 

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Come back to Spain. 
Get some distance from the 

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situation. 
They went to Barcelona and then 

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to Malaga where kasama is 
behavior, became erratic enough,

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that Picasso in an act, he would
later struggle with put him on a

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boat, back to Barcelona alone 
and went to Madrid to work. 

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They never saw each other again.
On the evening of the 17th of 

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February, 1901, Casey James 
organized. 

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A fair World dinner at the cafe.
Delhi Road in Perris. after many

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rounds of wine and absence he 
asked your main one final time 

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if she would marry him when she 
refused she drew a pistol and 

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fired at her, the bullet, grazed
her Believing he had killed her 

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Casa, jamas turned the gun on 
himself, and shot himself in the

229
00:12:12,808 --> 00:12:15,500
right Temple. 
He died in the hospital that 

230
00:12:15,500 --> 00:12:18,800
night. 
He was 20 years old, Picasso was

231
00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:22,100
in Madrid when he heard. 
He returned to Paris in May of 

232
00:12:22,100 --> 00:12:24,400
that year and moved back into 
the studio. 

233
00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:28,100
They had shared lived in the 
room where his friend had slept 

234
00:12:28,100 --> 00:12:31,200
and eaten and worked and 
descended into the grief that 

235
00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:34,300
had ended at the Hippodrome. 
He visited the site of the 

236
00:12:34,300 --> 00:12:38,300
shooting, he began painting 
Casa, gemus his face, his body 

237
00:12:38,300 --> 00:12:41,900
in the coffin, the scene of his 
death and burial, a series of 

238
00:12:41,908 --> 00:12:45,300
works that were simultaneously 
portraits and an attempt to 

239
00:12:45,300 --> 00:12:48,700
understand what had happened and
what Picasso's own share of 

240
00:12:48,700 --> 00:12:51,800
responsibility for. 
It might be In the preliminary 

241
00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:54,100
sketches, for the most 
significant painting of this 

242
00:12:54,100 --> 00:12:57,100
period, a large allegorical work
called la vie. 

243
00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:01,500
Face of the central male figure 
was Picasso's own in the 

244
00:13:01,500 --> 00:13:03,500
finished painting. 
He changed it to kasama. 

245
00:13:03,500 --> 00:13:06,700
The grief did not resolve into 
something discreet and 

246
00:13:06,700 --> 00:13:10,000
manageable it went into the work
changed, the color of the work 

247
00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,100
changed, what the work was about
and who it was about and what 

248
00:13:13,100 --> 00:13:15,900
Picasso thought painting was 
supposed to be doing in relation

249
00:13:15,900 --> 00:13:17,100
to the people. 
It depicted. 

250
00:13:18,100 --> 00:13:21,600
The blue period had not yet been
named it was not yet a period. 

251
00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:25,900
It was simply a painter sitting 
in a room in Paris in 1901 

252
00:13:25,900 --> 00:13:29,500
surrounded by the absence of his
friend reaching for the blue end

253
00:13:29,500 --> 00:13:33,000
of the palette. 
The summer of 1901 started. 

254
00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:36,500
Well, Picasso had an exhibition 
at the gallery of Ambrose 

255
00:13:36,500 --> 00:13:38,700
vollard in Paris the dealer with
an eye. 

256
00:13:38,700 --> 00:13:41,000
For the genuinely new, and the 
show was noticed. 

257
00:13:41,700 --> 00:13:44,800
The critic Felician Fergie's 
reviewed it in LA Revue blush 

258
00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:47,700
and understood what he was 
looking at the paintings. 

259
00:13:47,700 --> 00:13:51,000
Picasso produced for that show 
were bright energetic, full of 

260
00:13:51,008 --> 00:13:53,500
colour depicting. 
The life of Paris with the 

261
00:13:53,500 --> 00:13:56,600
hungry attention of a 20 year 
old, who had just arrived in the

262
00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:00,400
city, he had been dreaming about
since the four cats He was young

263
00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:03,200
and his friend had just died and
the paintings. 

264
00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:05,500
He was making that summer showed
almost none of it. 

265
00:14:06,300 --> 00:14:09,700
The second half of the year was 
different Picasso cycleogical 

266
00:14:09,700 --> 00:14:14,200
State, deteriorated as 1901 war 
on the griefer Sahara, most 

267
00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:16,700
moving from fresh shock in, to 
something deeper and more 

268
00:14:16,700 --> 00:14:18,900
settled. 
And as it did, the palate 

269
00:14:18,900 --> 00:14:22,300
changed not all at once, not as 
a decision. 

270
00:14:22,300 --> 00:14:26,300
The blues came in the way that 
grief itself comes in gradually 

271
00:14:26,300 --> 00:14:30,000
and then all at once and then 
simply present the new Baseline 

272
00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:34,000
condition of things by late 
1901, Picasso had painted a 

273
00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:36,900
self-portrait in which he showed
himself at 20 as a man with 

274
00:14:36,900 --> 00:14:38,700
hollowed features and a patched 
coat. 

275
00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:42,700
Face gaunt. 
The eyes inward, no, trace of 

276
00:14:42,708 --> 00:14:44,300
the energy of the valid 
paintings. 

277
00:14:44,300 --> 00:14:46,900
He looked like someone much 
older and much colder. 

278
00:14:46,900 --> 00:14:50,900
He was also genuinely poor. 
This is the detail that the 

279
00:14:50,900 --> 00:14:54,900
retrospective Fame of the blue 
period tends to obscure the 

280
00:14:54,900 --> 00:14:57,600
paintings from this period are. 
Now among the most reproduced 

281
00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:00,800
and most beloved in the history 
of Western Art hanging in major 

282
00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:05,100
museums reproduced on everything
imaginable sold at auction for 

283
00:15:05,100 --> 00:15:06,400
figures. 
That would have constituted 

284
00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:10,000
several lifetimes of income for 
the 20 year old, who made them. 

285
00:15:11,100 --> 00:15:13,400
At the time, he could not sell 
them. 

286
00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:15,900
The critics who had praise the 
Lord show. 

287
00:15:15,900 --> 00:15:18,900
Retreated, when the blue 
paintings arrived, the market 

288
00:15:18,900 --> 00:15:22,000
did not want a long, gated 
Beggars and blind old men and 

289
00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,600
emaciated mums. 
And the quiet misery of people 

290
00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:27,500
on the margins of a city. 
Picasso went without food, 

291
00:15:27,500 --> 00:15:31,400
during stretches of 1902. 
He burned drawing to stay warm. 

292
00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:34,900
He what poverty looked like from
the inside because he was inside

293
00:15:34,900 --> 00:15:39,700
it, this shape, what he painted.
He began visiting the women's 

294
00:15:39,700 --> 00:15:43,500
prison of Saint Lazare in Paris 
where none served as guards, and

295
00:15:43,500 --> 00:15:44,900
women were housed with their 
nursing. 

296
00:15:44,900 --> 00:15:47,900
Infants. 
He went repeatedly drawing the 

297
00:15:47,900 --> 00:15:50,800
women there, the mums with their
children, the particular 

298
00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:53,600
combination of confinement and 
tenderness that the prison 

299
00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:56,800
produced the visits gave him 
models and material and 

300
00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:00,600
something else harder to name a 
contact with human suffering at 

301
00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:03,400
its most unadorned with people 
who had been removed from 

302
00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:06,100
ordinary life and place 
somewhere that Stripped Away 

303
00:16:06,108 --> 00:16:09,800
everything except the essential 
fact of their existence, The 

304
00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:13,000
paintings that came out of these
visits the super among them have

305
00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:16,400
the quality of documents, not of
suffering dramatized, but of 

306
00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:18,100
suffering, observed with 
complete. 

307
00:16:18,100 --> 00:16:21,500
And sober attention, the 
subjects of the blue period are 

308
00:16:21,500 --> 00:16:24,400
consistent enough to constitute 
a world Beggars. 

309
00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:29,800
The blind prostitutes old men 
alone at Bear tables, mums 

310
00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:33,300
hunched over children figures 
stretched tall, and thin against

311
00:16:33,300 --> 00:16:37,200
empty, backgrounds elongated in 
the way that El Greco had a 

312
00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:38,600
elongated his figures for 
centuries. 

313
00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:42,600
Early a technique Picasso had 
studied in The Prado and was now

314
00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:44,700
applying to the people. 
He saw on the streets of 

315
00:16:44,700 --> 00:16:48,600
Barcelona and Paris. 
The elongation is not Distortion

316
00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:52,000
in the pejorative sense. 
It is a formal choice that gives

317
00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:55,800
the figures a kind of ghostly 
Grace Presence that is both 

318
00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:58,600
entirely human and slightly 
Beyond it. 

319
00:17:00,100 --> 00:17:02,500
The National Gallery of Art 
writing about these Works 

320
00:17:02,500 --> 00:17:06,400
describe the effect as Picasso 
metaphorically, allowing his 

321
00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:10,500
subjects to escape their fate to
occupy something like a utopian 

322
00:17:10,500 --> 00:17:13,700
state of grace. 
Blindness recurs throughout the 

323
00:17:13,700 --> 00:17:15,900
period with an almost obsessive 
frequency. 

324
00:17:15,900 --> 00:17:18,800
The blindman's meal painted in 
1903. 

325
00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:21,099
Shows a single figure at a bare 
table. 

326
00:17:21,099 --> 00:17:23,400
One hand reaching toward a wine 
jug. 

327
00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:26,700
The face turned slightly away in
the Unseen orientation of the 

328
00:17:26,700 --> 00:17:31,500
permanently blind. 
The old guitarist also 1903 is 

329
00:17:31,500 --> 00:17:34,400
the most famous of these Works a
hunched old man. 

330
00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:38,300
Cradling an enormous instrument,
the body angular and compressed,

331
00:17:38,300 --> 00:17:40,900
the guitar taking up most of the
space around him. 

332
00:17:40,900 --> 00:17:44,300
The man himself reduced to the 
bare minimum of presence 

333
00:17:44,300 --> 00:17:45,900
required to hold the thing and 
play it. 

334
00:17:47,100 --> 00:17:50,100
The guitar is brown. 
The single warm note in a 

335
00:17:50,100 --> 00:17:51,800
painting. 
Otherwise built entirely from 

336
00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:55,500
Bluegrass hold. 
X-ray examination of the canvas 

337
00:17:55,500 --> 00:17:58,600
has revealed that other figures 
are painted beneath the surface,

338
00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:02,300
the guitarist laid over the 
Picasso working through several 

339
00:18:02,300 --> 00:18:05,100
compositions before. 
Arriving at this one, the 

340
00:18:05,100 --> 00:18:07,600
blindness in these paintings was
not merely descriptive. 

341
00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:11,100
Picasso was aware of the 
symbolist movements in blindness

342
00:18:11,100 --> 00:18:14,300
as a condition that opened 
toward Innovation rather than 

343
00:18:14,300 --> 00:18:16,800
closing. 
It the idea that those without 

344
00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:21,400
sight might see something others
could not Whether he subscribed 

345
00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:24,500
to this idea fully or use it as 
a formal resource. 

346
00:18:24,500 --> 00:18:28,100
Is a question, the paintings do 
not answer cleanly what they 

347
00:18:28,100 --> 00:18:31,600
establish painting after 
painting is a sustained 

348
00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:34,100
attention to the people who 
exist at the edge of the social 

349
00:18:34,100 --> 00:18:36,100
world. 
The people who are present in 

350
00:18:36,100 --> 00:18:39,700
cities and invisible in the 
simultaneously and a consistent 

351
00:18:39,700 --> 00:18:41,900
refusal to Sentimental. 
What he found there. 

352
00:18:41,900 --> 00:18:46,800
La Vie completed in May of 1903,
is the blue period's, most 

353
00:18:46,808 --> 00:18:50,400
ambitious and complicated work. 
It is large nearly two meters 

354
00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:53,100
tall and shows two groups of 
figures facing each other. 

355
00:18:53,100 --> 00:18:55,900
A naked couple on the left, and 
a cloaked woman. 

356
00:18:55,900 --> 00:18:59,100
Holding a child on the right 
with two smaller, paintings 

357
00:18:59,100 --> 00:19:02,300
within the painting visible in 
the background, one showing a 

358
00:19:02,308 --> 00:19:05,200
crouched figure of grief and one
a couple embracing. 

359
00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:09,300
The central male figure has the 
face of cazalis in the 

360
00:19:09,300 --> 00:19:11,800
preliminary sketches that face 
was Picasso's own. 

361
00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:16,100
What the painting means has been
argued over ever since birth and

362
00:19:16,100 --> 00:19:18,600
death, love and its 
consequences. 

363
00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:20,700
The passage between Youth and 
age. 

364
00:19:20,700 --> 00:19:23,100
The weight of what is owed to 
the living, and the dead. 

365
00:19:23,100 --> 00:19:27,500
What it refuses to do is 
resolved, it holds all of these 

366
00:19:27,500 --> 00:19:30,600
reading simultaneously and will 
not choose among them, which is 

367
00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:32,300
either a weakness or the most 
honest thing. 

368
00:19:32,300 --> 00:19:34,500
The painting could do, depending
on how you look at it. 

369
00:19:35,500 --> 00:19:38,800
The blue period Ended as 
gradually as it began the cold 

370
00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:42,700
colors warming slowly in late 
1904 as Picasso's circumstances 

371
00:19:42,700 --> 00:19:45,300
changed. 
He settled permanently in Paris,

372
00:19:45,300 --> 00:19:49,200
moving into the Battle of war in
Monmouth a ramshackle building, 

373
00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:52,000
where a community of artists 
lived in overlapping poverty and

374
00:19:52,008 --> 00:19:55,300
mutual support. 
He met fernande Olivier who 

375
00:19:55,300 --> 00:19:58,000
became His companion? 
The depression that had 

376
00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:01,000
organized, the previous three 
years began, not to lift. 

377
00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:03,600
Exactly. 
But to shift the way weather 

378
00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,800
shifts the same sky, but a 
different quality of light. 

379
00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:10,900
The painting's changed color. 
The blue period has a strange 

380
00:20:10,900 --> 00:20:14,500
relationship to its own Fame. 
Picasso struggled to sell these 

381
00:20:14,500 --> 00:20:17,300
works for years, they were not 
what the market wanted. 

382
00:20:17,300 --> 00:20:19,900
They were not what critics had 
learned to praise. 

383
00:20:19,900 --> 00:20:23,300
They came out of grief and 
poverty and a sustained 

384
00:20:23,300 --> 00:20:25,500
attention to the people that 
Prosperity tends. 

385
00:20:25,500 --> 00:20:28,900
Not to look at directly now. 
They are worth fortunes and 

386
00:20:28,908 --> 00:20:31,300
hanging in the world's best 
museums and are printed on 

387
00:20:31,308 --> 00:20:34,700
coffee, mugs Picasso himself, 
who lived to see. 

388
00:20:34,700 --> 00:20:37,900
All of this said, almost nothing
about what the period meant to 

389
00:20:37,908 --> 00:20:39,700
him. 
He had said what he needed to 

390
00:20:39,700 --> 00:20:42,100
say in the paintings. 
The paintings are still saying 

391
00:20:42,100 --> 00:20:44,700
it. 
The rose period arrived the way,

392
00:20:44,708 --> 00:20:47,600
the blue period had arrived 
gradually, and without 

393
00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:50,800
announcement. 
The palette warming is Picasso 

394
00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:53,900
circumstances changed and the 
depression that had organized, 

395
00:20:53,900 --> 00:20:55,700
the previous three years began 
to shift. 

396
00:20:56,500 --> 00:20:59,500
By 1904 he had settled 
permanently in the battle 

397
00:20:59,500 --> 00:21:01,300
levoir. 
A ramshackle building in 

398
00:21:01,308 --> 00:21:04,000
Monmouth, that housed a 
community of artists in 

399
00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:06,000
overlapping poverty and mutual 
company. 

400
00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:09,400
Fernando Olivier arrived in his 
life and became His companion 

401
00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:12,100
and the subjects of his 
paintings change with her 

402
00:21:12,100 --> 00:21:15,600
presence, the emaciated Beggars,
giving way to acrobats and 

403
00:21:15,608 --> 00:21:19,100
circus performers, the cold blue
replaced by Earth Tones and 

404
00:21:19,100 --> 00:21:21,000
Rose. 
And the particular warm gray of 

405
00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:23,900
a Paris after noon. 
He was painting the world as a 

406
00:21:23,900 --> 00:21:27,300
place worth inhabiting rather 
than a place worth documenting 

407
00:21:27,300 --> 00:21:30,100
at its margins. 
He was also looking at things. 

408
00:21:30,100 --> 00:21:34,600
Very carefully, Suzanne died in 
October of 1906 and was honored 

409
00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:37,100
the following year with a major 
retrospective at the salon. 

410
00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:40,600
Picasso studied it with the 
attention, he brought to 

411
00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:43,200
everything. 
He wanted to understand which 

412
00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:45,900
was total and patient and 
ultimately transformative. 

413
00:21:46,900 --> 00:21:50,100
What's Suzanne had been doing 
with form, the way he had broken

414
00:21:50,100 --> 00:21:52,600
apart the convention that a 
painting should show you an 

415
00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:54,600
object from a single fixed point
of view. 

416
00:21:55,300 --> 00:21:58,200
The way he had allowed multiple 
angles and multiple moments to 

417
00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:00,500
coexist. 
In a single image was something 

418
00:22:00,500 --> 00:22:03,000
Picasso recognized as a door and
walked through. 

419
00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:06,300
He was also looking at the 
ancient Iberian sculptures on 

420
00:22:06,300 --> 00:22:09,400
display in the Louvre recently. 
Excavated from a sooner in 

421
00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:12,400
Spain, their faces, simplified 
and archaic. 

422
00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:15,500
The features reduced to 
essential forms with an 

423
00:22:15,500 --> 00:22:18,000
authority that had nothing to do
with the academic tradition. 

424
00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:21,300
He had been trained in He 
started incorporating, what he 

425
00:22:21,300 --> 00:22:24,600
saw in these phases, in, to his 
own figures, the three Central 

426
00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:27,100
women in the painting that was 
building in his Studio across 

427
00:22:27,100 --> 00:22:30,300
the first half of 1907. 
Oh, there faces to these 

428
00:22:30,300 --> 00:22:32,500
sculptures. 
The other two women are 

429
00:22:32,500 --> 00:22:36,200
something else entirely in the 
spring or early summer of 1907. 

430
00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:40,400
Picasso visited the ethnographic
museum at the Palo Duro in 

431
00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:42,600
Paris. 
He described the experience 

432
00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:45,700
himself years later to the 
writer Andre Melrose. 

433
00:22:46,900 --> 00:22:50,300
Smell reached him first. 
He said, mold and rot and the 

434
00:22:50,300 --> 00:22:53,400
flea market quality of a place 
that housed objects brought from

435
00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:55,800
very far away. 
By people who did not understand

436
00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:59,700
what they were handling. 
He wanted to leave, he stayed 

437
00:22:59,700 --> 00:23:02,400
The Masks. 
He said, were not like any other

438
00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:05,900
pieces of sculpture, not at all.
They were magic things. 

439
00:23:05,900 --> 00:23:09,600
They were against everything, he
said against unknown, 

440
00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,900
threatening spirits, He 
understood what they were for 

441
00:23:12,900 --> 00:23:15,600
what they were doing. 
He understood standing there 

442
00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:18,300
alone in that awful Museum. 
Why he was a painter. 

443
00:23:18,300 --> 00:23:21,500
He went back to his studio and 
changed, two of the faces in the

444
00:23:21,500 --> 00:23:22,800
painting. 
He had been working on for 

445
00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:25,600
months. 
The painting was called at that 

446
00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,400
point Labor Day. 
Vignole, the brothel of Avignon,

447
00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:32,200
a reference to the caravano in 
Barcelona, where Picasso had 

448
00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:34,400
spent time. 
As a young man later, it would 

449
00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:37,400
be given a more polite name. 
It shows five nude women, 

450
00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:41,300
confrontational staring directly
out of the canvas at whoever is 

451
00:23:41,300 --> 00:23:44,800
looking at the conventional 
passivity of the female nude 

452
00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:48,500
entirely abandoned the three on 
the left Have Faces derive. 

453
00:23:48,500 --> 00:23:51,100
From Iberian sculpture, 
simplified and flat. 

454
00:23:51,100 --> 00:23:54,200
The two on the right have faces 
that were changed after the 

455
00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:58,700
Trocadero visit angular, and 
fractured wearing something very

456
00:23:58,700 --> 00:24:02,500
close to African masks, the 
planes of the face, broken apart

457
00:24:02,500 --> 00:24:04,700
and reassembled. 
In a way that is simultaneously 

458
00:24:04,700 --> 00:24:08,500
familiar and wrong or rather 
Wrong by the standards of what 

459
00:24:08,500 --> 00:24:11,400
western painting had been doing 
with faces for several centuries

460
00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:14,400
and right by some other standard
that the painting was in the 

461
00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:18,800
process of establishing X-ray 
analysis of the canvas has 

462
00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:20,900
confirmed what this looked like 
before the changes. 

463
00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:24,700
Originally all five figures 
shared similar, facial features,

464
00:24:24,700 --> 00:24:28,400
the same almond eyes and 
simplified profile that 

465
00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:30,200
characterized the Iberian 
influence. 

466
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:33,700
The Trocadero visit produced, 
the rupture that split the 

467
00:24:33,708 --> 00:24:37,000
painting in two, the left side, 
and the right side operating by 

468
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:40,300
different visual, Logics the 
whole canvas held together by 

469
00:24:40,300 --> 00:24:42,700
the confrontational, directness 
of the women's gaze. 

470
00:24:42,700 --> 00:24:46,400
Rather than by any conventional 
compositional, Unity Picasso had

471
00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:49,600
created hundreds of Preparatory,
sketches, and studies across the

472
00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:52,400
previous, nine months. 
The early version of the 

473
00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:55,600
composition included, a male 
figure on the left, a medical 

474
00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,700
student entering, the brothel, 
holding a skull and narrative 

475
00:24:58,700 --> 00:25:00,500
element. 
He eventually removed because 

476
00:25:00,500 --> 00:25:03,200
the story implied would have 
contain the image rather than 

477
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:06,000
releasing it. 
He also removed a sailor on the 

478
00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:09,700
right. what remained when both 
men were gone was pure 

479
00:25:09,700 --> 00:25:13,600
confrontation, five, women, and 
whoever was looking at them, 

480
00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:16,700
nothing between the image in the
viewer to absorb all mediate, 

481
00:25:16,700 --> 00:25:20,100
the encounter Painting is 
immediate reception was 

482
00:25:20,100 --> 00:25:23,800
damaging, the castle showed it 
to his circle at the Battle of 

483
00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:26,200
war and they did not know what 
to do with it. 

484
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:29,800
Georges Braque who would become 
his closest collaborator within 

485
00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:32,900
a year said at first viewing 
that it was like eating rope or 

486
00:25:32,900 --> 00:25:36,100
drinking petroleum. 
Ori Matisse his great rival was 

487
00:25:36,100 --> 00:25:39,700
appalled the poet guilla Paulina
who was among Picasso's, most 

488
00:25:39,708 --> 00:25:43,300
devoted supporters was shaken. 
The dealer, Daniel Henry 

489
00:25:43,300 --> 00:25:47,100
kahnweiler who visited the 
studio in July, of 1907 and saw 

490
00:25:47,100 --> 00:25:50,500
the canvas was at a loss, The 
painting did not go on public 

491
00:25:50,500 --> 00:25:55,100
display until 1916. in the Years
between its completion and its 

492
00:25:55,100 --> 00:25:58,900
first public exhibition Picasso 
kept it rolled up in his Studio,

493
00:25:58,900 --> 00:26:02,300
what the painting had done to 
him and what it would eventually

494
00:26:02,300 --> 00:26:05,600
do to the history of painting, 
was not immediately legal to 

495
00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:09,500
anyone standing in front of it 
in 1907, including Picasso 

496
00:26:09,500 --> 00:26:12,800
himself, he had produced 
something that did not fit any 

497
00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:16,500
existing category that had 
broken the expectation of what a

498
00:26:16,500 --> 00:26:19,800
painting was supposed to do when
it depicted a human figure that 

499
00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:22,700
had made the question of how to 
show a body in space into an 

500
00:26:22,700 --> 00:26:25,000
open problem rather than a 
settled convention. 

501
00:26:26,300 --> 00:26:29,100
The problem once opened could 
not be closed. 

502
00:26:29,100 --> 00:26:32,100
The collaboration with BRAC that
began almost immediately. 

503
00:26:32,100 --> 00:26:35,700
After Le demoiselle the two men 
working in such proximity that 

504
00:26:35,700 --> 00:26:38,800
they sometimes could not tell 
which paintings were whose would

505
00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:42,500
push that open problem into what
became cubism and cubism would 

506
00:26:42,500 --> 00:26:43,800
change. 
What painting was allowed to 

507
00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:46,600
attempt for the rest of the 
century but that is the next 

508
00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:50,400
chapter at this moment. 
In 1907, there is only the 

509
00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:54,000
canvas still damp too large to 
hang easily in the studio, 

510
00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:56,500
showing five women who will not 
look away from you. 

511
00:26:56,500 --> 00:27:00,000
Their face is assembled from 
Iberian Stone and African wood 

512
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,100
and Picasso's own particular, 
way of refusing, to show you 

513
00:27:03,100 --> 00:27:04,600
things the way you expect them 
to look. 

514
00:27:05,500 --> 00:27:07,900
He understood. 
He said, later that, it was his 

515
00:27:07,900 --> 00:27:12,100
first exorcism painting he had 
given formed to the spirits, he 

516
00:27:12,100 --> 00:27:15,000
had become independent of them. 
The question that laid them was 

517
00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:18,400
Al had opened was this. 
If a painting, does not have to 

518
00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:21,000
show you what a thing looks like
from a fixed point of view. 

519
00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:23,400
Then what is it allowed to do in
Stead? 

520
00:27:24,500 --> 00:27:27,400
Picasso did not have the answer 
when he finished the painting in

521
00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:30,200
1907. 
He had the question, which is a 

522
00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:32,500
different thing, and in some 
respects and more valuable one, 

523
00:27:32,500 --> 00:27:36,200
the question needed, another 
person to help develop it and 

524
00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:38,300
that person arrived in November 
of 1907. 

525
00:27:38,300 --> 00:27:41,400
When the poet gyama Polaner 
arranged a meeting between 

526
00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:44,300
Picasso and a young French 
painter named Georges Braque 

527
00:27:45,300 --> 00:27:48,500
Brock had already seen lay them 
was L and his initial response 

528
00:27:48,500 --> 00:27:51,800
had been the rope and petroleum.
Remark the opinion that the 

529
00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:54,700
painting was as unwelcomed to 
him as eating rough fibroid or 

530
00:27:54,700 --> 00:27:57,300
drinking kerosene, but it 
haunted him, through the winter,

531
00:27:57,300 --> 00:28:02,400
of 1907, and into 1908, in the 
way that genuinely new things. 

532
00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:05,700
Haunt the people who are capable
of understanding them, not 

533
00:28:05,700 --> 00:28:09,100
pleasantly, and not easily and 
not with any immediate sense of 

534
00:28:09,100 --> 00:28:12,700
what to do about it. 
He went South to lestac where 

535
00:28:12,700 --> 00:28:16,000
Susan had worked and spent the 
summer shedding the colors of 

536
00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:19,500
Phoebe and working through the 
structural problems that the 

537
00:28:19,500 --> 00:28:22,500
older painter had left 
unresolved and that Picasso had 

538
00:28:22,500 --> 00:28:26,400
now ripped wide open. 
When he came back to Paris, he 

539
00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:28,900
came back with paintings that 
were doing something Picasso. 

540
00:28:28,900 --> 00:28:31,800
Recognized. 
The collaboration began almost 

541
00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:34,400
immediately. 
After almost every evening. 

542
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:38,200
Picasso said later either, he 
went to Brax Studio or break 

543
00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,400
came to his. 
Each of us had to see what the 

544
00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:42,700
other had done. 
During the day the statement 

545
00:28:42,700 --> 00:28:45,000
which Picasso made in a late 
interview. 

546
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:48,000
Sounds almost domestic. 
In its Rhythm, the two painters 

547
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:50,500
checking in with each other 
daily, like colleagues running a

548
00:28:50,500 --> 00:28:53,000
project together which is 
precisely what they were. 

549
00:28:54,100 --> 00:28:56,500
The project was the reinvention 
of what a painting, could be 

550
00:28:56,500 --> 00:29:00,200
conducted in the studios of two 
men who were temperamentally 

551
00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:03,600
almost opposite. 
Picasso intuitive and bold and 

552
00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:07,000
Restless, Brach methodical, and 
reserved and committed to 

553
00:29:07,008 --> 00:29:09,800
structural precision and whose 
differences turned out to be 

554
00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:12,700
exactly what the project 
required Braxton. 

555
00:29:12,700 --> 00:29:15,400
Description of the collaboration
was that they were like two 

556
00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:18,800
Mountaineers roped together. 
What they were building across 

557
00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:24,100
the years from 1908 to 1914, 
came to be called cubism the 

558
00:29:24,100 --> 00:29:27,400
name was coined accidentally by 
a French art critic named Louis 

559
00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:31,100
sell who described Brax 
landscape paintings of Le stack 

560
00:29:31,100 --> 00:29:33,200
as reducing everything to little
cubes. 

561
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:36,800
Bizarres Cube beaks. 
He wrote geometrical 

562
00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:39,400
peculiarities, he mentored as a 
dismissal. 

563
00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:43,100
The artist used the word as a 
handle and the handle stuck, 

564
00:29:43,100 --> 00:29:45,100
which is how many of the most 
important movements in our 

565
00:29:45,100 --> 00:29:48,000
history of their names from 
someone who thought they were 

566
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:51,200
insulting the work. 
The word does not quite 

567
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:54,100
described what the work was 
doing, but it points at it. 

568
00:29:55,100 --> 00:29:58,900
What cubism actually did was 
refused the convention that a 

569
00:29:58,900 --> 00:30:02,200
painting occupies, a single 
moment in time from a single 

570
00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:06,600
fixed point in space. 
The academic tradition and the 

571
00:30:06,608 --> 00:30:09,100
entire history of Western 
painting from the Renaissance 

572
00:30:09,100 --> 00:30:13,400
forward, had built itself. 
On single point perspective, the

573
00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:16,000
mathematical system that 
produces the illusion of depth 

574
00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:19,300
on a flat surface by a ranging 
everything in relation to a 

575
00:30:19,300 --> 00:30:23,100
single vanishing point. 
It is a powerful system and it 

576
00:30:23,100 --> 00:30:26,900
produces beautiful work. 
It also requires a lie. 

577
00:30:26,900 --> 00:30:30,000
The lie that the viewer is 
stationary that the world is 

578
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:32,800
Frozen that, the object being 
depicted exists. 

579
00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:36,200
In one moment from one angle, 
Cezanne had begun to question 

580
00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:39,300
this without quite abandoning it
Casa and BRAC. 

581
00:30:39,300 --> 00:30:42,900
Abandoned it in the paintings of
what came to be called analytic 

582
00:30:42,900 --> 00:30:46,600
cubism, which developed from 
roughly 1909 through 1912. 

583
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:49,800
A figure or an object is shown 
from multiple angles 

584
00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:53,200
simultaneously, the front and 
the side and sometimes the back 

585
00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:56,300
will present in the same image 
assembled into a composition. 

586
00:30:56,300 --> 00:30:58,800
That is recognizable without 
being illusionistic. 

587
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,300
A guitar becomes a collection of
planes and curves that represent

588
00:31:03,300 --> 00:31:06,100
the guitar from every angle at 
once, rather than from one. 

589
00:31:06,100 --> 00:31:09,700
A woman's face shows you the 
profile and the frontal view in 

590
00:31:09,700 --> 00:31:12,000
the same head. 
The truths present 

591
00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:15,900
simultaneously rather than 
forced to choose the palate 

592
00:31:15,900 --> 00:31:18,900
during this phase Narrows to 
graze and Browns and ochres. 

593
00:31:18,900 --> 00:31:22,000
The color deliberately reduced 
so that the structural question 

594
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:25,400
stays Central, the investigation
of form kept clear of the 

595
00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:28,900
distraction of chromatic Beauty.
The subject matter of analytic 

596
00:31:28,900 --> 00:31:31,600
cubism is modest almost to the 
point of Comedy. 

597
00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:37,900
Guitars bottles newspapers, a 
pipe, a glass musical 

598
00:31:37,900 --> 00:31:41,800
instruments of various kinds the
things that sit on tables in 

599
00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:45,600
studios and cafes the furniture 
of a working artist, daily life.

600
00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:48,700
Chosen not for symbolic weight. 
But because they were present, 

601
00:31:48,700 --> 00:31:51,200
and because their forms were 
complex enough to be 

602
00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:54,600
interesting, and simple enough, 
not to overwhelm the formal 

603
00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:58,700
investigation, Brack. 
Whose father had been a house 

604
00:31:58,708 --> 00:32:01,000
painter and who had grown up 
understanding the relationship 

605
00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:04,400
between pattern and surface 
introduced techniques from that 

606
00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:08,100
tradition into the Fine Art 
context stenciled letters. 

607
00:32:08,100 --> 00:32:11,900
Faux wood grain, the deliberate 
flattening of Illusion that 

608
00:32:11,900 --> 00:32:15,700
house painting requires Picasso 
who had always been interested 

609
00:32:15,700 --> 00:32:18,300
in everything that could be done
with a flat surface 

610
00:32:18,300 --> 00:32:21,100
Incorporated, these techniques, 
and pushed them further. 

611
00:32:22,100 --> 00:32:26,200
In 1912, they invented collage 
Picasso pasted a piece of oil 

612
00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:29,600
cloth printed with a chair 
caning pattern onto a canvas and

613
00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:32,400
Drew around it. 
Producing a work called still 

614
00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:36,000
life with chair caning that 
incorporated, an actual non-op 

615
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:39,300
material into the painting, a 
piece of the real world used as 

616
00:32:39,300 --> 00:32:42,200
representation rather than 
representation standing in for 

617
00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:45,400
the real world. 
Brock working in parallel, 

618
00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:49,500
introduced papier colle pasted 
paper, gluing fragments of 

619
00:32:49,500 --> 00:32:52,600
newspaper and wallpaper into 
compositions alongside drawn and

620
00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:55,500
painted elements. 
The result was synthetic cubism 

621
00:32:55,500 --> 00:33:00,200
which ran from roughly 1912 to 
1914 and which reversed the 

622
00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:04,200
logic of analytic cubism Where 
analytic cubism had broken 

623
00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:07,300
objects into their component 
Plains synthetic cubism 

624
00:33:07,300 --> 00:33:10,800
assembled those planes into new 
constructions, building a guitar

625
00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:14,300
or a figure from geometric 
fragments rather than analyzing 

626
00:33:14,300 --> 00:33:16,100
an existing one, down to its 
geometry. 

627
00:33:16,100 --> 00:33:18,800
The collaboration during these 
years was so close. 

628
00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:22,100
That even experts, looking at 
the unsigned paintings from the 

629
00:33:22,100 --> 00:33:25,100
period sometimes cannot 
determine which of the two men 

630
00:33:25,100 --> 00:33:27,700
made which work. 
The castle and Brack, 

631
00:33:27,700 --> 00:33:29,100
occasionally signed their 
paintings. 

632
00:33:29,100 --> 00:33:32,200
Only with initials or not. 
At all treating, the work as 

633
00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:35,000
genuinely joint rather than 
individually attributed. 

634
00:33:35,900 --> 00:33:38,600
This was unusual to the point of
being unprecedented in the 

635
00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:41,200
history of Art. 
Two painters of comparable 

636
00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:44,600
ambition, voluntarily merging 
their output to the degree that 

637
00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:47,900
authorship became uncertain. 
Art historians have spent 

638
00:33:47,900 --> 00:33:49,800
decades trying to establish 
precise. 

639
00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:54,300
Chronologies debating which idea
came from whom and when and have

640
00:33:54,300 --> 00:33:56,900
acknowledged that the 
conversation was so continuous. 

641
00:33:56,900 --> 00:33:59,800
And so reciprocal, that the 
question may be unanswerable 

642
00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:03,800
outside their immediate circle 
cubism was initially confusing. 

643
00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:06,500
And then influential in 
approximately the way that all 

644
00:34:06,500 --> 00:34:09,199
genuinely new things are 
confusing, and then influential 

645
00:34:09,199 --> 00:34:13,100
with the confusing part lasting 
longer and the influential part 

646
00:34:13,100 --> 00:34:15,600
being larger than anyone 
involved anticipated. 

647
00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:18,699
Other painters came to it and 
developed their own version. 

648
00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:25,000
One, Greece, Fernandez, Jeanette
singer, Francisco, all working 

649
00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:28,300
in Paris in the years before the
war, each took the formal 

650
00:34:28,300 --> 00:34:31,600
discoveries of Picasso and 
Braque and applied them to their

651
00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:36,100
own concerns and sensibilities. 
Unlike Picasso and Braque who 

652
00:34:36,100 --> 00:34:39,500
refused to exhibit their Cubist 
Works publicly through most of 

653
00:34:39,500 --> 00:34:42,500
the collaboration these painters
show their work at the major 

654
00:34:42,500 --> 00:34:46,000
Paris salons and it was through 
them, that cubism became visible

655
00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:49,199
to the broader public, and to 
critics, and to artists in other

656
00:34:49,199 --> 00:34:52,300
countries who had not been in 
the Studio's of the battle of 

657
00:34:52,300 --> 00:34:57,400
War, then, August of 1914, 
arrived Picasso saw Brock, and 

658
00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:00,300
their friend, Andre derain off 
at the train station in Avignon 

659
00:35:00,300 --> 00:35:01,600
as they left for military 
service. 

660
00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:03,700
Rack later recalled. 
The moment. 

661
00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:07,400
Picasso recalled it, too saying 
that after seeing Brock off that

662
00:35:07,408 --> 00:35:10,500
day, he never saw him again. 
Meaning that The Brak of the 

663
00:35:10,500 --> 00:35:12,900
collaboration, the black who had
been his other half. 

664
00:35:12,900 --> 00:35:15,700
In the most intense creative 
partnership in the history of 

665
00:35:15,700 --> 00:35:18,900
Modern Art was gone. 
Even if the man himself survived

666
00:35:18,900 --> 00:35:22,100
the war BRAC was wounded at the 
front and did not paint again 

667
00:35:22,100 --> 00:35:25,400
until 1917. 
A partnership that had produced 

668
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:29,200
cubism was over Picasso Spanish.
And therefore, not conscripted 

669
00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:33,300
stayed in Paris, he continued to
work, he always continued to 

670
00:35:33,300 --> 00:35:36,200
work. 
But the particular quality of 

671
00:35:36,208 --> 00:35:39,800
those six years, the daily 
Studio visits, the constant 

672
00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:41,800
conversation conducted through 
canvas. 

673
00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:45,000
The two Mountaineers wrote 
together on a face that no one 

674
00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:48,800
had climbed before was finished.
It had lasted long enough to 

675
00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:52,700
change what painting was in 
January of 1937, the Spanish 

676
00:35:52,700 --> 00:35:55,200
Republican government approached
Picasso with a commission. 

677
00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:58,400
They were building a pavilion 
for the Paris World's Fair that 

678
00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:02,200
summer and they wanted a mural, 
something large and significant.

679
00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:05,600
Something that would assert the 
legitimacy of the Republic at an

680
00:36:05,600 --> 00:36:08,800
International Event in the city 
where Picasso had lived for most

681
00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:11,200
of his adult life. 
The castle accepted. 

682
00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:16,500
Spain had been in Civil War 
since July of 1936, when the 

683
00:36:16,508 --> 00:36:19,400
Nationalist General Francisco 
Franco had launched a military 

684
00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:22,200
coup against the elected, 
Republican government and 

685
00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:26,100
Picasso who had not been back to
his birthplace in years and who 

686
00:36:26,100 --> 00:36:29,100
rarely mixed politics in his art
understood that. 

687
00:36:29,100 --> 00:36:30,900
This was not a moment to stay 
out of it. 

688
00:36:31,900 --> 00:36:34,300
Three months. 
He stared at a blank canvas and 

689
00:36:34,300 --> 00:36:37,400
produced nothing. 
The commission had not given him

690
00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:39,700
his subject. 
He had several preliminary 

691
00:36:39,700 --> 00:36:42,700
ideas, none of them convincing, 
none of them, finding the 

692
00:36:42,700 --> 00:36:46,300
particular quality of necessity 
that Picasso required before he 

693
00:36:46,300 --> 00:36:48,500
could commit himself to a canvas
of this scale. 

694
00:36:48,500 --> 00:36:50,900
His personal life was in 
turmoil. 

695
00:36:50,900 --> 00:36:55,100
The Civil War was intensifying, 
he was working dispassionately 

696
00:36:55,100 --> 00:36:57,200
on something. 
He did not yet believe in, which

697
00:36:57,200 --> 00:36:59,700
was for Picasso, the worst 
possible working condition. 

698
00:37:01,300 --> 00:37:06,200
Then, on the 26th of April 1937,
the German Condor Legion bombed 

699
00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:09,300
Guernica. 
Town Satan kilometers from the 

700
00:37:09,300 --> 00:37:12,900
front lines in The Basque 
country in Northern Spain, a 

701
00:37:12,900 --> 00:37:15,700
quiet, agricultural community. 
That was also the ancient 

702
00:37:15,700 --> 00:37:19,000
symbolic capital of The Basque 
people, the place where the 

703
00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:21,800
traditional rights and Liberties
of the Basques were historically

704
00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:25,100
centered. 
It was a market day Monday which

705
00:37:25,100 --> 00:37:27,100
meant the Town Center was full 
of people. 

706
00:37:27,100 --> 00:37:30,500
The German aircraft arrived in 
the afternoon and bombed for 

707
00:37:30,500 --> 00:37:33,700
approximately two hours. 
They dropped High explosives, 

708
00:37:33,700 --> 00:37:36,700
first to break, the building's 
open, then, incendiaries to 

709
00:37:36,700 --> 00:37:40,300
burn, what was exposed. 
The nearest military Target a 

710
00:37:40,300 --> 00:37:42,700
factory on the town's outskirts.
Went through the attack. 

711
00:37:42,700 --> 00:37:45,900
Untouched. 
What burned was the town? 

712
00:37:47,200 --> 00:37:50,100
The journalist George steere. 
A correspondent for the times of

713
00:37:50,108 --> 00:37:52,600
London was nearby and reached 
Guernica shortly after the 

714
00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:55,700
bombing His account appeared, 
two days later on the front 

715
00:37:55,700 --> 00:37:57,800
pages of the times and the New 
York Times. 

716
00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:01,900
And then in the French paper, 
lumanate It described the 

717
00:38:01,908 --> 00:38:04,600
deliberate destruction of an 
open civilian town with no 

718
00:38:04,600 --> 00:38:08,200
significant military value, the 
body's in the streets, the 

719
00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:10,500
animals running through the 
rubble, the particular 

720
00:38:10,500 --> 00:38:14,400
completeness of the destruction 
tile roofs and wooden porches 

721
00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:16,200
burning long after the planes 
had left. 

722
00:38:17,300 --> 00:38:20,500
So, read the account in the 
newspaper in Paris, he made his 

723
00:38:20,500 --> 00:38:24,500
first sketch the next day. 
The first of May, he had found 

724
00:38:24,500 --> 00:38:28,100
his subject, What followed 
across the next. 35 days is one 

725
00:38:28,100 --> 00:38:31,000
of the most documented creative 
processes in the history of Art.

726
00:38:31,700 --> 00:38:34,900
Because Picasso's companion and 
fellow artist Dora photograph, 

727
00:38:34,900 --> 00:38:37,200
the canvas at multiple stages of
its development. 

728
00:38:38,100 --> 00:38:41,000
Preserving a record of the 
paintings Evolution from initial

729
00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:42,900
composition. 
Through successive revision. 

730
00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:46,400
There are over 40 Preparatory, 
sketches and studies. 

731
00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:49,600
In addition to Mars, 
photographs, the documentation 

732
00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:52,900
shows a painting that changed 
substantially as it was made not

733
00:38:52,900 --> 00:38:55,700
in its core emotional content, 
which was fixed from the first 

734
00:38:55,700 --> 00:38:57,500
day. 
But in its compositional 

735
00:38:57,500 --> 00:39:00,900
organization, the arrangement of
the bodies and the symbols and 

736
00:39:00,900 --> 00:39:05,100
the spaces between them The 
canvas Picasso was working on 

737
00:39:05,100 --> 00:39:07,900
was enormous three and a half 
meters tall. 

738
00:39:07,900 --> 00:39:11,400
And nearly 8 meters wide painted
in his Studio, on the Rudy, gone

739
00:39:11,400 --> 00:39:14,300
or gustan it required 
scaffolding to reach the upper 

740
00:39:14,300 --> 00:39:16,600
sections. 
He chose to work in gray and 

741
00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:20,500
black and white stripping out 
all color a decision that gives 

742
00:39:20,500 --> 00:39:22,200
the painting, the quality of a 
news. 

743
00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:25,100
Photograph, the documentary 
authority of something that is 

744
00:39:25,100 --> 00:39:26,900
reporting rather than 
interpreting. 

745
00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:30,400
He also ordered house paint 
rather than artists paint 

746
00:39:30,400 --> 00:39:34,700
specifying a matte finish. 
The minimum amount of gloss so 

747
00:39:34,700 --> 00:39:37,600
that the surface would have no 
beauty of material to distract 

748
00:39:37,600 --> 00:39:40,700
from what it was saying. 
The painting that emerged shows 

749
00:39:40,700 --> 00:39:43,500
a collection of figures in 
extremists a wounded. 

750
00:39:43,500 --> 00:39:47,100
Horse occupies the center, its 
mouth open in a scream. 

751
00:39:47,100 --> 00:39:51,200
Stumbling over, a fallen soldier
below it, a bull stand on the 

752
00:39:51,208 --> 00:39:55,200
left facing away from the chaos 
intact, where everything else is

753
00:39:55,200 --> 00:39:58,800
breaking a woman with a dead 
infant, holds the child up in a 

754
00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:00,600
gesture. 
That is simultaneously a 

755
00:40:00,600 --> 00:40:04,400
cradling and a presentation, her
face torn open in grief. 

756
00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:07,800
Another woman drags a wounded 
leg across the bottom of the 

757
00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:11,300
canvas, another liens from a 
window holding an oil lamp in to

758
00:40:11,300 --> 00:40:13,700
the scene. 
A dismembered Soldier lies on 

759
00:40:13,700 --> 00:40:15,600
the ground. 
A broken sword in his hand 

760
00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:19,400
beside a flower. 
Flames rise on the right side, a

761
00:40:19,400 --> 00:40:21,700
light bulb shaped like an eye. 
Hangs at the top of the 

762
00:40:21,708 --> 00:40:25,000
composition, it spiked rays and 
mechanical parody of 

763
00:40:25,008 --> 00:40:27,800
Illumination. 
The symbols have been argued 

764
00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:31,600
over ever since the Horse 
Picasso said, represented the 

765
00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:36,000
people the bull represented 
brutality and darkness the lamp 

766
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:37,900
held by the woman. 
In the window, was the lamp of 

767
00:40:37,908 --> 00:40:39,800
Truth or the lamp of the 
Republic. 

768
00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:43,900
The Broken Sword was resistance,
that had not surrendered despite

769
00:40:43,900 --> 00:40:46,700
being broken. 
The baby in the mums arms did 

770
00:40:46,700 --> 00:40:48,800
not need explaining to anyone 
who looked at it. 

771
00:40:49,700 --> 00:40:53,700
Picasso added at various points 
that the painting meant exactly 

772
00:40:53,700 --> 00:40:57,500
what it showed no more and no 
less, which is the kind of 

773
00:40:57,500 --> 00:40:59,700
statement artists make. 
When they have been asked, one 

774
00:40:59,700 --> 00:41:02,700
too many times to reduce their 
work to a caption. 

775
00:41:02,700 --> 00:41:06,200
The photographs doramar took 
during the 35 days, show a 

776
00:41:06,200 --> 00:41:08,900
painting, trying out different 
answers to the same question, 

777
00:41:08,900 --> 00:41:12,000
which is how to contain this 
level of suffering in an 

778
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:15,500
organized image without reducing
it without making it bearable to

779
00:41:15,500 --> 00:41:18,600
look at without allowing the 
view of the comfort of aesthetic

780
00:41:18,600 --> 00:41:21,200
distance. 
The early stages, show the ball 

781
00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:23,400
and the horse in different 
positions, different 

782
00:41:23,400 --> 00:41:25,600
proportions, different 
relationships to each other. 

783
00:41:26,500 --> 00:41:29,600
A raise fist appears in early 
sketches and disappears in the 

784
00:41:29,600 --> 00:41:32,600
final version. 
Color appears in some studies 

785
00:41:32,600 --> 00:41:36,100
and is stripped away again. 
The compositional logic shifts 

786
00:41:36,100 --> 00:41:42,200
and settles and shifts again. 
On the 4th of June 1937, Picasso

787
00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:45,100
declared it finished. 
It was exhibited at the Spanish 

788
00:41:45,100 --> 00:41:48,700
Pavilion at the Paris, World's 
Fair beginning, in July placed 

789
00:41:48,700 --> 00:41:51,100
near the entrance so that it was
among the first things visitors 

790
00:41:51,100 --> 00:41:54,800
saw, the initial reception was 
mixed, the painting was 

791
00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:58,600
difficult, the composition 
dense, and fractured the imagery

792
00:41:58,600 --> 00:42:01,200
not easily decoded by viewers 
who had not been given a key. 

793
00:42:01,208 --> 00:42:04,800
It did not win the public 
immediately, it was not designed

794
00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:08,000
to be immediate what it was 
designed to became clearer as 

795
00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:11,400
the painting travels after the 
World's Fair at toured 

796
00:42:11,400 --> 00:42:13,900
Scandinavia and England to raise
awareness and funds for the 

797
00:42:13,900 --> 00:42:17,900
Spanish Republic. 
In 1939, when the Republic fell 

798
00:42:17,900 --> 00:42:21,300
to Franco's forces, Picasso 
refused to allow the painting to

799
00:42:21,300 --> 00:42:23,800
go to Spain. 
He had said before the war was 

800
00:42:23,800 --> 00:42:26,100
lost, that the painting would be
giving to the Spanish government

801
00:42:26,100 --> 00:42:28,400
the day. 
The Republic was restored, and 

802
00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:31,600
he held to this position with 
absolute consistency for the 

803
00:42:31,600 --> 00:42:34,500
rest of his life. 
He loaned it instead to the 

804
00:42:34,500 --> 00:42:38,400
Museum of Modern Art in New York
where it would remain for 42 

805
00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:41,600
years. 
During World War 2, when Paris 

806
00:42:41,600 --> 00:42:44,500
was under German occupation, a 
German officer visited 

807
00:42:44,500 --> 00:42:47,700
Picasso's, apartment seeing a 
photograph of Guernica, the 

808
00:42:47,700 --> 00:42:49,400
officer asked, whether Picasso 
had done that. 

809
00:42:50,200 --> 00:42:51,700
Picasso answered that, he had 
not. 

810
00:42:52,500 --> 00:42:53,500
You did. 
He said. 

811
00:42:54,500 --> 00:42:57,700
The painting returned to Spain 
in 1981, six years after 

812
00:42:57,700 --> 00:43:01,600
Franco's death and 8 years after
Picasso's in a Spain that had 

813
00:43:01,600 --> 00:43:04,100
become a constitutional 
monarchy, rather than the 

814
00:43:04,100 --> 00:43:06,000
Republic Picasso had insisted 
upon. 

815
00:43:06,900 --> 00:43:09,300
It was displayed initially 
behind bulletproof glass at The 

816
00:43:09,300 --> 00:43:13,800
Prado Museum, and then in 1992, 
it was moved to the Museo Reina,

817
00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:18,100
Sofia in Madrid where it now 
hangs, approximately 11,000 

818
00:43:18,100 --> 00:43:21,300
people visited every day, 
Guernica is three and a half 

819
00:43:21,300 --> 00:43:25,200
meters tall and nearly 8 meters 
wide and it was painted in 35 

820
00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:28,800
days by 55 year old man who had 
spent three months unable to 

821
00:43:28,800 --> 00:43:32,100
start it and found his subject 
in a newspaper on the first of 

822
00:43:32,100 --> 00:43:36,600
May 1937. 
It does not resolve, it does not

823
00:43:36,600 --> 00:43:39,100
conclude the horses still 
screaming. 

824
00:43:39,100 --> 00:43:42,500
And the mum is still holding the
child and the soldiers sword is 

825
00:43:42,508 --> 00:43:45,800
still broken and the lightest 
still, the cold mechanical light

826
00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:48,600
of the bulb rather than the warm
light of any son. 

827
00:43:49,900 --> 00:43:52,000
It is the most visited painting 
in Madrid. 

828
00:43:52,000 --> 00:43:55,200
It has been reproduced on 
protest banners in conflicts on 

829
00:43:55,208 --> 00:43:59,000
every inhabited continent. 
It has been quoted referenced 

830
00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:03,000
and adapted by artists working 
in every medium for nearly 90 

831
00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:05,700
years. 
Become the thing that Picasso 

832
00:44:05,700 --> 00:44:09,300
most consistently resisted, 
which is a caption, a single 

833
00:44:09,300 --> 00:44:11,100
image that stands for a single 
idea. 

834
00:44:11,100 --> 00:44:14,400
He would have been annoyed by 
this, he also would have 

835
00:44:14,400 --> 00:44:17,700
recognized it a painting that 
people reach for when they are 

836
00:44:17,708 --> 00:44:19,600
trying to show. 
What war does to the bodies of 

837
00:44:19,608 --> 00:44:22,000
civilians, is a painting that 
has done its work. 

838
00:44:22,800 --> 00:44:27,000
On the evening of the 7th of 
April. 1973, Pablo Picasso had 

839
00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:30,800
friends to dinner at his Villa. 
Inus, a small town in the Hills 

840
00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:32,400
above can in the south of 
France. 

841
00:44:32,400 --> 00:44:36,200
He was 91 years old after 
dinner, he went to a studio and 

842
00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:37,600
painted until three in the 
morning. 

843
00:44:37,600 --> 00:44:41,700
Then he went to bed. 
He woke at half past 11:00 the 

844
00:44:41,700 --> 00:44:45,000
next morning and could not get 
up, he died before a doctor 

845
00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:49,300
arrived of heart failure on the 
8th of April 1973. 

846
00:44:50,400 --> 00:44:52,900
He had painted until three in 
the morning on the last night of

847
00:44:52,900 --> 00:44:56,600
his life. 
This is in some ways the most 

848
00:44:56,600 --> 00:45:00,500
Picasso fact about Picasso, he 
had said more than once. 

849
00:45:00,500 --> 00:45:04,200
And in more than one way, that 
he believed work would keep him 

850
00:45:04,200 --> 00:45:07,700
alive that the act of making 
things was the thing that held 

851
00:45:07,700 --> 00:45:10,500
him to the world. 
He was superstitious about 

852
00:45:10,500 --> 00:45:12,900
stopping. 
He had painted through grief and

853
00:45:12,900 --> 00:45:15,500
poverty, and two, world wars, 
and the death of friends, and 

854
00:45:15,500 --> 00:45:18,000
the collapse of relationships 
and stomach operations, and 

855
00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:20,900
respiratory problems. 
And the ordinary deterioration 

856
00:45:20,900 --> 00:45:24,300
of an extraordinary old age. 
He painted in the last year of 

857
00:45:24,300 --> 00:45:27,100
his life with what his 
biographers described as frenzy 

858
00:45:27,100 --> 00:45:30,300
a word that appears in multiple 
accounts of his final period. 

859
00:45:30,300 --> 00:45:33,500
The same word that appears in 
accounts of the very beginning. 

860
00:45:33,500 --> 00:45:37,300
The seven-year-old at his 
father's side, the boy who drew 

861
00:45:37,300 --> 00:45:39,900
in stead of listening in school 
because the drawing could not be

862
00:45:39,900 --> 00:45:46,100
stopped Between 1968 and 1972 
Picasso produced more than 100 

863
00:45:46,100 --> 00:45:47,900
paintings and hundreds of 
Engravings. 

864
00:45:47,900 --> 00:45:50,900
He was 87 years old, at the 
start of that period. 

865
00:45:50,900 --> 00:45:54,300
The work of these final years is
not what most people picture. 

866
00:45:54,300 --> 00:45:57,700
When they think of Picasso, it 
is late work in the fullest 

867
00:45:57,700 --> 00:46:01,000
sense, the work of a man looking
at mortality from inside it 

868
00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:04,500
figurative and erotic and 
sometimes crude and sometimes 

869
00:46:04,500 --> 00:46:07,900
Visionary, the style strip of 
almost everything, except the 

870
00:46:07,900 --> 00:46:12,100
urgency in 1972 a year before 
his death, he produced a series 

871
00:46:12,100 --> 00:46:15,400
of drawn self-portraits in which
the face is shown as something 

872
00:46:15,408 --> 00:46:19,500
close to a skull the eyes and 
Norma's and dark, the features 

873
00:46:19,500 --> 00:46:21,400
reduced to their essential 
structure. 

874
00:46:21,400 --> 00:46:24,400
He was looking at himself and 
seeing what was coming and 

875
00:46:24,400 --> 00:46:26,800
drawing it. 
Anyway, he is buried at the 

876
00:46:26,800 --> 00:46:29,100
Chateau of now getting near 
Exxon Provence. 

877
00:46:29,800 --> 00:46:32,000
A property. 
He required in 1958. 

878
00:46:33,000 --> 00:46:36,300
Chateau sits overlooking the 
monsant vector, the mountain 

879
00:46:36,300 --> 00:46:40,100
that pulses on painted dozens of
times and that Picasso had 

880
00:46:40,100 --> 00:46:43,000
studied in the cylinder tan, 
retrospective of 1907. 

881
00:46:43,800 --> 00:46:46,400
The same retrospective that had 
pushed him toward what became 

882
00:46:46,400 --> 00:46:48,400
cubism. 
He is buried. 

883
00:46:48,400 --> 00:46:50,800
In other words in the sight line
of the mountain that belonged to

884
00:46:50,800 --> 00:46:52,500
the man. 
He said was the father of the 

885
00:46:52,500 --> 00:46:54,600
mall, this may have been 
intentional. 

886
00:46:54,600 --> 00:46:58,000
It was certainly not accidental.
He left behind somewhere between

887
00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:01,800
20,000 and 50,000 Works 
depending on how the counting is

888
00:47:01,808 --> 00:47:03,300
done and which categories are 
included. 

889
00:47:04,200 --> 00:47:09,000
Paintings drawings, sculptures 
Ceramics prints engraving stage 

890
00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:13,700
designs Illustrated books, 
tapestry cartoonz, and things 

891
00:47:13,700 --> 00:47:16,000
that do not fit cleanly into any
of these categories. 

892
00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:18,900
The range of medium is itself a 
statement. 

893
00:47:20,000 --> 00:47:21,500
He worked in whatever was 
available. 

894
00:47:21,500 --> 00:47:24,600
Whatever was interesting, 
whatever he had, not yet 

895
00:47:24,600 --> 00:47:27,800
exhausted. 
He learned Ceramics in his 60s 

896
00:47:27,800 --> 00:47:30,800
and produced more than 3,000 
ceramic Works. 

897
00:47:30,800 --> 00:47:34,600
He made sculptures from bicycle 
handlebars and Saddles, from 

898
00:47:34,600 --> 00:47:37,800
cardboard and wire and string 
and wood, from whatever was in 

899
00:47:37,800 --> 00:47:39,900
the studio and could be made to 
hold a form. 

900
00:47:40,700 --> 00:47:43,200
Scarcity of conventional 
material was never an obstacle, 

901
00:47:43,200 --> 00:47:45,400
because he did not Define 
material conventionally. 

902
00:47:46,600 --> 00:47:51,100
His career spanned more than 76 
years when he was born, the 

903
00:47:51,100 --> 00:47:54,200
Impressionists were still the 
radical edge of painting when he

904
00:47:54,200 --> 00:47:58,000
died abstract expressionism and 
pop art and minimalism had all 

905
00:47:58,000 --> 00:48:00,300
come and gone. 
He had lived, most of the 

906
00:48:00,300 --> 00:48:02,700
movements that had positioned 
themselves against him or 

907
00:48:02,700 --> 00:48:04,900
alongside him and had outlived 
several. 

908
00:48:04,900 --> 00:48:08,300
That he had helped create He had
watched cubism become a 

909
00:48:08,300 --> 00:48:10,800
historical period while he was 
still alive to discuss it. 

910
00:48:10,800 --> 00:48:14,400
He had done things in painting 
that no one had done then. 

911
00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:16,600
Moved on from them. 
Then watch them become the 

912
00:48:16,600 --> 00:48:18,300
curriculum of our schools across
the world. 

913
00:48:18,300 --> 00:48:22,200
Then moved on further still The 
legacy of what he did to 

914
00:48:22,200 --> 00:48:25,100
painting is difficult to 
overstate because it is so 

915
00:48:25,100 --> 00:48:27,100
thoroughly embedded. 
In what painting has been 

916
00:48:27,100 --> 00:48:30,700
allowed to do since 1907? 
That the specifics are hard to 

917
00:48:30,708 --> 00:48:34,300
see clearly cubism changed the 
understanding of how a flat 

918
00:48:34,300 --> 00:48:36,200
surface could represent space 
and time. 

919
00:48:36,200 --> 00:48:39,700
It changed the understanding of 
how multiple truths about an 

920
00:48:39,700 --> 00:48:41,400
object could coexist in a single
image. 

921
00:48:41,400 --> 00:48:43,200
In opened. 
The question of what 

922
00:48:43,200 --> 00:48:45,400
relationship of painting was 
required to have with the 

923
00:48:45,400 --> 00:48:49,300
visible world and the answer 
that cubism proposed, which was 

924
00:48:49,300 --> 00:48:52,600
that the relationship was 
negotiable was so fundamental 

925
00:48:52,600 --> 00:48:55,500
that it made almost everything 
that came afterwards possible. 

926
00:48:56,400 --> 00:48:59,600
Abstract expressionism which 
rejected figuration entirely is 

927
00:48:59,600 --> 00:49:03,100
a response to the question. 
Cubism opened pop Arts 

928
00:49:03,100 --> 00:49:06,100
engagement with flat planes and 
Commercial imagery borrows from 

929
00:49:06,100 --> 00:49:10,100
the Cubist vocabulary. 
The conceptual art movements of 

930
00:49:10,100 --> 00:49:12,800
the second half of the 20th 
century, which pushed the 

931
00:49:12,800 --> 00:49:15,300
question of what art is allowed 
to be into entirely new 

932
00:49:15,300 --> 00:49:17,800
territories. 
All passed through the door that

933
00:49:17,800 --> 00:49:21,400
Picasso and BRAC opened in a 
March of Studio between 1908 and

934
00:49:21,400 --> 00:49:24,200
1914. 
He was aware of this and said 

935
00:49:24,200 --> 00:49:26,900
very little about it. 
He made statements about art 

936
00:49:26,900 --> 00:49:30,000
that were ocular and often 
contradictory and sometimes 

937
00:49:30,000 --> 00:49:33,300
deliberately unhelpful as though
he preferred that the work speak

938
00:49:33,300 --> 00:49:35,600
for itself and found the 
conversation around the work 

939
00:49:35,600 --> 00:49:39,500
slightly beside the point. 
He said painting was a form of 

940
00:49:39,500 --> 00:49:41,900
magic. 
He said it was a lie that told 

941
00:49:41,900 --> 00:49:44,000
the truth. 
He said it took a long time to 

942
00:49:44,000 --> 00:49:46,600
become Young. 
These are not the statements of 

943
00:49:46,600 --> 00:49:48,000
someone who wanted to explain 
himself. 

944
00:49:49,000 --> 00:49:52,000
His face became one of the most 
photographed faces of the 20th 

945
00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:54,200
century. 
He was the first living artist 

946
00:49:54,200 --> 00:49:57,100
to have a retrospective at the 
Museum of Modern Art in New York

947
00:49:57,100 --> 00:50:00,900
in 1939. 
He joined the French Communist 

948
00:50:00,900 --> 00:50:04,200
party after the second world war
and was awarded the Lenin Peace 

949
00:50:04,200 --> 00:50:07,600
Prize in 1962 and these 
affiliations generated 

950
00:50:07,600 --> 00:50:09,900
controversy that followed him 
for the rest of his life. 

951
00:50:09,900 --> 00:50:11,800
As did his treatment of the 
women. 

952
00:50:11,800 --> 00:50:15,100
He was involved with, which by 
the accounts of several of those

953
00:50:15,100 --> 00:50:17,200
women range from complicated to 
harmful. 

954
00:50:17,200 --> 00:50:21,000
The biography is not simple, and
has not been made simpler by the

955
00:50:21,000 --> 00:50:23,200
passage of time or the scale of 
the reputation. 

956
00:50:23,900 --> 00:50:26,600
What remains when all of it is 
accounted for is the work 

957
00:50:26,600 --> 00:50:29,400
itself. 
The blue period paintings still 

958
00:50:29,400 --> 00:50:32,300
in the museums where they have 
lived for decades, still doing 

959
00:50:32,300 --> 00:50:34,900
what they were doing in 1902, 
when nobody wanted to buy them, 

960
00:50:34,900 --> 00:50:38,300
which is looking at suffering 
without sentimentality and 

961
00:50:38,300 --> 00:50:41,500
without distance Laden. 
Was El Divino the Museum of 

962
00:50:41,500 --> 00:50:44,800
Modern Art still stopping people
in the gallery, the way it 

963
00:50:44,800 --> 00:50:48,600
stopped everyone who saw it in 
Picasso studio in 1907, still 

964
00:50:48,600 --> 00:50:52,000
refusing to show you what you 
expect to be shown Guernica in 

965
00:50:52,000 --> 00:50:55,700
Madrid, where 11,000 people a 
day come to stand in front of it

966
00:50:55,700 --> 00:50:59,000
and feel what it feels like to 
be in a room with a painting 

967
00:50:59,000 --> 00:51:02,500
that will not let War be 
abstract, the old guitarist in 

968
00:51:02,500 --> 00:51:05,400
Chicago. 
A been told, man, cradling an 

969
00:51:05,400 --> 00:51:07,600
enormous instrument in a room 
full of cold blue. 

970
00:51:07,600 --> 00:51:11,500
The guitar the only warm thing 
playing music for no audience in

971
00:51:11,500 --> 00:51:14,100
a painting that was made in a 
period when Picasso could not 

972
00:51:14,100 --> 00:51:17,400
sell paintings and was burning 
drawings to stay warm and had 

973
00:51:17,400 --> 00:51:20,600
just lost his closest friend. 
He was a boy in Malaga, who 

974
00:51:20,600 --> 00:51:22,000
could draw before he could 
speak. 

975
00:51:22,000 --> 00:51:24,400
His first word was the word. 
For pencil. 

976
00:51:24,400 --> 00:51:27,600
He drew pigeons for his father 
and then painted over his 

977
00:51:27,600 --> 00:51:28,900
father's unfinished. 
Pigeon. 

978
00:51:28,900 --> 00:51:31,800
And his father, understood what 
he was looking at and gave him 

979
00:51:31,800 --> 00:51:35,900
his brushes, he went to 
Barcelona at 14 and passed an 

980
00:51:35,900 --> 00:51:38,400
entrance examination in a week 
that was supposed to take a 

981
00:51:38,400 --> 00:51:41,400
month. 
He went to Paris at 20 and moved

982
00:51:41,400 --> 00:51:43,900
into a leaking building in March
and began to work. 

983
00:51:44,600 --> 00:51:48,100
He worked for the next 71 years 
without stopping except when 

984
00:51:48,100 --> 00:51:51,600
grief stopped him briefly and 
exhaustion, slowed him for a 

985
00:51:51,600 --> 00:51:55,300
year and his body fail him in 
small ways that he ignored, he 

986
00:51:55,300 --> 00:51:57,500
painted until three in the 
morning on the last night of his

987
00:51:57,500 --> 00:52:01,600
life, the work is still here. 
All of it, the pigeons and the 

988
00:52:01,600 --> 00:52:04,500
Beggars, and the broken guitars,
and the fractured faces, and the

989
00:52:04,500 --> 00:52:08,400
screaming horse, and the skull, 
like self-portrait of a 90 year 

990
00:52:08,400 --> 00:52:10,900
old man looking at, what was 
coming and drawing it anyway. 

991
00:52:11,800 --> 00:52:15,300
If you are still awake my tired 
dumplings that is Pablo Picasso.

992
00:52:15,300 --> 00:52:18,200
If you fell asleep, somewhere 
around the blue period or the 

993
00:52:18,208 --> 00:52:21,900
shed in Monmouth or the blue 
guitar in Chicago which would be

994
00:52:21,900 --> 00:52:23,300
a very good place to fall 
asleep. 

995
00:52:23,300 --> 00:52:25,500
That is exactly what this was 
for. 

996
00:52:26,400 --> 00:52:29,700
If you have a hand free from 
wherever it is a like and a 

997
00:52:29,700 --> 00:52:32,600
subscribe cost, you nothing and 
helps the channel more than you 

998
00:52:32,600 --> 00:52:35,000
would think. 
It is, the least Barrack thing 

999
00:52:35,000 --> 00:52:37,700
you can do with a finger and 
Picasso would have approved of 

1000
00:52:37,700 --> 00:52:46,700
economy. 
Good night, Before alphabets 

1001
00:52:46,700 --> 00:52:49,300
were printed by machines or 
taped onto glowing screens, 

1002
00:52:49,300 --> 00:52:52,900
human hands, shape every letter 
with deliberate care. 

1003
00:52:54,000 --> 00:52:57,000
You're about to step into the 
quiet world of those who turned 

1004
00:52:57,000 --> 00:53:00,600
writing into an art form that 
demanded years of practice and 

1005
00:53:00,600 --> 00:53:04,200
endless patience the Morning. 
Light filters through rice 

1006
00:53:04,200 --> 00:53:07,400
paper, windows, and touches your
workspace, you have been awake 

1007
00:53:07,400 --> 00:53:10,100
since before Dawn because the 
best hours for calligraphy 

1008
00:53:10,100 --> 00:53:12,500
arrived, when the world is still
half asleep. 

1009
00:53:13,300 --> 00:53:15,900
The stone on your desk. 
Waits for you to grind the ink 

1010
00:53:15,900 --> 00:53:19,300
stick against its smooth 
surface, this ritual never 

1011
00:53:19,300 --> 00:53:22,000
changes you. 
Add a few drops of water and 

1012
00:53:22,000 --> 00:53:23,800
begin. 
The circular motion that your 

1013
00:53:23,800 --> 00:53:27,600
teacher demonstrated 3,000 times
until it became As Natural as 

1014
00:53:27,600 --> 00:53:30,200
breathing. 
The grinding takes seven minutes

1015
00:53:30,200 --> 00:53:32,400
to today. 
Sometimes it takes 10. 

1016
00:53:32,400 --> 00:53:35,200
You learned long ago. 
That rushing, this step produces

1017
00:53:35,200 --> 00:53:38,900
Inc, that lacks depth and 
character the friction between 

1018
00:53:38,900 --> 00:53:42,600
Stone and stick creates a sound 
like distant waves on Sand. 

1019
00:53:42,600 --> 00:53:46,100
Your wrist moves in steady 
circles while your mind empties 

1020
00:53:46,100 --> 00:53:50,200
itself of yesterday's concerns 
and tomorrow's obligations Inc 

1021
00:53:50,200 --> 00:53:53,500
pools in the shallow. 
Well of the stone you test its 

1022
00:53:53,500 --> 00:53:56,300
consistency by lifting the stick
and watching how the liquid 

1023
00:53:56,300 --> 00:53:59,600
falls back into the reservoir 
too thin, and your characters 

1024
00:53:59,600 --> 00:54:03,500
will look pale and uncertain to 
thick and the brush will drag 

1025
00:54:03,500 --> 00:54:05,000
across the paper like a 
reluctant. 

1026
00:54:05,000 --> 00:54:08,000
Mule. 
This particular Darkness has the

1027
00:54:08,000 --> 00:54:10,700
right weight. 
You set the stick aside and 

1028
00:54:10,700 --> 00:54:12,500
arrange your brushes. 
In the order, you will need 

1029
00:54:12,508 --> 00:54:15,100
them. 
The largest brush stands as tall

1030
00:54:15,100 --> 00:54:18,500
as your hand, its bristles. 
Come from the Tails of horses 

1031
00:54:18,500 --> 00:54:21,800
that grazed in Mountain pastures
where the Grass Grows tough and 

1032
00:54:21,800 --> 00:54:25,500
wiry the medium brush holds 
Badger fur known for its spring 

1033
00:54:25,500 --> 00:54:28,700
and resilience. 
The smallest brush tapers to a 

1034
00:54:28,700 --> 00:54:32,200
point finer than a single hair. 
You made this one yourself last 

1035
00:54:32,200 --> 00:54:33,800
winter. 
After your old detail, brush 

1036
00:54:33,800 --> 00:54:37,200
finally gave up its shape, paper
weights in neat, Stacks to your 

1037
00:54:37,200 --> 00:54:40,700
left, each sheet cost more than 
a day's wages for an ordinary 

1038
00:54:40,700 --> 00:54:43,200
laborer. 
The paper maker who supplies you

1039
00:54:43,200 --> 00:54:46,200
operate a small workshop on the 
edge of the city where he 

1040
00:54:46,200 --> 00:54:49,100
follows recipes passed down 
through his family for six 

1041
00:54:49,100 --> 00:54:51,900
Generations. 
He knows you by name and sets 

1042
00:54:51,900 --> 00:54:54,100
aside his finest sheets when you
place an order. 

1043
00:54:54,800 --> 00:54:57,400
You do not think about cost 
often because thinking about 

1044
00:54:57,400 --> 00:55:01,000
cost makes your hands, the 
moment you begin calculating, 

1045
00:55:01,000 --> 00:55:04,100
the monetary value of each 
stroke your brushwork suffers 

1046
00:55:04,100 --> 00:55:07,300
the characters become tight and 
controlled in ways that look 

1047
00:55:07,300 --> 00:55:10,900
mechanical rather than alive. 
Better to forget the price and 

1048
00:55:10,900 --> 00:55:13,900
focus entirely on making each 
Mark, as perfect as possible. 

1049
00:55:13,900 --> 00:55:17,500
The paper comes from Mulberry 
bark that was beaten and soaked 

1050
00:55:17,500 --> 00:55:19,100
and spread thin as butterfly 
wings. 

1051
00:55:20,300 --> 00:55:23,300
The process takes weeks from raw
material to finish sheet. 

1052
00:55:23,300 --> 00:55:26,000
The bark must be harvested at 
the correct season. 

1053
00:55:26,000 --> 00:55:29,600
When sap flow is optimal, it 
gets cleaned and boiled and 

1054
00:55:29,600 --> 00:55:32,700
beaten with wooden mallets until
the fibers separate these 

1055
00:55:32,700 --> 00:55:36,000
fibers, then float in water, and
settle onto screens in thin 

1056
00:55:36,000 --> 00:55:37,800
layers that become paper after 
drying. 

1057
00:55:38,600 --> 00:55:41,000
Light passes through it, when 
you hold it up to the window. 

1058
00:55:41,000 --> 00:55:45,100
Your first practice sheet goes 
down on the desk, you wait its 

1059
00:55:45,100 --> 00:55:48,400
Corners with small stones worn, 
Smooth by a river that dried up 

1060
00:55:48,400 --> 00:55:51,600
200 years ago. 
The stones carry a pleasant 

1061
00:55:51,600 --> 00:55:53,900
coolness that somehow makes your
thoughts clearer. 

1062
00:55:53,900 --> 00:55:56,300
You dip. 
The large brush into the ink and

1063
00:55:56,300 --> 00:55:58,900
press it, gently against the 
side of the stone to remove 

1064
00:55:58,900 --> 00:56:01,500
excess liquid. 
The first stroke of the day is 

1065
00:56:01,500 --> 00:56:04,400
always the hardest. 
Your arm feels stiff to spite 

1066
00:56:04,400 --> 00:56:07,400
the stretching exercises you 
performed while the ink was 

1067
00:56:07,400 --> 00:56:11,100
grinding. 
You take three slow breaths and 

1068
00:56:11,100 --> 00:56:14,800
let the brush touch the paper. 
The character for Mountain 

1069
00:56:14,800 --> 00:56:18,400
begins with a strong vertical 
line, your brush moves down with

1070
00:56:18,400 --> 00:56:21,400
controlled pressure and the ink 
spreads into the fibers. 

1071
00:56:21,400 --> 00:56:25,100
Each stroke requires a different
combination of speed and force. 

1072
00:56:25,100 --> 00:56:28,600
The second stroke angles to the 
left, like a peak leaning into 

1073
00:56:28,600 --> 00:56:31,800
the wind, the third stroke 
mirrors, it on the right side, 

1074
00:56:31,800 --> 00:56:34,000
you step back and examine your 
work. 

1075
00:56:34,700 --> 00:56:38,800
The character is acceptable but 
not inspired the left Peak looks

1076
00:56:38,800 --> 00:56:41,000
slightly weak. 
As if the mountain might topple 

1077
00:56:41,000 --> 00:56:44,700
in the strong Breeze, you try 
again on a fresh sheet, this 

1078
00:56:44,700 --> 00:56:47,300
time the stroke feel more 
balanced, but the vertical line 

1079
00:56:47,300 --> 00:56:50,200
wave is near the bottom 
mountains, do not waive her, 

1080
00:56:50,200 --> 00:56:52,900
they stand firm against 
centuries of Storms and 

1081
00:56:52,900 --> 00:56:55,600
earthquakes the third attempt, 
pleases you more. 

1082
00:56:56,500 --> 00:56:59,100
The brush moved with without 
hesitation and the three 

1083
00:56:59,100 --> 00:57:01,800
stroke's work together to 
suggest something solid and 

1084
00:57:01,800 --> 00:57:04,600
eternal. 
You hang this sheet on a line 

1085
00:57:04,600 --> 00:57:07,100
strung across the room. 
Were completed work. 

1086
00:57:07,100 --> 00:57:09,700
Dries in the morning. 
Are Like evening, you will 

1087
00:57:09,708 --> 00:57:12,900
decide whether it deserves to be
saved or recycled into practice 

1088
00:57:12,900 --> 00:57:15,000
paper. 
Your teacher would arrive at 

1089
00:57:15,000 --> 00:57:16,300
this point in the morning 
routine. 

1090
00:57:16,300 --> 00:57:20,200
He died for years ago, but you 
still sent his presence behind 

1091
00:57:20,200 --> 00:57:22,600
your left shoulder. 
During these early hours, he 

1092
00:57:22,600 --> 00:57:25,100
would examine your mounting 
character and say nothing for a 

1093
00:57:25,108 --> 00:57:27,500
long moment. 
Then he might point to the way, 

1094
00:57:27,500 --> 00:57:31,300
the brush left, the paper after 
the final stroke two abrupt. 

1095
00:57:32,000 --> 00:57:34,300
A true Master allows the brush 
to lift gradually. 

1096
00:57:34,300 --> 00:57:37,700
So the ending feels inevitable 
rather than chopped off like a 

1097
00:57:37,700 --> 00:57:39,900
conversation interrupted by a 
rude neighbor. 

1098
00:57:40,700 --> 00:57:43,700
You practice Mountains for 
another 30 minutes, the 

1099
00:57:43,700 --> 00:57:46,800
character appears simple with 
only three strokes, but those 

1100
00:57:46,800 --> 00:57:49,400
Strokes contain all the 
principles of good, calligraphy,

1101
00:57:49,400 --> 00:57:54,100
balance Rhythm, controlled 
energy, mindful completion. 

1102
00:57:54,900 --> 00:57:57,200
When you can write a mountain 
that captures the essence of 

1103
00:57:57,200 --> 00:58:00,500
mountains, you will be ready to 
tackle more complex characters, 

1104
00:58:00,500 --> 00:58:04,300
the sun climbs higher and you 
switch to a different text 

1105
00:58:04,300 --> 00:58:06,500
today. 
You're working on a passage from

1106
00:58:06,500 --> 00:58:09,800
ancient poem about Autumn leaves
falling on a forgotten path. 

1107
00:58:09,800 --> 00:58:14,100
The first character requires 11,
stroke's, your hand traces, the 

1108
00:58:14,108 --> 00:58:17,700
pattern in the air of the paper 
before committing ink to fiber. 

1109
00:58:17,700 --> 00:58:20,400
This helps your muscles. 
Remember the proper sequence and

1110
00:58:20,400 --> 00:58:23,600
prevents you from having to stop
mid character to recall the next

1111
00:58:23,600 --> 00:58:26,000
move. 
The brush touches down and 

1112
00:58:26,000 --> 00:58:27,000
begins. 
Its dance. 

1113
00:58:27,000 --> 00:58:29,300
Stroke. 
One is a horizontal line that 

1114
00:58:29,300 --> 00:58:31,000
establishes the width of the 
character. 

1115
00:58:31,000 --> 00:58:33,500
Stroke two drops vertically from
the Left. 

1116
00:58:33,500 --> 00:58:36,100
End, stroke three hooks slightly
at the bottom. 

1117
00:58:37,100 --> 00:58:39,600
By stroke 7. 
Your mind has quieted enough 

1118
00:58:39,600 --> 00:58:43,100
that thinking stops and the 
brush seems to move on its own. 

1119
00:58:44,500 --> 00:58:46,700
The remaining Strokes flow 
naturally and the character 

1120
00:58:46,700 --> 00:58:50,000
appears complete on the page, 
this state of effortless 

1121
00:58:50,000 --> 00:58:53,000
concentration is what you 
practice for it arrives. 

1122
00:58:53,000 --> 00:58:55,500
Unpredictably like a bird 
landing on your window sill. 

1123
00:58:56,200 --> 00:58:58,300
You cannot force it or summon it
through willpower. 

1124
00:58:58,300 --> 00:59:01,800
The only path is through endless
repetition until technique 

1125
00:59:01,800 --> 00:59:04,700
becomes invisible and the 
barrier between your intention 

1126
00:59:04,700 --> 00:59:09,400
and the mark on paper dissolves.
You finish the entire poem by 

1127
00:59:09,400 --> 00:59:13,200
mid-morning 20 characters 
arranged in vertical columns 

1128
00:59:13,200 --> 00:59:16,500
that read from right to left. 
The text fills are Scroll of 

1129
00:59:16,500 --> 00:59:20,100
paper that will eventually be 
mounted on silk backing and hung

1130
00:59:20,100 --> 00:59:22,500
in the home of a merchant who 
commissioned this work three 

1131
00:59:22,500 --> 00:59:25,200
months ago. 
He wants the poem displayed in 

1132
00:59:25,200 --> 00:59:27,300
his reception room where 
visitors will see it while 

1133
00:59:27,300 --> 00:59:29,200
waiting for him to finish 
counting his money. 

1134
00:59:30,000 --> 00:59:32,700
The merchant has no deep 
appreciation for calligraphy. 

1135
00:59:32,700 --> 00:59:36,200
He simply knows that owning 
handwritten Scrolls, signals 

1136
00:59:36,200 --> 00:59:39,500
refinement in education. 
This bothers you less than it 

1137
00:59:39,500 --> 00:59:41,600
wants. 
Did your teacher used to say 

1138
00:59:41,600 --> 00:59:43,200
that calligraphy serves many 
purposes? 

1139
00:59:43,200 --> 00:59:47,300
Sometimes it preserves sacred 
texts, sometimes it decorates 

1140
00:59:47,300 --> 00:59:50,300
temples, sometimes it helps 
Merchants prove, they have a 

1141
00:59:50,300 --> 00:59:54,200
certain level of social standing
all of these purposes of valid 

1142
00:59:54,200 --> 00:59:56,900
because they all require someone
to dedicate their life to 

1143
00:59:56,900 --> 01:00:00,200
mastering the brush. 
You eat a simple lunch of cold 

1144
01:00:00,200 --> 01:00:04,000
rice and pickled vegetables. 
Food tastes of nothing in 

1145
01:00:04,000 --> 01:00:05,800
particular, which is exactly 
what you want. 

1146
01:00:06,500 --> 01:00:09,700
Strong flavors distract from the
afternoon's work, you have a 

1147
01:00:09,700 --> 01:00:12,600
commission that requires copying
an entire chapter from a 

1148
01:00:12,600 --> 01:00:15,500
philosophical text. 
The client wants 40 pages 

1149
01:00:15,500 --> 01:00:16,700
finished by the end of the 
month. 

1150
01:00:16,700 --> 01:00:20,100
You can completed 12 Pages last 
week and you will finish eight 

1151
01:00:20,100 --> 01:00:23,100
more this week. 
If your hand cooperates, copying

1152
01:00:23,100 --> 01:00:25,700
texts is different from creating
original compositions. 

1153
01:00:25,700 --> 01:00:29,500
Your creativity is limited to 
the quality of your strokes and 

1154
01:00:29,500 --> 01:00:33,600
the spacing of your characters. 
The words of fixed the meaning 

1155
01:00:33,600 --> 01:00:36,200
is established. 
Your job is to render them 

1156
01:00:36,200 --> 01:00:38,900
clearly and beautifully. 
So future readers can absorb the

1157
01:00:38,900 --> 01:00:41,600
wisdom without struggling to 
decipher messy handwriting. 

1158
01:00:42,700 --> 01:00:45,500
This particular text discusses 
the nature of change and 

1159
01:00:45,508 --> 01:00:48,700
permanents the philosopher. 
Argues that everything flows, 

1160
01:00:48,700 --> 01:00:52,000
like water in a stream, and you 
never step into the same river 

1161
01:00:52,000 --> 01:00:54,500
twice. 
You have copied these words so 

1162
01:00:54,500 --> 01:00:57,100
many times that you have 
memorized entire passages. 

1163
01:00:57,100 --> 01:01:00,300
Sometimes while grinding Inc, 
you find yourself, reciting 

1164
01:01:00,300 --> 01:01:03,900
paragraphs in your head, the 
irony does not Escape you here. 

1165
01:01:03,900 --> 01:01:06,100
You are copying thoughts about 
constant change. 

1166
01:01:06,100 --> 01:01:09,100
Using a skill that has remained 
essentially unchanged for over. 

1167
01:01:09,100 --> 01:01:12,400
1,000 years, your ancestors in 
this profession. 

1168
01:01:12,400 --> 01:01:14,900
Use the same tools and followed 
the same principles. 

1169
01:01:14,900 --> 01:01:18,700
They ground in constant Stones. 
They practice characters and 

1170
01:01:18,700 --> 01:01:21,100
their hands. 
Cramped, they worried about the 

1171
01:01:21,100 --> 01:01:24,400
consistency of their brush work 
and whether their vertical lines

1172
01:01:24,400 --> 01:01:29,000
to truly vertical, Your range of
fresh stack of paper and begin, 

1173
01:01:29,000 --> 01:01:32,000
the afternoon's copying session.
The first character is 

1174
01:01:32,000 --> 01:01:36,000
complicated with 17 Strokes that
weave together like basket reads

1175
01:01:36,000 --> 01:01:39,700
you have written this character 
at least 500 times, but you 

1176
01:01:39,700 --> 01:01:42,200
still check your reference copy 
to make sure you remember the 

1177
01:01:42,200 --> 01:01:45,100
proper stroke order writing 
characters in the wrong 

1178
01:01:45,100 --> 01:01:47,300
sequence. 
Is considered a serious error, 

1179
01:01:47,300 --> 01:01:51,300
even if the final result looks 
acceptable, there is a correct 

1180
01:01:51,300 --> 01:01:53,200
way and all other ways are 
wrong. 

1181
01:01:53,200 --> 01:01:55,900
Your brush moves through the 
complex pattern. 

1182
01:01:55,900 --> 01:01:59,500
Each stroke Builds on the 
previous one and the character 

1183
01:01:59,500 --> 01:02:02,100
gradually emerges like a 
landscape appearing through 

1184
01:02:02,100 --> 01:02:05,600
lifting fog, you finish and move
to the next character. 

1185
01:02:05,600 --> 01:02:10,200
Then the next then the next time
becomes elastic during the 

1186
01:02:10,200 --> 01:02:13,500
session's you might look up and 
discover that two hours of past 

1187
01:02:13,500 --> 01:02:15,900
while your conscious mind was 
occupied with nothing more than 

1188
01:02:15,900 --> 01:02:18,000
the proper thickness of 
horizontal lines. 

1189
01:02:18,900 --> 01:02:22,200
The afternoon sun shifts across 
your workspace, you adjust your 

1190
01:02:22,200 --> 01:02:25,100
position slightly to keep the 
light falling on your paper at 

1191
01:02:25,100 --> 01:02:28,000
the correct angle. 
Shadows are the enemy of good 

1192
01:02:28,000 --> 01:02:31,100
calligraphy because they make it
impossible to judge the true 

1193
01:02:31,100 --> 01:02:34,500
darkness of your ink. 
You need consistent lighting to 

1194
01:02:34,500 --> 01:02:37,700
maintain consistent quality 
across, 40 pages of text. 

1195
01:02:38,500 --> 01:02:41,700
By late afternoon. 
Your hand begins to Tire the 

1196
01:02:41,700 --> 01:02:44,400
small muscles in your palm and 
fingers are asking for rest. 

1197
01:02:44,400 --> 01:02:47,400
You complete one more page and 
then stop for the day. 

1198
01:02:47,400 --> 01:02:50,900
Pushing through fatigue leads to
sloppy work that you will only 

1199
01:02:50,900 --> 01:02:54,000
have to redo tomorrow your 
teacher taught you to recognize 

1200
01:02:54,000 --> 01:02:56,400
the moment when continuing 
becomes counterproductive. 

1201
01:02:56,400 --> 01:02:59,400
You clean your brushes with care
that borders on. 

1202
01:02:59,400 --> 01:03:01,900
Reverence. 
Each brush gets rinsed in clean 

1203
01:03:01,900 --> 01:03:04,500
water until no. 
Trace of ink remains in the 

1204
01:03:04,500 --> 01:03:07,000
bristles. 
Then you reshape the tip using 

1205
01:03:07,000 --> 01:03:09,500
your fingers and hang the brush 
to dry with the bristles 

1206
01:03:09,500 --> 01:03:12,800
pointing downward. 
This prevents water from seeping

1207
01:03:12,800 --> 01:03:15,800
into the bamboo handle where it 
might cause the wood to split 

1208
01:03:15,800 --> 01:03:19,300
the ink Stone requires scrubbing
with small, stiff, brush to 

1209
01:03:19,300 --> 01:03:22,700
remove dried residue. 
You add fresh water and work the

1210
01:03:22,700 --> 01:03:24,200
brush and circles until the 
stone. 

1211
01:03:24,200 --> 01:03:27,700
Surface feels smooth again some 
calligraphers keep their Stone 

1212
01:03:27,700 --> 01:03:29,300
spotless enough to serve food 
on. 

1213
01:03:29,300 --> 01:03:32,100
You're not quite that for 
steadiest but you do respect 

1214
01:03:32,100 --> 01:03:33,700
your tools as partners in your 
work. 

1215
01:03:34,600 --> 01:03:36,900
Your practice sheets, go into a 
basket for recycling. 

1216
01:03:36,900 --> 01:03:40,300
The merchants commission, scroll
gets carefully, rolled and 

1217
01:03:40,300 --> 01:03:42,500
placed in a wooden tube to 
protect it from dust and 

1218
01:03:42,500 --> 01:03:45,100
moisture. 
The pages of philosophical text,

1219
01:03:45,100 --> 01:03:47,500
join a growing stack that you 
cover with a clean cloth. 

1220
01:03:47,500 --> 01:03:51,500
Everything has its proper place 
and every evening ends with this

1221
01:03:51,500 --> 01:03:54,700
same ritual of organization and 
cleaning, you stretch your 

1222
01:03:54,700 --> 01:03:57,100
fingers and rotate your wrist to
work out the stiffness. 

1223
01:03:58,100 --> 01:04:00,700
Some calligraphers, develop 
permanent cramps and Tremors, 

1224
01:04:00,700 --> 01:04:04,000
after Decades of this work you 
have been lucky so far. 

1225
01:04:04,000 --> 01:04:07,400
Your hands remained steady and 
your grip stays reliable. 

1226
01:04:07,400 --> 01:04:10,100
You attribute. 
This partly to Good Fortune. 

1227
01:04:10,100 --> 01:04:12,800
And partly to the finger 
exercises, your teacher insisted

1228
01:04:12,800 --> 01:04:15,900
you perform every morning. 
The evening meal is rice again 

1229
01:04:15,900 --> 01:04:17,800
with a bit of fish and some 
greens from your garden. 

1230
01:04:17,800 --> 01:04:21,600
You eat slowly, and think about 
nothing in particular, food is 

1231
01:04:21,600 --> 01:04:24,500
fuel for the body. 
You need the love it, nor hate 

1232
01:04:24,500 --> 01:04:26,000
it. 
It's simply is. 

1233
01:04:26,900 --> 01:04:29,600
This attitude toward food 
developed naturally over years 

1234
01:04:29,600 --> 01:04:32,600
of training, when thinking too 
much about meals seemed like a 

1235
01:04:32,600 --> 01:04:35,000
waste of mental energy. 
Better spent on calligraphy 

1236
01:04:35,000 --> 01:04:38,000
after dinner, you allow yourself
one luxury. 

1237
01:04:38,000 --> 01:04:41,100
You bring out your collection of
old Scrolls purchased from 

1238
01:04:41,100 --> 01:04:44,300
various dealers over the years 
most of them are practiced 

1239
01:04:44,300 --> 01:04:47,000
pieces or unsigned works. 
That someone's descendants sold 

1240
01:04:47,000 --> 01:04:48,400
off. 
When clearing out an estate. 

1241
01:04:49,400 --> 01:04:52,400
You study these Scrolls, not to 
copy them directly, but to 

1242
01:04:52,400 --> 01:04:54,600
absorb the different styles and 
approaches that other 

1243
01:04:54,600 --> 01:04:56,000
calligraphers brought to their 
work. 

1244
01:04:56,800 --> 01:04:59,500
Tonight, you unroll a scroll 
that shows bamboo stalks, 

1245
01:04:59,500 --> 01:05:02,700
bending and win. 
The artist used very wetting and

1246
01:05:02,700 --> 01:05:05,000
quick stroke to suggestion and 
flexibility. 

1247
01:05:05,000 --> 01:05:09,500
Each Leaf is a single decisive. 
Mark, the entire composition 

1248
01:05:09,500 --> 01:05:11,700
probably took less than 10 
minutes to complete. 

1249
01:05:12,400 --> 01:05:15,700
It captures something essential 
about bamboo that are more 

1250
01:05:15,700 --> 01:05:18,800
careful rendering might miss. 
You wonder about the person who 

1251
01:05:18,800 --> 01:05:21,200
created this with a young or 
old. 

1252
01:05:21,200 --> 01:05:24,100
Did they work quickly out of 
skill or impatience? 

1253
01:05:24,100 --> 01:05:27,300
Did they know this piece would 
still be studied 100 years after

1254
01:05:27,300 --> 01:05:30,100
their death? 
These questions have no answers,

1255
01:05:30,100 --> 01:05:33,400
but asking them feels important 
somehow the scroll goes back 

1256
01:05:33,400 --> 01:05:35,800
into its protective box and you 
prepare for sleep. 

1257
01:05:35,800 --> 01:05:38,600
Tomorrow will be another day of 
grinding income. 

1258
01:05:38,600 --> 01:05:42,600
Practicing Strokes the day after
that will be the same the day 

1259
01:05:42,600 --> 01:05:45,600
after that too. 
This repetition might seem 

1260
01:05:45,600 --> 01:05:48,800
tedious to someone outside your 
profession that you find comfort

1261
01:05:48,800 --> 01:05:52,000
in the predictability. 
Each day offers another chance 

1262
01:05:52,000 --> 01:05:54,800
to improve by Smalling 
increments that accumulate over 

1263
01:05:54,800 --> 01:05:56,600
years into something approaching
mastery. 

1264
01:05:57,900 --> 01:06:00,200
You lie down on your sleeping 
mat and close your eyes. 

1265
01:06:00,200 --> 01:06:03,500
The smell of ink, still lingers 
on your fingers, despite washing

1266
01:06:03,500 --> 01:06:05,800
them twice. 
This sentence has become so 

1267
01:06:05,800 --> 01:06:09,100
familiar that you barely notice.
At any more it is simply the 

1268
01:06:09,100 --> 01:06:12,800
smell of your life. 
Your training began when you 

1269
01:06:12,800 --> 01:06:15,400
were 12 years old. 
Your parents brought you to the 

1270
01:06:15,400 --> 01:06:18,700
master Studio on a cold morning.
When Frost made patterns on the 

1271
01:06:18,700 --> 01:06:22,000
Windows, you remember feeling 
terrified of the old man who 

1272
01:06:22,000 --> 01:06:24,900
barely looked up from his work. 
When you were introduced he 

1273
01:06:24,900 --> 01:06:27,900
asked you to write your name 
using the brush and Inky 

1274
01:06:27,900 --> 01:06:31,700
provided your hand shook so 
badly that the characters came 

1275
01:06:31,700 --> 01:06:35,200
out twisted and uneven The 
master studied your attempt for 

1276
01:06:35,208 --> 01:06:38,500
a long moment and then nodded, 
once he told your parents to 

1277
01:06:38,500 --> 01:06:41,100
return in a week, if you 
survived that week without 

1278
01:06:41,100 --> 01:06:42,800
running away, you could stay and
learn. 

1279
01:06:43,600 --> 01:06:47,800
First week, consisted entirely 
of grinding Inc, you grounding 

1280
01:06:47,800 --> 01:06:49,900
for the master. 
And for his three, senior, 

1281
01:06:49,900 --> 01:06:53,100
students, who barely 
acknowledged Your Existence, you

1282
01:06:53,100 --> 01:06:56,700
grounding, until your arm burned
and your fingers blistered you 

1283
01:06:56,700 --> 01:06:59,900
ground Inc in the morning and in
the afternoon and sometimes late

1284
01:06:59,900 --> 01:07:01,900
into the evening. 
When the master decided he 

1285
01:07:01,900 --> 01:07:04,300
needed to specially Find ink for
a special Commission. 

1286
01:07:05,500 --> 01:07:07,300
No one explained. 
Why this was necessary? 

1287
01:07:07,300 --> 01:07:11,200
No one told you how long this 
phase would last you simply 

1288
01:07:11,200 --> 01:07:14,200
grounding and watch the senior 
students work and tried not to 

1289
01:07:14,200 --> 01:07:16,900
cry from boredom. 
And frustration, on the fourth 

1290
01:07:16,900 --> 01:07:19,800
day, you made the ink too thin, 
and the master slapped, your 

1291
01:07:19,800 --> 01:07:22,900
hand with a bamboo stick. 
The blow was not hard enough to 

1292
01:07:22,900 --> 01:07:27,000
cause real injury, but it stung,
both your palm and your pride on

1293
01:07:27,000 --> 01:07:29,500
the seventh day, the master 
handed you a brush for the first

1294
01:07:29,500 --> 01:07:32,600
time, it was an old brush with 
bristles that no longer held 

1295
01:07:32,600 --> 01:07:35,700
their shape properly. 
He told you to practice vertical

1296
01:07:35,700 --> 01:07:38,600
lines on cheap paper. 
For the next month, you are not 

1297
01:07:38,600 --> 01:07:41,900
to attempt any characters, or 
creative work, just vertical 

1298
01:07:41,900 --> 01:07:44,200
lines, thousands of vertical 
lines. 

1299
01:07:44,200 --> 01:07:46,700
You drew lines, and they haunted
your dreams. 

1300
01:07:46,700 --> 01:07:51,100
Straight lines, thick lines thin
lines, that started with 

1301
01:07:51,100 --> 01:07:54,000
confidence, and ended with a 
whisper lines. 

1302
01:07:54,000 --> 01:07:56,600
That began tentatively and grew 
Bolder toward the bottom. 

1303
01:07:56,600 --> 01:08:00,200
Each line required complete 
attention despite the apparent 

1304
01:08:00,200 --> 01:08:01,900
Simplicity of drawing a straight
Mark. 

1305
01:08:01,900 --> 01:08:05,300
The challenge was maintaining 
consistent pressure throughout 

1306
01:08:05,500 --> 01:08:09,200
the entire stroke begginers tend
to press harder at the start and

1307
01:08:09,200 --> 01:08:11,800
lightning toward the end. 
Well, they begin lightly 

1308
01:08:11,800 --> 01:08:14,900
impressed down as they gain 
confidence, either pattern 

1309
01:08:14,900 --> 01:08:18,100
produces lines with uneven width
that reveal on certainly in the 

1310
01:08:18,108 --> 01:08:20,500
hand. 
The master would occasionally 

1311
01:08:20,500 --> 01:08:23,800
glance your work and grunt 
non-committal before returning 

1312
01:08:23,800 --> 01:08:27,000
to his own projects. 
These grunts contained no 

1313
01:08:27,000 --> 01:08:30,300
information, you could decode, 
you learned to ignore them and 

1314
01:08:30,300 --> 01:08:33,000
focus solely on the quality of 
the lines you were producing. 

1315
01:08:33,700 --> 01:08:36,200
Seeking approval from each 
glance would have driven you mad

1316
01:08:36,200 --> 01:08:38,600
within a week after the month of
lines. 

1317
01:08:38,600 --> 01:08:42,000
You graduated to horizontal 
Strokes, then diagonal Strokes, 

1318
01:08:42,000 --> 01:08:45,300
then curves, and hooks. 
Each type of stroke required 

1319
01:08:45,300 --> 01:08:47,899
weeks of practice before you 
could move on to the next. 

1320
01:08:49,000 --> 01:08:52,300
By the time you are allowed to 
attempt actual characters, eight

1321
01:08:52,300 --> 01:08:54,100
months and passed in your 
understanding of what 

1322
01:08:54,100 --> 01:08:56,600
calligraphy required had 
fundamentally changed. 

1323
01:08:57,399 --> 01:09:00,399
Used to think it was about 
making pretty letters you now 

1324
01:09:00,408 --> 01:09:02,100
understood. 
It was about training, your hand

1325
01:09:02,100 --> 01:09:05,200
and mine to work together with 
such Precision that nothing was 

1326
01:09:05,200 --> 01:09:08,800
left to chance or accident. 
Every movement needed to be 

1327
01:09:08,800 --> 01:09:11,500
intentional. 
And controlled spontaneity would

1328
01:09:11,500 --> 01:09:14,000
come later after technique 
became instinctive. 

1329
01:09:14,000 --> 01:09:16,600
Your first character was the 
numeral one. 

1330
01:09:16,600 --> 01:09:20,700
A single horizontal line you 
would practice horizontal lines 

1331
01:09:20,700 --> 01:09:22,200
for weeks so this should have 
been easy. 

1332
01:09:23,800 --> 01:09:26,600
But writing a line that was 
meant to be a character rather 

1333
01:09:26,600 --> 01:09:29,200
than just a practice stroke. 
Added pressure that made your 

1334
01:09:29,200 --> 01:09:32,200
hand tents. 
The line came out wobbly and 

1335
01:09:32,200 --> 01:09:35,500
uneven the master made. 
You write the numeral one 500 

1336
01:09:35,500 --> 01:09:38,300
times over the next three days. 
By the end, you could do it with

1337
01:09:38,300 --> 01:09:41,200
your eyes closed. 
The line flowed from your brush 

1338
01:09:41,200 --> 01:09:44,399
with consistent width and proper
slight taper at the ends. 

1339
01:09:45,100 --> 01:09:47,000
You felt proud until the master 
pointed out. 

1340
01:09:47,000 --> 01:09:49,800
That one was the simplest 
character in existence and you 

1341
01:09:49,800 --> 01:09:53,000
still have thousands more to 
learn years past. 

1342
01:09:53,000 --> 01:09:55,900
In this way, you progressed from
simple characters. 

1343
01:09:55,900 --> 01:09:59,300
To complex ones, you learned the
classical texts. 

1344
01:09:59,300 --> 01:10:03,200
That every educated person was 
expected to know you memorized 

1345
01:10:03,200 --> 01:10:06,500
poems and philosophical 
writings, you studied the great 

1346
01:10:06,500 --> 01:10:09,000
calligraphers of the past and 
tried to understand what made 

1347
01:10:09,000 --> 01:10:11,500
their work Transcendent, rather 
than merely competent. 

1348
01:10:12,700 --> 01:10:16,200
The master rarely praised, you 
mostly, he pointed out errors 

1349
01:10:16,200 --> 01:10:19,800
and areas for improvement, your 
verticals, lean too far, to the 

1350
01:10:19,800 --> 01:10:23,300
left, your hooks lacked, 
crispness, your spacing between 

1351
01:10:23,300 --> 01:10:26,300
characters, felt cramped on the 
rare occasions. 

1352
01:10:26,300 --> 01:10:29,000
When he said your work, showed 
promise, you felt like you would

1353
01:10:29,000 --> 01:10:32,600
want an imperial prize, other 
students came and went during 

1354
01:10:32,600 --> 01:10:35,900
your training, some lack 
dedication and left after a few 

1355
01:10:35,908 --> 01:10:39,200
months of grinding Inc, others 
showed talent, but could not 

1356
01:10:39,200 --> 01:10:42,000
accept the endless repetition 
that Mastery required. 

1357
01:10:42,900 --> 01:10:45,800
One student stayed for two years
before deciding to become a 

1358
01:10:45,800 --> 01:10:48,700
merchant instead. 
He told you that making money 

1359
01:10:48,700 --> 01:10:51,700
seemed more practical than 
perfecting brush Strokes you 

1360
01:10:51,700 --> 01:10:53,800
understood his reasoning but 
never seriously considered 

1361
01:10:53,800 --> 01:10:57,400
leaving something about the work
satisfied a need in you that had

1362
01:10:57,400 --> 01:11:00,700
no name the focused 
concentration the visible 

1363
01:11:00,700 --> 01:11:04,200
improvement over time the sense 
that you were participating in a

1364
01:11:04,200 --> 01:11:07,700
tradition that stretched back 
centuries these things mattered 

1365
01:11:07,700 --> 01:11:11,300
more than wealth or social 
status by your 22nd birthday. 

1366
01:11:11,300 --> 01:11:14,500
You would become the senior 
student two youngest students 

1367
01:11:14,500 --> 01:11:17,500
now grounding for the master 
while you worked on commission's

1368
01:11:17,500 --> 01:11:20,600
that paid actual money. 
The master took a percentage of 

1369
01:11:20,600 --> 01:11:23,500
your earnings, but you accepted 
this Arrangement without 

1370
01:11:23,500 --> 01:11:26,100
resentment. 
He had given you a skill that 

1371
01:11:26,100 --> 01:11:30,100
would support you for life. 
The master Deed on a spring 

1372
01:11:30,100 --> 01:11:32,900
morning when cherry blossoms 
were falling like pink snow. 

1373
01:11:33,800 --> 01:11:36,300
You found him at his desk with a
brush still in his hand. 

1374
01:11:36,300 --> 01:11:39,300
He had been writing a character.
That was never finished. 

1375
01:11:40,100 --> 01:11:42,500
You completed the stroke of 
according to what you believed. 

1376
01:11:42,500 --> 01:11:45,800
His intention had been then you 
raped his body and notified his 

1377
01:11:45,800 --> 01:11:49,200
family and disciples. 
A funeral Drew calligraphers 

1378
01:11:49,200 --> 01:11:52,500
from a cross, the region, they 
came to pay respects and to view

1379
01:11:52,500 --> 01:11:55,900
the Masters final Works. 
Displayed in his Studio, you 

1380
01:11:55,900 --> 01:11:58,700
stood in the corner and listened
to them, discusses technique and

1381
01:11:58,700 --> 01:12:02,100
his influence on the art form, 
some of them recognized you as 

1382
01:12:02,100 --> 01:12:04,800
his senior student and offered 
condolences mixed with subtle 

1383
01:12:04,800 --> 01:12:08,000
questions about whether you 
would continue operating the 

1384
01:12:08,000 --> 01:12:11,000
studio, you inherited the studio
because the master had no 

1385
01:12:11,000 --> 01:12:13,300
children in his family, had no 
interest in calligraphy. 

1386
01:12:13,300 --> 01:12:16,600
His widow, gave you the space 
and the tools and the reputation

1387
01:12:16,600 --> 01:12:20,300
attached to his name. 
Change you promised to maintain 

1388
01:12:20,300 --> 01:12:22,700
the standards, he had 
established and to train 

1389
01:12:22,700 --> 01:12:26,100
students who showed genuine 
promise that was four years ago.

1390
01:12:26,900 --> 01:12:30,400
You now occupy the position your
master, once held, you have two 

1391
01:12:30,400 --> 01:12:33,400
students of your own who 
grinding can practice basic 

1392
01:12:33,400 --> 01:12:36,300
strokes and probably wonder if 
they will ever create real 

1393
01:12:36,300 --> 01:12:38,800
calligraphy. 
You try to be more encouraging 

1394
01:12:38,800 --> 01:12:41,200
than your master was while 
maintaining the same rigorous 

1395
01:12:41,200 --> 01:12:44,400
standards teaching is giving you
new appreciation for how 

1396
01:12:44,400 --> 01:12:48,200
difficult the Master's job was. 
Watching students, make the same

1397
01:12:48,200 --> 01:12:50,800
mistakes repeatedly requires 
patience. 

1398
01:12:50,800 --> 01:12:54,600
You did not know you possessed. 
Explaining Concepts that seem 

1399
01:12:54,600 --> 01:12:57,200
obvious to you after years of 
practice tests, your ability to 

1400
01:12:57,200 --> 01:12:59,000
remember what it felt like to be
a beginner. 

1401
01:12:59,000 --> 01:13:03,000
Your youngest students struggles
with consistency, her Strokes 

1402
01:13:03,000 --> 01:13:06,200
vary in thickness even when she 
is trying to maintain uniform 

1403
01:13:06,200 --> 01:13:08,600
with. 
You have told her 100 times to 

1404
01:13:08,600 --> 01:13:11,400
keep steady pressure on the 
brush, but the correction never 

1405
01:13:11,400 --> 01:13:13,200
seems to stick. 
Yes. 

1406
01:13:13,200 --> 01:13:14,700
Today, you finally understood 
that. 

1407
01:13:14,700 --> 01:13:16,300
She's gripping the brush to 
tightly. 

1408
01:13:17,000 --> 01:13:20,300
Tension in her fingers transfers
to the bristles and causes 

1409
01:13:20,300 --> 01:13:23,600
unpredictable ink flow. 
You showed her how to hold the 

1410
01:13:23,600 --> 01:13:26,300
brush with relaxed fingers while
still maintaining control. 

1411
01:13:26,300 --> 01:13:29,500
The demonstration took five 
minutes but the lesson required,

1412
01:13:29,500 --> 01:13:32,600
three months of watching her 
work before you could diagnose, 

1413
01:13:32,600 --> 01:13:35,600
the root problem. 
Your master, probably, what was 

1414
01:13:35,608 --> 01:13:38,700
wrong from the beginning, but he
waited for you to discover it 

1415
01:13:38,700 --> 01:13:40,200
yourself, through continued 
practice. 

1416
01:13:40,200 --> 01:13:43,500
This is how the tradition passes
down through generations. 

1417
01:13:43,500 --> 01:13:46,700
Each Master teaches students who
become Masters, who teach 

1418
01:13:46,700 --> 01:13:49,900
students the methods barely 
change because they work 

1419
01:13:49,900 --> 01:13:52,800
Innovations happen. 
Slowly, and only after much 

1420
01:13:52,800 --> 01:13:56,200
debate and consideration. 
Calligraphy is conservative by 

1421
01:13:56,200 --> 01:13:58,900
Nature because it values 
preservation over novelty. 

1422
01:13:59,700 --> 01:14:02,200
Sometimes you wonder what your 
master would think of your work 

1423
01:14:02,200 --> 01:14:04,200
now. 
Would he approve of the 

1424
01:14:04,200 --> 01:14:05,100
commission's? 
You accept? 

1425
01:14:05,900 --> 01:14:07,900
Would he criticized your 
Technique or praise your 

1426
01:14:07,900 --> 01:14:10,100
development? 
These questions remain 

1427
01:14:10,100 --> 01:14:12,800
theoretical because dead 
teachers cannot offer opinions. 

1428
01:14:12,800 --> 01:14:15,400
You must judge yourself using 
the standards. 

1429
01:14:15,400 --> 01:14:18,600
He instilled during those years 
of training. most days, you 

1430
01:14:18,600 --> 01:14:21,500
feel, you are meeting those 
standards, some days, you fall 

1431
01:14:21,500 --> 01:14:25,300
short and you know, exactly 
where and why the characters 

1432
01:14:25,300 --> 01:14:28,600
balances off. 
Stroke lacks energy, the 

1433
01:14:28,600 --> 01:14:32,300
composition feels cramped. 
You can see the problems clearly

1434
01:14:32,300 --> 01:14:34,600
which means you have 
internalized, the critical. 

1435
01:14:34,600 --> 01:14:37,900
I your master possessed on very 
rare days. 

1436
01:14:37,900 --> 01:14:40,800
You create something that 
surprises you A character 

1437
01:14:40,800 --> 01:14:43,400
appears on the paper that seems 
better than your current skill. 

1438
01:14:43,400 --> 01:14:46,700
Level should allow these moments
feel like gifts from somewhere 

1439
01:14:46,700 --> 01:14:49,900
beyond your conscious control. 
You hang these pieces on your 

1440
01:14:49,900 --> 01:14:54,000
wall until familiarity makes 
them ordinary again. the 

1441
01:14:54,000 --> 01:14:56,400
workshop, where you make your 
own brushes sits in a corner of 

1442
01:14:56,408 --> 01:15:00,000
the studio, that catches 
afternoon light, Making brushes 

1443
01:15:00,000 --> 01:15:02,700
is not your primary skill but 
every calligrapher needs to 

1444
01:15:02,700 --> 01:15:04,700
understand how their tools are 
constructed. 

1445
01:15:04,700 --> 01:15:07,700
You cannot use a brush 
effectively without knowing what

1446
01:15:07,700 --> 01:15:10,400
happens inside the metal ferrule
where bristles are bound 

1447
01:15:10,400 --> 01:15:13,500
together. 
Process begins with sorting 

1448
01:15:13,500 --> 01:15:16,100
animal hair. 
You have several bundles of 

1449
01:15:16,100 --> 01:15:18,600
horse tail hair that you 
purchased from a farmer who 

1450
01:15:18,600 --> 01:15:21,600
raises Mountain ponies. 
The hair must be cleaned 

1451
01:15:21,600 --> 01:15:23,500
thoroughly to remove oils and 
dirt. 

1452
01:15:23,500 --> 01:15:27,000
You soak it in a solution of 
water and Ash for several days 

1453
01:15:27,000 --> 01:15:29,900
and then rinse it repeatedly 
until the water runs clear. 

1454
01:15:30,800 --> 01:15:34,500
Once clean the hair gets sorted 
by length and texture, the 

1455
01:15:34,500 --> 01:15:36,900
longest hairs will form the 
outer layer of the brush tip. 

1456
01:15:37,900 --> 01:15:40,000
Short to hear his go into the 
core where they provide 

1457
01:15:40,000 --> 01:15:44,000
structure and spring your hairs 
on your work bench and begin the

1458
01:15:44,000 --> 01:15:45,900
delicate process of bundling 
them together. 

1459
01:15:45,900 --> 01:15:50,000
This step requires more patience
than almost any other aspect of 

1460
01:15:50,000 --> 01:15:52,500
calligraphy. 
You must align hundreds of 

1461
01:15:52,500 --> 01:15:54,700
individual hairs. 
So their tips for a perfect 

1462
01:15:54,700 --> 01:15:57,800
Point, each hair has a slightly 
different length and thickness. 

1463
01:15:57,800 --> 01:16:01,500
They want to stick together in 
clumps or splay outward at odd 

1464
01:16:01,500 --> 01:16:04,700
angles, you coat them into 
submission using a mixture of 

1465
01:16:04,700 --> 01:16:06,600
gentle pressure and stubborn 
persistence. 

1466
01:16:06,600 --> 01:16:10,900
The bundle slowly takes shape. 
You tie the base with strong 

1467
01:16:10,900 --> 01:16:12,600
thread to hold everything in 
place. 

1468
01:16:12,600 --> 01:16:15,700
The thread must wrap, tightly 
enough to compress the hairs 

1469
01:16:15,700 --> 01:16:18,600
into a unified Mass but not so 
tight that it cuts through 

1470
01:16:18,600 --> 01:16:21,800
individual strands. 
You learned this balance through

1471
01:16:21,800 --> 01:16:24,700
trial, and error after ruining 
several bundles, by pulling the 

1472
01:16:24,700 --> 01:16:28,100
thread with excessive force. 
Then you insert the bundle into 

1473
01:16:28,100 --> 01:16:30,800
a bamboo handle that, you carved
and sanded last week. 

1474
01:16:30,800 --> 01:16:34,000
The bamboo came from a Grove, 
three days journey from the 

1475
01:16:34,000 --> 01:16:36,100
city, where the plants grow 
straight, and true. 

1476
01:16:36,100 --> 01:16:39,300
You selected this particular 
section because the nodes were 

1477
01:16:39,300 --> 01:16:42,600
evenly spaced and the walls had 
consistent thickness. 

1478
01:16:42,600 --> 01:16:46,500
Irregularities in the bamboo 
translate to a regularity is in 

1479
01:16:46,500 --> 01:16:50,300
how the brush feels during use. 
the fit must be snug enough that

1480
01:16:50,300 --> 01:16:53,600
the bristles will not work loose
during use but not so tight that

1481
01:16:53,600 --> 01:16:57,200
you crush the feral You test the
fit multiple times before 

1482
01:16:57,200 --> 01:16:58,800
committing to the final 
assembly. 

1483
01:16:58,800 --> 01:17:01,700
Each test insertion reveals 
whether you need to sand the 

1484
01:17:01,700 --> 01:17:04,300
inside of the handle slightly 
more or trim a few hairs from 

1485
01:17:04,300 --> 01:17:06,600
the bundle. 
You mix a glue from fish, 

1486
01:17:06,600 --> 01:17:09,400
bladder and carefully coat the 
base of the bristles before, 

1487
01:17:09,400 --> 01:17:11,000
seating them permanently in the 
handle. 

1488
01:17:11,800 --> 01:17:14,600
The glue recipe came from your 
master, who learned it from his 

1489
01:17:14,600 --> 01:17:18,100
master in an unbroken chain, 
reaching back Generations. 

1490
01:17:18,100 --> 01:17:21,800
The proportions must be exact or
the glue will, either remain 

1491
01:17:21,800 --> 01:17:24,800
tacky forever, or become so 
brittle, that it cracks under 

1492
01:17:24,800 --> 01:17:27,000
normal. 
Use, the glue takes three days 

1493
01:17:27,000 --> 01:17:29,600
to cure completely. 
During this time, you must 

1494
01:17:29,600 --> 01:17:31,500
resist the temptation to test 
the brush. 

1495
01:17:31,500 --> 01:17:35,500
Premature use will compromise 
the bond and the brush will fail

1496
01:17:35,500 --> 01:17:37,600
within weeks. 
You have made this mistake 

1497
01:17:37,600 --> 01:17:40,100
before in your eagerness to try 
a newly completed tool. 

1498
01:17:40,100 --> 01:17:43,800
The bristles worked loose after 
just a few uses and you had to 

1499
01:17:43,800 --> 01:17:47,300
discard hours of careful work. 
When the glue is set. 

1500
01:17:47,300 --> 01:17:49,900
You trim any stray hairs that 
stick out from the main body of 

1501
01:17:49,900 --> 01:17:52,200
the brush? 
This trimming requires steady 

1502
01:17:52,200 --> 01:17:55,800
hands and sharp scissors, one 
wrong, cut can ruin hours of 

1503
01:17:55,800 --> 01:17:58,200
work. 
You cut with tiny Snips and 

1504
01:17:58,200 --> 01:18:00,300
constantly check the cemetery of
the brush tip. 

1505
01:18:00,300 --> 01:18:03,300
The finished brush gets tested 
on practice paper. 

1506
01:18:03,300 --> 01:18:06,700
You dip it in ink and make a 
series of stroke to evaluate his

1507
01:18:06,700 --> 01:18:09,200
performance. 
Does it hold enough ink for a 

1508
01:18:09,200 --> 01:18:12,200
full character to the bristles 
spring back to their Original 

1509
01:18:12,200 --> 01:18:15,000
shape after being pressed 
against the paper, does the tip 

1510
01:18:15,000 --> 01:18:18,000
maintain its point, or does it 
split into multiple paths? 

1511
01:18:18,000 --> 01:18:22,200
This particular brush passes, 
all the tests the tip feels 

1512
01:18:22,200 --> 01:18:25,100
responsive and the bristles have
good spring you added to your 

1513
01:18:25,100 --> 01:18:29,300
collection with a small sense of
pride Making a brush from raw 

1514
01:18:29,300 --> 01:18:31,900
materials, connect you to the 
physical reality of your craft 

1515
01:18:31,900 --> 01:18:34,300
in a way that simply buying 
brushes from a shop. 

1516
01:18:34,300 --> 01:18:36,700
Never could. 
Not all your brushes come from 

1517
01:18:36,708 --> 01:18:39,100
your own hands. 
You also buy from professional 

1518
01:18:39,100 --> 01:18:42,000
brush makers who have perfected?
Their art over Generations. 

1519
01:18:42,000 --> 01:18:44,800
The best brushes cost as much as
a month's rent. 

1520
01:18:44,800 --> 01:18:48,400
You own three such brushes that 
you use only for final copies of

1521
01:18:48,400 --> 01:18:51,200
important commissions. 
These brushes are Treasures. 

1522
01:18:51,200 --> 01:18:53,700
That will Outlast you if 
properly maintained the 

1523
01:18:53,700 --> 01:18:56,400
economics of calligraphy, 
rarely, make anyone wealthy, 

1524
01:18:56,400 --> 01:18:59,300
your income comes from 
commissions that pay modest fees

1525
01:18:59,300 --> 01:19:02,900
for substantial work. 
A scroll requires days or weeks 

1526
01:19:02,900 --> 01:19:06,000
to complete but cells for an 
amount that a merchant makes in 

1527
01:19:06,000 --> 01:19:09,800
a single afternoon, you accept 
this disparity because you chose

1528
01:19:09,800 --> 01:19:13,100
this profession, knowing its 
limitations some calligraphers 

1529
01:19:13,100 --> 01:19:16,000
supplement, their income by 
teaching, or by working a 

1530
01:19:16,000 --> 01:19:19,300
scribes for government offices. 
You have considered both options

1531
01:19:19,300 --> 01:19:21,900
but ultimately decided to focus 
on pure calligraphy. 

1532
01:19:22,600 --> 01:19:25,000
Teaching your two students 
provide some additional income 

1533
01:19:25,000 --> 01:19:26,600
and scribble work, feels too 
much. 

1534
01:19:26,600 --> 01:19:28,400
Like copying without the 
artistic element. 

1535
01:19:28,400 --> 01:19:30,400
That makes the copying 
worthwhile. 

1536
01:19:31,200 --> 01:19:34,500
Your clients come from various 
backgrounds, Merchants want 

1537
01:19:34,500 --> 01:19:37,400
Scrolls to impress their 
business associates Scholars 

1538
01:19:37,400 --> 01:19:40,300
commission, copies of rare text 
that exists in only a few 

1539
01:19:40,308 --> 01:19:43,000
locations. 
Temples hire you to create 

1540
01:19:43,000 --> 01:19:46,000
religious inscription. 
Families ask for commemorative 

1541
01:19:46,000 --> 01:19:49,800
pieces marking births or deaths 
or marriages, each commission 

1542
01:19:49,800 --> 01:19:52,100
requires you to adjust your 
style to match the client's 

1543
01:19:52,100 --> 01:19:55,800
needs and expectations. 
A temple inscription, demands 

1544
01:19:55,800 --> 01:19:59,500
formality and perfect execution.
A personal scroll for a family 

1545
01:19:59,500 --> 01:20:03,300
can afford slightly more 
expressive brushwork Text for a 

1546
01:20:03,300 --> 01:20:05,100
scholar, must be readable above 
all else. 

1547
01:20:05,100 --> 01:20:08,400
With any flourishes kept minimal
you dislike commissions that 

1548
01:20:08,400 --> 01:20:11,400
demand overly decorative 
calligraphy where the visual 

1549
01:20:11,400 --> 01:20:13,700
impact matters more than the 
meaning of the text. 

1550
01:20:13,700 --> 01:20:16,800
Some wealthy patrons want their 
Scrolls to look impressive. 

1551
01:20:16,800 --> 01:20:19,900
Even if the actual characters 
become eligible under layers of 

1552
01:20:19,908 --> 01:20:22,900
artistic collaboration. 
These projects feel like 

1553
01:20:22,900 --> 01:20:26,000
betrayals of the forms 
fundamental purpose which is to 

1554
01:20:26,000 --> 01:20:29,400
communicate clearly through 
beautiful, writing your favorite

1555
01:20:29,400 --> 01:20:32,000
commission's. 
Involve classical, poetry, The 

1556
01:20:32,000 --> 01:20:34,500
rhythms of ancient poems, 
naturally, lend themselves to 

1557
01:20:34,500 --> 01:20:38,100
calligraphic interpretation. 
Each line contains a thought 

1558
01:20:38,100 --> 01:20:40,500
that deserves to be rendered 
with appropriate weight and 

1559
01:20:40,500 --> 01:20:42,900
energy. 
You can vary your brushwork to 

1560
01:20:42,900 --> 01:20:46,200
reflect the mood of the verse 
without violating the principles

1561
01:20:46,200 --> 01:20:49,500
of clarity and balance. 
Last month you can completed a 

1562
01:20:49,500 --> 01:20:52,300
series of four Scrolls featuring
poems about the changing 

1563
01:20:52,300 --> 01:20:55,100
seasons. 
The spring poem used lightering 

1564
01:20:55,100 --> 01:20:58,500
can flowing Strokes to suggest 
new growth and gentle rain. 

1565
01:20:59,400 --> 01:21:02,200
The summer poem required bold, 
dark characters, that evoked 

1566
01:21:02,200 --> 01:21:05,600
heat and intensity. 
Autumn brought thinner lines and

1567
01:21:05,600 --> 01:21:08,400
careful spacing to reflect the 
sense of things passing away. 

1568
01:21:09,300 --> 01:21:12,500
Winter demanded Stark Simplicity
and strong contrasts. 

1569
01:21:13,300 --> 01:21:15,800
The client was pleased enough to
recommend you to his friends. 

1570
01:21:15,800 --> 01:21:19,100
This kind of word of mouth 
recommendation is how you build 

1571
01:21:19,100 --> 01:21:21,500
your reputation. 
There are no advertisements for 

1572
01:21:21,500 --> 01:21:23,800
calligraphers. 
You either become known for 

1573
01:21:23,800 --> 01:21:26,400
quality work or you struggle to 
find enough commissions to 

1574
01:21:26,400 --> 01:21:29,500
support yourself. 
Competition exists but feels 

1575
01:21:29,500 --> 01:21:31,200
less Cutthroat than in other 
professions. 

1576
01:21:32,300 --> 01:21:35,500
Most calligraphers recognize 
that the market is limited and 

1577
01:21:35,500 --> 01:21:37,600
that survival depends on 
maintaining high standards 

1578
01:21:37,608 --> 01:21:41,000
across the entire field. 
A calligrapher who produces 

1579
01:21:41,000 --> 01:21:44,000
shoddy work damages, the 
reputation of all calligraphers,

1580
01:21:44,000 --> 01:21:47,700
an unspoken agreement exists to 
police quality, through subtle, 

1581
01:21:47,700 --> 01:21:51,300
social pressure, you have seen 
calligraphers who cut Corners by

1582
01:21:51,300 --> 01:21:54,200
using inferior materials or 
rushing their work to accept 

1583
01:21:54,200 --> 01:21:57,200
more commissions. 
These people rarely last more 

1584
01:21:57,200 --> 01:22:00,500
than a few years before their 
reputation was collapse clients.

1585
01:22:00,500 --> 01:22:03,700
Eventually notice when the ink 
Fades prematurely, or when 

1586
01:22:03,708 --> 01:22:07,100
characters show evidence of 
haste, Word spreads in the 

1587
01:22:07,108 --> 01:22:09,600
commission's. 
Dry up your approach is the 

1588
01:22:09,600 --> 01:22:12,000
opposite. 
You work slowly and carefully 

1589
01:22:12,000 --> 01:22:15,100
and turn down projects. 
When your schedule is too full, 

1590
01:22:15,100 --> 01:22:18,300
to give them proper attention. 
This sometimes means losing 

1591
01:22:18,300 --> 01:22:20,700
income in the short term but it 
protects your long-term 

1592
01:22:20,700 --> 01:22:24,100
reputation, your master taught 
you that a calligrapher's name, 

1593
01:22:24,100 --> 01:22:27,200
is their most valuable asset and
that protecting that asset 

1594
01:22:27,200 --> 01:22:28,600
requires constant. 
Vigilance. 

1595
01:22:28,600 --> 01:22:32,000
The studio where you work was 
built, specifically for 

1596
01:22:32,000 --> 01:22:35,300
calligraphy, the previous 
master, who occupied it, before 

1597
01:22:35,300 --> 01:22:38,500
your master design, the space 
with large Windows facing north 

1598
01:22:38,500 --> 01:22:41,100
to provide consistent light 
throughout the day. 

1599
01:22:42,400 --> 01:22:45,300
The walls are bare except for a 
few hanging Scrolls that rotates

1600
01:22:45,300 --> 01:22:48,700
seasonally. 
Floor is would kept meticulously

1601
01:22:48,700 --> 01:22:51,800
clean because dust on paper, can
interfere with ink adhesion. 

1602
01:22:52,600 --> 01:22:55,600
Everything in the studio, serves
a purpose, there is no 

1603
01:22:55,600 --> 01:22:59,400
decoration for decorations sake.
The aesthetic is one of refined 

1604
01:22:59,400 --> 01:23:02,000
Simplicity where the focus 
remains entirely on the work 

1605
01:23:02,000 --> 01:23:04,700
visitors. 
Often comment on how peaceful 

1606
01:23:04,700 --> 01:23:07,500
the space feels you have become 
so accustomed to it. 

1607
01:23:07,500 --> 01:23:09,300
That you barely notice the 
atmosphere anymore. 

1608
01:23:09,300 --> 01:23:12,400
Your two students share a 
workspace at the opposite end of

1609
01:23:12,400 --> 01:23:14,500
the studio. 
You can observe them without 

1610
01:23:14,500 --> 01:23:17,600
being intrusive. 
They practice basic Strokes for 

1611
01:23:17,600 --> 01:23:19,100
hours while you work on 
Commissioners. 

1612
01:23:19,100 --> 01:23:23,100
Sometimes you call them over to 
demonstrate to technique or to 

1613
01:23:23,100 --> 01:23:25,100
correct an error, you have 
noticed from a cross, the room. 

1614
01:23:26,100 --> 01:23:28,900
The oldest student shows 
promise, but lacks the obsessive

1615
01:23:28,900 --> 01:23:32,900
Dedication that true Mastery 
requires, he produces competent 

1616
01:23:32,900 --> 01:23:35,600
work and will probably make a 
decent living as a calligrapher.

1617
01:23:36,800 --> 01:23:39,900
But he will never be great. 
Greatness requires a willingness

1618
01:23:39,900 --> 01:23:43,400
to sacrifice everything else in 
pursuit of incremental 

1619
01:23:43,400 --> 01:23:45,800
Improvement. 
He is not willing to make that 

1620
01:23:45,800 --> 01:23:49,700
sacrifice and you do not judge 
him for it, the youngest student

1621
01:23:49,700 --> 01:23:51,700
might become great. 
If she continues for another 

1622
01:23:51,700 --> 01:23:55,100
decade, she has the dedication 
and the ability to focus for 

1623
01:23:55,100 --> 01:23:58,100
hours without distraction her 
techniques. 

1624
01:23:58,100 --> 01:24:01,500
Still needs refinement. 
But technique can be taught the 

1625
01:24:01,500 --> 01:24:04,500
deeper qualities, that separate 
masters from journeyman are 

1626
01:24:04,500 --> 01:24:06,200
either present or absent from 
the beginning. 

1627
01:24:07,000 --> 01:24:09,600
You sometimes wonder if your 
master saw that quality in you 

1628
01:24:09,600 --> 01:24:12,000
during those early years of 
grinding Inc and practicing 

1629
01:24:12,000 --> 01:24:14,200
basic Strokes. 
Did he know you would have 

1630
01:24:14,200 --> 01:24:17,800
eventually succeed him or was he
simply training students with no

1631
01:24:17,800 --> 01:24:20,600
particular expectation? 
That any of them would reach the

1632
01:24:20,600 --> 01:24:24,100
highest levels of the art? 
These questions have no definite

1633
01:24:24,100 --> 01:24:27,100
answers, your master never 
explained his thinking, or 

1634
01:24:27,100 --> 01:24:29,200
revealed his assessments of 
individual students. 

1635
01:24:29,200 --> 01:24:32,700
He taught everyone the same way 
and let time sort out, who would

1636
01:24:32,700 --> 01:24:36,700
persist and who would quit. 
This approach seems harsh but it

1637
01:24:36,700 --> 01:24:39,500
works better than trying to 
predict potential based on early

1638
01:24:39,500 --> 01:24:42,000
signs. 
The afternoon stretches toward 

1639
01:24:42,000 --> 01:24:45,200
evening, you complete another 
page of the philosophical text 

1640
01:24:45,200 --> 01:24:47,600
and add it to the growing stack 
tomorrow. 

1641
01:24:47,600 --> 01:24:50,600
You will finish two more pages. 
And the next day, another two, 

1642
01:24:50,600 --> 01:24:54,000
the work proceeds at its own 
steady Pace, neither rushed, nor

1643
01:24:54,000 --> 01:24:57,400
delayed outside your windows. 
The city continues, its Daily 

1644
01:24:57,400 --> 01:25:01,100
Business people buy and sell 
Goods children play in the 

1645
01:25:01,108 --> 01:25:05,000
streets, officials conduct 
government Affairs musicians 

1646
01:25:05,000 --> 01:25:08,300
perform in teahouses. 
All of this activity happens in 

1647
01:25:08,300 --> 01:25:10,100
a world that you inhabit only 
peripherally. 

1648
01:25:10,800 --> 01:25:13,300
Your real life occurs in this 
studio, where the only things 

1649
01:25:13,300 --> 01:25:15,100
that matter are ink and paper 
and brush. 

1650
01:25:15,100 --> 01:25:18,600
This isolation might seem lonely
to announce outside but you do 

1651
01:25:18,600 --> 01:25:21,700
not experience it that way. 
The work itself provides 

1652
01:25:21,700 --> 01:25:24,300
companionship. 
Each character is a small 

1653
01:25:24,300 --> 01:25:27,400
challenge to be sold. 
Each scroll is a conversation 

1654
01:25:27,400 --> 01:25:29,100
with the author of the text. 
You are rendering. 

1655
01:25:29,800 --> 01:25:32,600
The great calligraphers of the 
past, feel present in spirit, if

1656
01:25:32,600 --> 01:25:36,800
not in body, you lock the studio
door, as the sunset tomorrow 

1657
01:25:36,800 --> 01:25:40,200
will begin with grinding in 
construction, fingers, the day 

1658
01:25:40,200 --> 01:25:42,500
will unfold, according to 
patterns, established over 

1659
01:25:42,500 --> 01:25:45,800
centuries of tradition and you 
will spend those hours pursuing,

1660
01:25:45,800 --> 01:25:49,900
a Perfection that remains always
slightly Out Of Reach the 

1661
01:25:49,900 --> 01:25:52,400
history of your professional 
stretches, back to the moment. 

1662
01:25:52,400 --> 01:25:56,400
When humans first pressed reads 
in to wet clay, to make marks 

1663
01:25:56,400 --> 01:25:59,900
that represented words, Those 
early scribes in Mesopotamia 

1664
01:25:59,900 --> 01:26:03,300
were record Keepers rather than 
artists, but they established 

1665
01:26:03,300 --> 01:26:06,000
the fundamental connection 
between writing and permanence. 

1666
01:26:06,700 --> 01:26:10,200
In Egypt, scribes held 
privileged positions in society 

1667
01:26:10,200 --> 01:26:12,400
because literacy was rare and 
Powerful. 

1668
01:26:12,400 --> 01:26:15,000
They recorded taxes and 
religious texts. 

1669
01:26:15,000 --> 01:26:18,600
They documented treaties and 
Property Transfers, their tools 

1670
01:26:18,600 --> 01:26:21,300
were different from yours, but 
their role was similar, they 

1671
01:26:21,300 --> 01:26:23,900
made language visible and 
durable the alphabet. 

1672
01:26:23,900 --> 01:26:26,600
You use evolved over 1000s of 
years as different cultures 

1673
01:26:26,600 --> 01:26:29,200
borrowed and modified writing 
systems from their neighbors. 

1674
01:26:29,200 --> 01:26:32,400
Phoenician Traders, spread their
script around the Mediterranean 

1675
01:26:32,400 --> 01:26:36,400
Greeks adapted it and added 
vowels, Roman simplified at 

1676
01:26:36,400 --> 01:26:38,100
further and carried it across 
their empire. 

1677
01:26:38,100 --> 01:26:40,900
Each writing system developed 
its own aesthetic. 

1678
01:26:40,900 --> 01:26:44,100
Traditions Arabic calligraphy 
grew, elaborate and geometric 

1679
01:26:44,100 --> 01:26:47,500
Chinese characters became 
standardized but retained their 

1680
01:26:47,500 --> 01:26:51,100
pictographic Origins. 
Sanskrit, scripts flowed with 

1681
01:26:51,100 --> 01:26:54,400
curves that suggested spiritual 
Concepts, Hebrew letters, 

1682
01:26:54,400 --> 01:26:57,400
acquired mystical, significance,
beyond their phonetic values. 

1683
01:26:58,600 --> 01:27:01,200
Your own tradition combined, 
indigenous practices with 

1684
01:27:01,200 --> 01:27:03,700
influences, absorbed from 
neighboring regions over 

1685
01:27:03,700 --> 01:27:07,600
centuries of cultural Exchange. 
The result is a style that feels

1686
01:27:07,600 --> 01:27:10,200
both ancient and specific to 
this time and place. 

1687
01:27:11,100 --> 01:27:13,500
Future calligraphers will 
probably modify it further 

1688
01:27:13,500 --> 01:27:15,600
according to changing tastes and
Technologies. 

1689
01:27:16,400 --> 01:27:18,700
Before paper existed, 
calligraphers wrote on 

1690
01:27:18,700 --> 01:27:20,700
materials, that modern 
practitioners would find 

1691
01:27:20,700 --> 01:27:23,300
challenging. 
Palm leaves required, special 

1692
01:27:23,300 --> 01:27:25,400
cutting tools and ink. 
That would not cause the leaves 

1693
01:27:25,400 --> 01:27:28,000
to crack. 
But had to be prepared, 

1694
01:27:28,000 --> 01:27:31,900
carefully to create a smooth 
writing, surface animal skins 

1695
01:27:31,900 --> 01:27:35,000
needed processing to remove hair
and fought the invention of 

1696
01:27:35,000 --> 01:27:36,900
paper. 
Revolutionized writing in ways 

1697
01:27:36,900 --> 01:27:39,100
that are difficult to fully 
appreciate from this side of 

1698
01:27:39,108 --> 01:27:42,800
History. 
Suddenly scribes had access to a

1699
01:27:42,800 --> 01:27:46,100
material that was relatively 
cheap and portable and could be 

1700
01:27:46,100 --> 01:27:49,900
produced in large quantities. 
Spread of knowledge accelerated 

1701
01:27:49,900 --> 01:27:52,300
as texts became easier to copy 
and distribute. 

1702
01:27:52,300 --> 01:27:56,100
Your paper comes from workshops 
where Artisans follow techniques

1703
01:27:56,100 --> 01:27:59,600
that have not changed 
substantially and 500 years, 

1704
01:27:59,600 --> 01:28:02,600
they soak tree bark. 
Until it breaks down into 

1705
01:28:02,600 --> 01:28:05,100
fibers. 
They spread the pulp on screens 

1706
01:28:05,100 --> 01:28:07,600
and press out the water. 
They dry the Sheetz in 

1707
01:28:07,608 --> 01:28:10,000
controlled conditions to prevent
warping or cracking. 

1708
01:28:11,200 --> 01:28:13,700
The best paper has a slight 
texture that catches the brush 

1709
01:28:13,700 --> 01:28:16,300
and allows the ink to spread in 
controlled ways. 

1710
01:28:16,300 --> 01:28:19,800
Poor quality paper. 
Either absorbs too much ink. 

1711
01:28:19,800 --> 01:28:23,700
Making the character's bleed 
into fuzzy shapes or repels Inc.

1712
01:28:23,700 --> 01:28:26,000
Leaving. 
Streaky inconsistent Strokes. 

1713
01:28:26,700 --> 01:28:29,700
You can tell the quality of 
paper by touch before you ever 

1714
01:28:29,700 --> 01:28:30,600
apply a brush to. 
It. 

1715
01:28:30,600 --> 01:28:34,500
Ink itself has its own complex 
history, ancient Chinese 

1716
01:28:34,500 --> 01:28:37,700
calligraphers made ink from Pine
soot mixed with animal glue. 

1717
01:28:38,300 --> 01:28:41,600
Japanese ink makers experimented
with different sources to 

1718
01:28:41,600 --> 01:28:45,500
achieve various black tones. 
Some regions added perfumes to 

1719
01:28:45,500 --> 01:28:47,900
their ink to make writing a more
sensory experience. 

1720
01:28:48,800 --> 01:28:51,600
The ink you use comes in solid 
sticks that look like small 

1721
01:28:51,600 --> 01:28:54,400
blocks of polished. 
Stone creating these sticks 

1722
01:28:54,400 --> 01:28:57,700
requires collecting, so from 
controlled fires, where specific

1723
01:28:57,700 --> 01:29:01,600
Woods or Oils are burned, 
Different fuel sources, produced

1724
01:29:01,600 --> 01:29:05,400
different qualities of black. 
Pinewood creates soot with a 

1725
01:29:05,400 --> 01:29:09,600
slightly warm tone vegetable oil
produces soot that yields a 

1726
01:29:09,600 --> 01:29:12,500
cooler black. 
The soot gets mixed with glue 

1727
01:29:12,500 --> 01:29:15,300
and molded into sticks that are 
dried and aged. 

1728
01:29:15,300 --> 01:29:18,600
Sometimes for years before, 
being sold the drying process 

1729
01:29:18,600 --> 01:29:21,100
alone takes months, the sticks 
must lose. 

1730
01:29:21,100 --> 01:29:24,000
Moisture gradually, or they will
crack and become useless 

1731
01:29:24,000 --> 01:29:26,400
Craftsman. 
Monitor humidity levels, 

1732
01:29:26,400 --> 01:29:29,800
constantly and rotate the sticks
to ensure even drying some 

1733
01:29:29,800 --> 01:29:32,500
workshops dry their sticks and 
Cave's where temperature and 

1734
01:29:32,500 --> 01:29:34,500
moisture remain stable 
throughout the year. 

1735
01:29:34,500 --> 01:29:38,200
Freshing does not have the depth
and character of Aging. 

1736
01:29:38,200 --> 01:29:41,500
Something about the chemical 
changes that occur over time. 

1737
01:29:41,500 --> 01:29:46,100
Improves the way ink flows and 
bonds with paper The molecules 

1738
01:29:46,100 --> 01:29:48,400
apparently reorganized 
themselves into more stable 

1739
01:29:48,400 --> 01:29:51,500
configurations. 
The result is ink that grinds 

1740
01:29:51,500 --> 01:29:54,900
more smoothly and produces more 
consistent Darkness on paper. 

1741
01:29:55,900 --> 01:29:59,000
Calligraphers debate, the ideal 
aging period with some claiming 

1742
01:29:59,000 --> 01:30:02,800
three years, produces optimal 
results, While others insist on 

1743
01:30:02,808 --> 01:30:06,900
10. your own experiment suggests
that five years represents, a 

1744
01:30:06,900 --> 01:30:10,800
sweet spot where the improvement
from aging plateaus, In colder 

1745
01:30:10,800 --> 01:30:12,300
than five years costs. 
Significantly. 

1746
01:30:12,300 --> 01:30:14,800
More but performs, only 
marginally better in your 

1747
01:30:14,800 --> 01:30:16,800
experience. 
Your own collection. 

1748
01:30:16,800 --> 01:30:19,400
Includes ink, sticks of various 
ages and qualities. 

1749
01:30:19,400 --> 01:30:23,000
You save your oldest and finest 
ink for special commissions 

1750
01:30:23,000 --> 01:30:24,800
where the client will appreciate
the difference. 

1751
01:30:24,800 --> 01:30:27,400
Most everyday. 
Work uses young and ink that 

1752
01:30:27,400 --> 01:30:29,700
performs adequately without 
depleting your precious 

1753
01:30:29,700 --> 01:30:32,800
supplies. 
The relationship between 

1754
01:30:32,800 --> 01:30:34,900
calligrapher and brush. 
Maker is often closed and 

1755
01:30:34,900 --> 01:30:37,400
long-lasting. 
You have bought brushes from the

1756
01:30:37,400 --> 01:30:40,700
same Craftsman for eight years. 
He knows your preferences and 

1757
01:30:40,700 --> 01:30:43,200
can recommend specific brushes 
for particular projects. 

1758
01:30:43,200 --> 01:30:46,600
When you need something custom 
made, he understands your 

1759
01:30:46,608 --> 01:30:50,300
requirements with the link, the 
explanations brush making is its

1760
01:30:50,300 --> 01:30:53,900
own, specialized professional, 
requiring years of training, the

1761
01:30:53,900 --> 01:30:56,800
best brush makers can feel the 
quality of animal Hair by 

1762
01:30:56,800 --> 01:30:58,100
running it between their 
fingers. 

1763
01:30:59,200 --> 01:31:01,900
They know which combinations of 
hair types, produce specific 

1764
01:31:01,900 --> 01:31:05,200
performance characteristics. 
They understand how to balance 

1765
01:31:05,200 --> 01:31:08,200
spring and flexibility and ink 
retention in a single tool. 

1766
01:31:08,900 --> 01:31:11,100
Some regions are famous for 
producing brushes of 

1767
01:31:11,100 --> 01:31:14,200
exceptional, quality. 
Calligraphers will travel for 

1768
01:31:14,200 --> 01:31:15,700
days to purchase brushes from 
these. 

1769
01:31:15,700 --> 01:31:19,100
Renowned Workshops, the brushes 
become treasured possessions 

1770
01:31:19,100 --> 01:31:23,100
passed down through generations.
Stories circulate about ancient 

1771
01:31:23,100 --> 01:31:25,000
brushes that still perform 
flawlessly. 

1772
01:31:25,000 --> 01:31:28,200
After hundreds of years of use 
your three. 

1773
01:31:28,200 --> 01:31:30,000
Finest brushes came from 
different sources. 

1774
01:31:30,000 --> 01:31:32,800
One was a gift from your master 
on the day. 

1775
01:31:32,800 --> 01:31:35,700
You completed your training. 
Another, you purchased after 

1776
01:31:35,700 --> 01:31:38,300
receiving payment for an 
especially lucrative Commission.

1777
01:31:39,200 --> 01:31:42,200
Third belong to a calligrapher 
whose estate was sold after his 

1778
01:31:42,200 --> 01:31:44,700
death. 
Brush has its own personality 

1779
01:31:44,700 --> 01:31:48,600
and quirks that you have learned
through extensive use the social

1780
01:31:48,600 --> 01:31:51,000
status of calligraphers, has 
varied throughout history, 

1781
01:31:51,000 --> 01:31:54,400
depending on the value different
cultures placed on literacy and 

1782
01:31:54,400 --> 01:31:57,600
artistic expression. 
In some errors, calligraphers 

1783
01:31:57,600 --> 01:32:00,300
enjoyed Prestige and wealth in 
other periods. 

1784
01:32:00,300 --> 01:32:03,500
They barely survived on Mega 
fees paid by the few clients who

1785
01:32:03,500 --> 01:32:07,200
wanted Henrik and texts. 
Currently you occupy a middle 

1786
01:32:07,200 --> 01:32:10,100
position in society. 
Your neither wealthy nor 

1787
01:32:10,100 --> 01:32:14,400
impoverished your respected, but
not celebrated people recognize 

1788
01:32:14,400 --> 01:32:17,400
calligraphy as a legitimate 
professional, but few truly 

1789
01:32:17,400 --> 01:32:19,400
understand the skill required to
practice it. 

1790
01:32:19,400 --> 01:32:22,900
Well, This suits, you fine 
because you never sought fame or

1791
01:32:22,900 --> 01:32:25,200
Fortune. 
The greatest historical 

1792
01:32:25,200 --> 01:32:27,300
calligraphers achieved legendary
status. 

1793
01:32:28,100 --> 01:32:30,700
Their works are preserved in 
museums and private collections 

1794
01:32:30,700 --> 01:32:34,500
scholars, study their techniques
and try to understand what made 

1795
01:32:34,500 --> 01:32:38,200
their brush work transcendent. 
these Master set standards that 

1796
01:32:38,200 --> 01:32:41,800
contemporary calligraphers still
measure themselves against you 

1797
01:32:41,800 --> 01:32:43,800
have seen some of these 
Masterworks during trips to the 

1798
01:32:43,800 --> 01:32:47,100
capital where museums display, 
ancient Scrolls, behind glass, 

1799
01:32:47,900 --> 01:32:50,600
Standing before these pieces 
creates a mixture of inspiration

1800
01:32:50,600 --> 01:32:53,700
and humiliation inspiration 
because they prove what is 

1801
01:32:53,700 --> 01:32:56,000
possible. 
Humiliation because the gap 

1802
01:32:56,000 --> 01:32:58,500
between their skill and yours 
seems impossibly wide. 

1803
01:32:58,500 --> 01:33:01,400
Your master used to say that 
comparing yourself to the 

1804
01:33:01,400 --> 01:33:03,900
greatest Master's is both 
necessary and dangerous 

1805
01:33:03,900 --> 01:33:06,900
necessary because you need 
models of Excellence to guide 

1806
01:33:06,900 --> 01:33:10,100
your development. dangerous, 
because the comparison can 

1807
01:33:10,100 --> 01:33:13,500
become paralyzing if you focus 
on the distance rather than the 

1808
01:33:13,500 --> 01:33:16,700
direction of improvement, You 
try to maintain this balance by 

1809
01:33:16,700 --> 01:33:19,500
studying historical Master's 
while also accepting your own 

1810
01:33:19,500 --> 01:33:22,200
limitations. 
You will probably never achieve 

1811
01:33:22,200 --> 01:33:25,000
their level of skill, but You 
can still create work that 

1812
01:33:25,000 --> 01:33:28,100
serves its purpose and brings 
satisfaction to yourself and 

1813
01:33:28,100 --> 01:33:32,800
your clients that is enough. 
The techniques you use vary 

1814
01:33:32,800 --> 01:33:35,900
depending on the specific 
requirements of each project, a 

1815
01:33:35,900 --> 01:33:38,400
religious text demands different
brush, work than a personal 

1816
01:33:38,408 --> 01:33:40,800
letter. 
A formal Proclamation follows 

1817
01:33:40,800 --> 01:33:43,900
rules that do not apply to a 
casual poem, your training 

1818
01:33:43,900 --> 01:33:47,300
included learning when to apply,
which approach the most formal 

1819
01:33:47,300 --> 01:33:49,100
style requires absolute 
Precision. 

1820
01:33:49,100 --> 01:33:52,500
Each stroke must be executed 
with careful control. 

1821
01:33:52,500 --> 01:33:56,600
The characters maintain uniform 
size and spacing the ink is 

1822
01:33:56,600 --> 01:34:00,600
consistently dark, any variation
suggests lack of discipline or 

1823
01:34:00,600 --> 01:34:02,800
Mastery? 
This style is difficult to 

1824
01:34:02,800 --> 01:34:05,900
sustain for long periods because
it allows no room for 

1825
01:34:05,900 --> 01:34:09,900
spontaneity or relaxation 
semi-formal style, permit more 

1826
01:34:09,900 --> 01:34:12,700
individual expression while 
still maintaining clear 

1827
01:34:12,700 --> 01:34:15,300
structure. 
You can vary stroke thickness, 

1828
01:34:15,300 --> 01:34:18,900
for emphasis character sizes, 
might shift slightly to create 

1829
01:34:18,900 --> 01:34:22,600
visual interest The overall 
effect, balances readability, 

1830
01:34:22,600 --> 01:34:26,100
with artistic personality. 
Most of your commissions fall 

1831
01:34:26,100 --> 01:34:29,500
into this category, cursive 
Styles break, many rules in 

1832
01:34:29,500 --> 01:34:31,500
pursuit of speed and expressive 
energy. 

1833
01:34:32,300 --> 01:34:34,800
Strokes connect in ways that 
would be forbidden in formal 

1834
01:34:34,800 --> 01:34:38,900
writing characters, become 
abbreviated or simplified, the 

1835
01:34:38,900 --> 01:34:41,900
brush never fully lifts from the
paper between strokes. 

1836
01:34:41,900 --> 01:34:45,200
This style requires deep 
knowledge of standard forms 

1837
01:34:45,200 --> 01:34:48,200
because the abbreviations and 
connections only work. 

1838
01:34:48,200 --> 01:34:51,200
If the viewer can mentally 
reconstruct, the proper 

1839
01:34:51,200 --> 01:34:54,600
characters, you practice all 
three Styles, regularly to 

1840
01:34:54,600 --> 01:34:58,100
maintain flexibility some days. 
You work in formal mode for 

1841
01:34:58,100 --> 01:34:59,700
clients who want traditional 
appearance. 

1842
01:34:59,700 --> 01:35:03,000
Other days you experiment with 
cursive techniques and personal 

1843
01:35:03,000 --> 01:35:06,600
pieces, that no one else will 
ever see this variety prevents 

1844
01:35:06,600 --> 01:35:08,400
you from becoming rigid in your 
approach. 

1845
01:35:09,200 --> 01:35:11,900
Process of writing a single 
character involves more physical

1846
01:35:11,900 --> 01:35:15,500
awareness than most people 
realize your posture affects the

1847
01:35:15,500 --> 01:35:18,300
quality of your brush. 
Work tension in your shoulders 

1848
01:35:18,300 --> 01:35:21,500
transfers down your arm and into
your hand, even your breathing 

1849
01:35:21,500 --> 01:35:24,000
pattern, influences, how 
smoothly the brush moves across 

1850
01:35:24,000 --> 01:35:26,700
the paper. 
You stand while working on large

1851
01:35:26,700 --> 01:35:30,500
characters that require bold 
energetic Strokes, Standing 

1852
01:35:30,500 --> 01:35:33,400
position allows you to use your 
whole body to generate momentum 

1853
01:35:33,400 --> 01:35:35,900
your weight shifts, from one 
foot to the other. 

1854
01:35:35,900 --> 01:35:40,000
As the brush sweeps, across the 
paper, the motion resembles a 

1855
01:35:40,000 --> 01:35:42,400
martial arts form, where 
physical power combines with 

1856
01:35:42,400 --> 01:35:46,600
mental, focus smaller characters
demand, a seated position where 

1857
01:35:46,600 --> 01:35:49,800
your forearm rests, on the desk 
for stability, your wrist 

1858
01:35:49,800 --> 01:35:52,600
provides most of the movement, 
while your fingers, make tiny 

1859
01:35:52,600 --> 01:35:54,300
adjustments to control the brush
tip. 

1860
01:35:55,000 --> 01:35:58,200
This position allows Precision 
but limits the range of motion 

1861
01:35:58,200 --> 01:36:01,800
available for dynamic Strokes, 
your breathing sinks with your 

1862
01:36:01,800 --> 01:36:04,300
brush work in ways that 
developed unconsciously over 

1863
01:36:04,300 --> 01:36:07,400
years of practice, you inhale 
during Poor's. 

1864
01:36:07,400 --> 01:36:10,300
When considering the next 
stroke, the breath fills your 

1865
01:36:10,308 --> 01:36:11,900
lungs. 
Completely in your rib cage. 

1866
01:36:11,900 --> 01:36:15,500
Expands this expansion creates a
momentary stability. 

1867
01:36:15,500 --> 01:36:19,800
That helps you prepare mentally 
for the coming movement ux hail 

1868
01:36:19,800 --> 01:36:22,600
as the brush moves across the 
paper, the outward breath 

1869
01:36:22,600 --> 01:36:25,700
coincides with the outward 
extension of your arm, this 

1870
01:36:25,700 --> 01:36:28,300
synchronization happen, 
naturally, without anyone 

1871
01:36:28,300 --> 01:36:31,100
teaching you, the pattern, your 
body discovered it through 

1872
01:36:31,100 --> 01:36:34,400
thousands of repetitions until 
breathing and brushwork became 

1873
01:36:34,400 --> 01:36:37,600
inseparable The rhythm of 
breathing and writing becomes 

1874
01:36:37,600 --> 01:36:41,700
unified until they feel like a 
single continuous action on. 

1875
01:36:41,700 --> 01:36:43,500
Good days. 
You can work for hours without 

1876
01:36:43,500 --> 01:36:45,300
consciously thinking about 
breathing at all. 

1877
01:36:46,100 --> 01:36:49,100
The breath simply happens in 
perfect coordination with every 

1878
01:36:49,100 --> 01:36:52,700
stroke on difficult days, the 
coordination, breaks down, and 

1879
01:36:52,700 --> 01:36:55,100
you must deliberately 
reestablish the pattern through 

1880
01:36:55,100 --> 01:36:59,100
focused attention, temperature 
and humidity affect your work in

1881
01:36:59,100 --> 01:37:02,700
subtle, but important ways in 
summer the ink dries too quickly

1882
01:37:02,700 --> 01:37:05,800
and you must work faster to 
maintain fluid connections 

1883
01:37:05,800 --> 01:37:10,100
between Strokes in Winter, the 
ink thickens and requires longer

1884
01:37:10,100 --> 01:37:13,900
grinding to achieve proper 
consistency, humid days cause 

1885
01:37:13,900 --> 01:37:16,400
paper to absorb ink differently 
than dry days. 

1886
01:37:16,400 --> 01:37:18,600
You have learned to adjust your 
Technique. 

1887
01:37:18,600 --> 01:37:21,800
According to these environmental
variables, you cannot control 

1888
01:37:21,800 --> 01:37:24,300
the weather but you can modify 
how much water you add to the 

1889
01:37:24,308 --> 01:37:26,700
ink, or how long you pause 
between Strokes. 

1890
01:37:26,700 --> 01:37:29,900
The smaller adjustments, 
accumulate into the difference 

1891
01:37:29,900 --> 01:37:32,500
between work that looks 
effortless and work. 

1892
01:37:32,500 --> 01:37:35,600
That shows signs of struggle. 
The mental state required for 

1893
01:37:35,600 --> 01:37:36,900
good. 
Calligraphy is difficult to 

1894
01:37:36,908 --> 01:37:39,300
describe to people who have 
never experienced it. 

1895
01:37:39,300 --> 01:37:43,500
You must be simultaneously 
relaxed and alert, your mind 

1896
01:37:43,500 --> 01:37:45,500
needs to be empty of distracting
thoughts. 

1897
01:37:46,100 --> 01:37:50,000
But also fully engaged with the 
immediate task this paradoxical 

1898
01:37:50,000 --> 01:37:53,000
combination develops through 
practice, but cannot be forced 

1899
01:37:53,000 --> 01:37:56,300
some days, you sit down to work 
and the proper mental state 

1900
01:37:56,300 --> 01:37:59,400
arrives, within minutes, the 
world Narrows to the paper and 

1901
01:37:59,400 --> 01:38:02,900
the brush thoughts. 
Quiet time loses its usual 

1902
01:38:02,900 --> 01:38:05,400
quality. 
You enter a flow where decisions

1903
01:38:05,400 --> 01:38:09,300
happen without deliberation and 
every stroke emerges, exactly as

1904
01:38:09,300 --> 01:38:12,000
intended. 
Other days, the mental state 

1905
01:38:12,000 --> 01:38:15,200
refuses to appear, no matter how
long you sit or how many 

1906
01:38:15,208 --> 01:38:19,300
breathing exercises you perform.
Your mind races with concerns 

1907
01:38:19,300 --> 01:38:21,300
about money or health, or 
relationships. 

1908
01:38:21,300 --> 01:38:24,200
The brush feels clumsy and 
foreign in your hand. 

1909
01:38:24,200 --> 01:38:28,100
Every stroke looks wrong and 
requires correction on these 

1910
01:38:28,100 --> 01:38:29,800
days. 
You eventually give up and turn 

1911
01:38:29,800 --> 01:38:32,800
to other tasks like cleaning 
tools or organizing supplies. 

1912
01:38:32,800 --> 01:38:36,100
You cannot predict which type of
day, you will have when you wake

1913
01:38:36,100 --> 01:38:39,200
up in the morning. 
External circumstances do not 

1914
01:38:39,200 --> 01:38:41,200
reliably determine internal 
States. 

1915
01:38:41,200 --> 01:38:44,000
You might feel anxious about a 
major commission but still 

1916
01:38:44,000 --> 01:38:45,400
produce. 
Excellent work. 

1917
01:38:45,400 --> 01:38:48,700
You might have no particular 
worries but find yourself unable

1918
01:38:48,700 --> 01:38:51,400
to concentrate. 
Your master torch, you not to 

1919
01:38:51,400 --> 01:38:54,600
judge these fluctuations, too 
harshly, all calligraphers 

1920
01:38:54,600 --> 01:38:56,300
experience, good days and bad 
days. 

1921
01:38:56,300 --> 01:38:59,300
The key is to keep showing up 
and doing the work regardless of

1922
01:38:59,300 --> 01:39:02,300
how it feels in the moment. 
Over time the good days, 

1923
01:39:02,300 --> 01:39:05,500
outnumber the bad days and the 
overall trajectory moves toward 

1924
01:39:05,500 --> 01:39:10,300
Improvement This lesson took 
years to truly accept early. 

1925
01:39:10,300 --> 01:39:12,700
In your training, you would 
become frustrated on bad days 

1926
01:39:12,700 --> 01:39:16,400
and convinced that you lacked 
the necessary Talent. you would 

1927
01:39:16,400 --> 01:39:19,500
compare your worst work to other
students best work and conclude 

1928
01:39:19,500 --> 01:39:22,900
you were falling behind your 
master would occasionally notice

1929
01:39:22,900 --> 01:39:25,900
these spirals of negative 
thinking and redirect your 

1930
01:39:25,900 --> 01:39:28,600
attention to the simple task of 
grinding Inc or cleaning 

1931
01:39:28,600 --> 01:39:31,900
brushes, the work itself, 
eventually taught you that 

1932
01:39:31,900 --> 01:39:36,200
consistency matters more than 
intermittent brilliance the 

1933
01:39:36,200 --> 01:39:39,900
calligrapher who practices every
day for 10 years will surpass 

1934
01:39:39,900 --> 01:39:42,900
The Talented beginner who only 
works when inspiration strikes 

1935
01:39:43,800 --> 01:39:46,800
This truth applies to most 
skills but feels especially 

1936
01:39:46,800 --> 01:39:49,900
relevant to calligraphy where 
incremental improvements 

1937
01:39:49,900 --> 01:39:53,500
accumulate into mastery. 
You now, try to pass this lesson

1938
01:39:53,500 --> 01:39:56,300
to your students though. 
They will probably need years to

1939
01:39:56,300 --> 01:39:59,200
fully internalize it. 
You can tell them that bad days 

1940
01:39:59,200 --> 01:40:02,000
and normal and temporary, you 
can demonstrate the even 

1941
01:40:02,000 --> 01:40:05,000
mastered as produced mediocre 
works sometimes, but 

1942
01:40:05,000 --> 01:40:07,500
understanding intellectually 
differs from accepting 

1943
01:40:07,500 --> 01:40:10,600
emotionally, they will learn 
through experience, or they will

1944
01:40:10,600 --> 01:40:12,700
quit. 
Before learning occurs the 

1945
01:40:12,700 --> 01:40:15,800
philosophical dimensions of 
calligraphy interests, you more 

1946
01:40:15,800 --> 01:40:18,500
now than they did during your 
training years back. 

1947
01:40:18,500 --> 01:40:21,100
Then you focused almost entirely
on technique and skill 

1948
01:40:21,100 --> 01:40:23,200
development. 
You wanted to make beautiful 

1949
01:40:23,200 --> 01:40:25,300
characters and earn your 
Master's approval. 

1950
01:40:26,300 --> 01:40:28,700
The deeper meanings remained 
abstract Concepts without 

1951
01:40:28,700 --> 01:40:31,800
personal relevance. 
Now you recognize calligraphy as

1952
01:40:31,800 --> 01:40:35,300
a form of meditation, where the 
goal is not to achieve anything 

1953
01:40:35,300 --> 01:40:39,000
but simply to be present with 
each stroke, Characters, you 

1954
01:40:39,000 --> 01:40:41,600
create matter, less than the 
quality of attention, you bring 

1955
01:40:41,600 --> 01:40:44,800
to creating them. 
This realization paradoxically 

1956
01:40:44,800 --> 01:40:48,200
improved your technical work 
because trying too hard produces

1957
01:40:48,200 --> 01:40:51,800
tension that degrades quality. 
You have read texts written by 

1958
01:40:51,800 --> 01:40:54,500
Monk calligraphers, who used 
writing a spiritual practice. 

1959
01:40:54,500 --> 01:40:57,700
They described calligraphy as a 
way to empty the mind and 

1960
01:40:57,700 --> 01:41:00,200
connect with something larger 
than the individual self. 

1961
01:41:01,200 --> 01:41:03,300
You're not particularly 
religious, but you understand 

1962
01:41:03,300 --> 01:41:05,600
what they meant. 
The experience of losing 

1963
01:41:05,600 --> 01:41:07,800
yourself in the work. 
Feels like touching something 

1964
01:41:07,800 --> 01:41:10,600
eternal. 
These moments of transcendence 

1965
01:41:10,600 --> 01:41:13,900
arrive, unpredictably, and 
depart just as suddenly You 

1966
01:41:13,900 --> 01:41:16,300
might be in the middle of a 
routing commission when suddenly

1967
01:41:16,300 --> 01:41:19,400
everything clicks, and you see 
each stroke with perfect clarity

1968
01:41:19,400 --> 01:41:22,800
or you might finish an entire 
scroll without experiencing 

1969
01:41:22,800 --> 01:41:25,800
anything special but then look 
at the completed work and 

1970
01:41:25,800 --> 01:41:28,800
recognize that something 
extraordinary happened without 

1971
01:41:28,800 --> 01:41:31,600
your conscious awareness. 
You do not discuss these 

1972
01:41:31,600 --> 01:41:34,100
experiences with many people 
because they sound pretentious. 

1973
01:41:34,100 --> 01:41:37,900
When described in words, how do 
you explain to a merchant that 

1974
01:41:37,900 --> 01:41:40,000
writing his poem? 
Felt like touching the void? 

1975
01:41:40,800 --> 01:41:43,400
How do you tell your students 
that the highest achievement in 

1976
01:41:43,400 --> 01:41:45,600
calligraphy is to forget, you 
are doing calligraphy. 

1977
01:41:46,400 --> 01:41:48,800
These truths can only be 
discovered through personal 

1978
01:41:48,800 --> 01:41:52,400
experience different cultures 
developed distinct, calligraphic

1979
01:41:52,400 --> 01:41:55,300
Traditions based on their unique
writing systems and aesthetic 

1980
01:41:55,300 --> 01:41:57,100
values. 
The Chinese tradition 

1981
01:41:57,100 --> 01:41:59,900
emphasized, balance and harmony 
with characters arranged in 

1982
01:41:59,900 --> 01:42:03,100
precise grids the Arabic 
tradition created flowing, 

1983
01:42:03,100 --> 01:42:06,700
geometric patterns, where text 
became architectural ornament. 

1984
01:42:07,500 --> 01:42:11,100
The Latin tradition in medieval 
Europe, illuminated manuscripts 

1985
01:42:11,100 --> 01:42:13,600
with gold leaf and elaborate 
decorative flourishes. 

1986
01:42:14,400 --> 01:42:17,500
You have studied examples from 
many Traditions though, your own

1987
01:42:17,508 --> 01:42:19,600
work remains rooted in your 
native Style. 

1988
01:42:20,300 --> 01:42:23,100
Seeing how other cultures 
approach the same fundamental 

1989
01:42:23,100 --> 01:42:25,600
challenge of making language 
visible and beautiful has 

1990
01:42:25,600 --> 01:42:28,200
expanded your understanding of 
what calligraphy can be. 

1991
01:42:29,100 --> 01:42:32,000
Chinese calligraphy influenced 
your Traditions significantly. 

1992
01:42:32,700 --> 01:42:35,200
The tools and many techniques 
came from China, along with 

1993
01:42:35,200 --> 01:42:37,000
Buddhism and Confucian 
philosophy. 

1994
01:42:37,800 --> 01:42:40,400
But over centuries, local 
preferences and Innovations, 

1995
01:42:40,400 --> 01:42:42,500
created a distinctly Regional 
Style. 

1996
01:42:43,500 --> 01:42:45,500
Characters became slightly more 
angular. 

1997
01:42:46,200 --> 01:42:49,700
The balance between thick and 
thin, stroke shifted you 

1998
01:42:49,700 --> 01:42:52,900
conventions developed for 
spacing and composition the five

1999
01:42:52,900 --> 01:42:55,900
major scripts in Chinese 
calligraphy, represent different

2000
01:42:55,900 --> 01:42:58,100
points on the spectrum between 
formal and casual. 

2001
01:42:59,000 --> 01:43:02,500
Seal script preserved, ancient 
forms used on official seals and

2002
01:43:02,500 --> 01:43:05,200
monuments. 
Clerical script developed, for 

2003
01:43:05,200 --> 01:43:08,200
administrative efficiently, 
regular script became the 

2004
01:43:08,200 --> 01:43:11,800
standard for printed texts and 
formal documents running script 

2005
01:43:11,800 --> 01:43:14,900
increased speed while 
maintaining readability cursive 

2006
01:43:14,900 --> 01:43:18,200
script, prioritized expressive 
Fitness over Clarity, you 

2007
01:43:18,200 --> 01:43:21,000
practice, primarily in, regular 
and running scripts, depending 

2008
01:43:21,000 --> 01:43:22,300
on the needs of your 
commission's. 

2009
01:43:23,000 --> 01:43:26,200
Seal script appears to archaic 
for most contemporary purposes. 

2010
01:43:27,200 --> 01:43:30,400
Clerical script has a historical
association with bureaucracy 

2011
01:43:30,400 --> 01:43:33,900
that clients prefer to avoid. 
Cursive script requires such 

2012
01:43:33,900 --> 01:43:36,600
specialized knowledge to read 
that it limits your potential 

2013
01:43:36,600 --> 01:43:39,900
audience Arabic calligraphy 
takes a different approach 

2014
01:43:39,900 --> 01:43:42,800
because the Arabic script 
connects letters within words. 

2015
01:43:42,800 --> 01:43:46,500
This creates opportunities for 
flowing composition that you're 

2016
01:43:46,500 --> 01:43:48,100
isolated. 
Character system cannot 

2017
01:43:48,100 --> 01:43:51,500
replicate Arabic, calligraphers 
developed, styles were entire 

2018
01:43:51,500 --> 01:43:54,900
verses of poetry become unified 
visual compositions resembling 

2019
01:43:54,900 --> 01:43:58,700
abstract art the religious 
prohibition against depicting 

2020
01:43:58,700 --> 01:44:02,100
living beings in Islamic Art. 
Elevated calligraphy to Central 

2021
01:44:02,100 --> 01:44:06,100
importance in mosque decoration.
Sacred texts became the primary 

2022
01:44:06,100 --> 01:44:09,600
subject for artistic expression.
Calligraphers achieved the 

2023
01:44:09,608 --> 01:44:12,500
status of our artists whose work
was collected and celebrated. 

2024
01:44:12,500 --> 01:44:16,000
This tradition continues today 
with contemporary Arabic, 

2025
01:44:16,000 --> 01:44:18,200
calligraphers pushing 
boundaries, while respecting 

2026
01:44:18,200 --> 01:44:22,500
classical foundations, European,
medieval manuscripts, represent 

2027
01:44:22,500 --> 01:44:24,100
yet. 
Another approach where 

2028
01:44:24,100 --> 01:44:26,000
calligraphy merged with 
illustration. 

2029
01:44:26,900 --> 01:44:28,700
Scribe. 
Spent months, creating single 

2030
01:44:28,700 --> 01:44:30,500
books. 
With elaborate initial letters. 

2031
01:44:30,500 --> 01:44:34,200
Containing miniature paintings, 
gold and Lapis Lazuli. 

2032
01:44:34,200 --> 01:44:37,000
Decorated the pages. 
The books were Treasures, that 

2033
01:44:37,000 --> 01:44:39,800
signaled wealth. 
And devotion, the invention of 

2034
01:44:39,808 --> 01:44:43,200
the printing press transformed 
European calligraphy, from a 

2035
01:44:43,200 --> 01:44:46,300
practical, necessity into an 
artistic specialty suddenly 

2036
01:44:46,300 --> 01:44:49,300
books could be mass produced and
handwritten text became luxury 

2037
01:44:49,300 --> 01:44:53,300
items, calligraphers adapted, by
focusing on ceremonial documents

2038
01:44:53,300 --> 01:44:56,100
and special commissions where 
hand work Justified. 

2039
01:44:56,100 --> 01:44:59,600
The extra expense. 
Your own culture experienced 

2040
01:44:59,600 --> 01:45:02,000
similar changes when printing 
technology arrived. 

2041
01:45:02,600 --> 01:45:05,200
The initial impact devastated, 
the professional calligraphy 

2042
01:45:05,200 --> 01:45:08,500
Community, many calligraphers 
lost their livelihoods as 

2043
01:45:08,500 --> 01:45:11,900
printed text for placed 
handwritten books, the survivors

2044
01:45:11,900 --> 01:45:14,500
adapted by emphasizing the 
artistic and spiritual 

2045
01:45:14,500 --> 01:45:17,000
dimensions of hand work that 
machines could not replicate. 

2046
01:45:18,000 --> 01:45:21,800
Today, calligraphy occupies, a 
niche position or it serves 

2047
01:45:21,800 --> 01:45:25,300
ceremonial and aesthetic 
purposes rather than utilitarian

2048
01:45:25,300 --> 01:45:28,400
communication. 
No one needs handwritten letters

2049
01:45:28,400 --> 01:45:32,200
when printed forms a faster and 
cheaper, but people still value 

2050
01:45:32,200 --> 01:45:35,700
the personal touch and artistic 
quality that only a skilled. 

2051
01:45:35,700 --> 01:45:37,900
Calligrapher can provide you 
sometimes. 

2052
01:45:37,900 --> 01:45:40,500
Wonder if future Generations, 
will continue practicing 

2053
01:45:40,500 --> 01:45:43,500
calligraphy or if the 
traditional fade as digital 

2054
01:45:43,500 --> 01:45:45,900
communication, dominates all 
aspects of life. 

2055
01:45:46,700 --> 01:45:49,800
Young people rarely see 
handwriting anymore, they type 

2056
01:45:49,800 --> 01:45:53,400
on keyboards or tap on screens. 
The physical experience of 

2057
01:45:53,400 --> 01:45:56,200
making marks on paper feels 
increasingly foreign to them. 

2058
01:45:56,200 --> 01:45:59,400
Your two students represent a 
small Rebellion against this 

2059
01:45:59,400 --> 01:46:02,800
trend, they chose to study an 
ancient art form that has little

2060
01:46:02,800 --> 01:46:05,700
practical application in the 
modern world, their reasons 

2061
01:46:05,700 --> 01:46:07,600
vary. 
But both Express a hunger for 

2062
01:46:07,600 --> 01:46:11,400
something tangible and slow in a
culture that increasingly values

2063
01:46:11,400 --> 01:46:14,300
speed and efficiency. 
The youngest student told you 

2064
01:46:14,300 --> 01:46:17,400
she was attracted to calligraphy
because it requires presence. 

2065
01:46:18,200 --> 01:46:20,600
You cannot text and write 
calligraphy simultaneously. 

2066
01:46:20,600 --> 01:46:24,100
You cannot think about tomorrow.
While forming characters the 

2067
01:46:24,100 --> 01:46:26,500
work demands complete attention 
in the present moment. 

2068
01:46:26,500 --> 01:46:30,100
This quality feels rare and 
precious in her daily life. 

2069
01:46:30,100 --> 01:46:33,000
The older student came to 
calligraphy through frustration 

2070
01:46:33,000 --> 01:46:34,400
with his previous career in 
Commerce. 

2071
01:46:34,400 --> 01:46:37,700
He spent years negotiating 
trades and managing shipments, 

2072
01:46:37,700 --> 01:46:41,600
the work paid well. 
But felt empty, he wanted to 

2073
01:46:41,600 --> 01:46:44,100
create something with his own 
hands that would Outlast him, 

2074
01:46:44,100 --> 01:46:47,400
calligraphy offered that 
possibility, you understand, 

2075
01:46:47,400 --> 01:46:50,400
both motivations, though, your 
own path to this, professional 

2076
01:46:50,400 --> 01:46:53,500
was less philosophical, you 
became a calligrapher because 

2077
01:46:53,500 --> 01:46:56,000
your parents arranged an 
apprenticeship and you 

2078
01:46:56,000 --> 01:46:57,700
discovered, you had aptitude for
the work. 

2079
01:46:58,600 --> 01:47:01,300
The deeper meanings emerge later
after technique and become 

2080
01:47:01,300 --> 01:47:03,700
unconscious. 
Different materials, create 

2081
01:47:03,700 --> 01:47:07,100
different, calligraphic effects,
Stone requires chisels and 

2082
01:47:07,100 --> 01:47:09,900
hammers metal. 
Accepts engraved characters, 

2083
01:47:09,900 --> 01:47:14,300
wood burns under heated tools, 
Place often to impressions 

2084
01:47:15,200 --> 01:47:17,900
Material has its own logic and 
constraints that shape how 

2085
01:47:17,900 --> 01:47:21,200
writing appears your own. 
Work uses brush and ink on 

2086
01:47:21,200 --> 01:47:23,900
paper, which allows the most 
fluid and expressive approach 

2087
01:47:23,900 --> 01:47:26,700
the brush bends, and flexes 
Under Pressure. 

2088
01:47:26,700 --> 01:47:30,900
The ink spreads into paper 
fibers in organic patterns, the 

2089
01:47:30,900 --> 01:47:33,800
resulting characters contain 
life and movement, that carved 

2090
01:47:33,800 --> 01:47:37,600
or stamped text cannot match. 
Some contemporary calligraphers 

2091
01:47:37,600 --> 01:47:41,300
experiment with unconventional 
materials they write on glass or

2092
01:47:41,300 --> 01:47:44,000
Fabric or ceramic. 
They used tools other than 

2093
01:47:44,000 --> 01:47:46,000
brushes to create unexpected 
textures. 

2094
01:47:46,000 --> 01:47:49,900
They combine calligraphy with 
painting or sculpture these 

2095
01:47:49,900 --> 01:47:51,200
Innovations. 
Expand. 

2096
01:47:51,200 --> 01:47:53,000
The definition of what 
calligraphy can be. 

2097
01:47:53,000 --> 01:47:56,500
You respect these experiments 
without feeling called to pursue

2098
01:47:56,500 --> 01:47:59,500
them yourself. 
Your interest lies in mastering,

2099
01:47:59,500 --> 01:48:03,100
the traditional approach rather 
than inventing new approaches. 

2100
01:48:03,100 --> 01:48:06,400
Perhaps this makes you 
conservative, but you believe 

2101
01:48:06,400 --> 01:48:09,100
that tradition deserves 
preservation even as some people

2102
01:48:09,100 --> 01:48:13,000
push boundaries. 
The role of technology in 

2103
01:48:13,000 --> 01:48:14,300
calligraphy remains, 
controversial. 

2104
01:48:14,900 --> 01:48:18,000
Some calligraphers use digital 
tools to design compositions 

2105
01:48:18,000 --> 01:48:21,500
before executing them on paper, 
others, photograph their work 

2106
01:48:21,500 --> 01:48:25,200
and make prints for clients who 
want multiple copies, purists 

2107
01:48:25,200 --> 01:48:27,200
argue that digital intervention 
corrupts. 

2108
01:48:27,200 --> 01:48:30,500
The essential handmade nature of
the art form, you occupy a 

2109
01:48:30,500 --> 01:48:32,900
middle position, you 
occasionally photograph, your 

2110
01:48:32,900 --> 01:48:35,800
work for documentation, but you 
do not create digital versions 

2111
01:48:35,800 --> 01:48:38,400
for sale. 
Each piece you make exists as a 

2112
01:48:38,408 --> 01:48:41,600
unique physical object The 
slight variations between 

2113
01:48:41,600 --> 01:48:45,000
supposedly identical characters,
reveal the human hand behind 

2114
01:48:45,000 --> 01:48:47,600
them. 
This unrepeatable quality seems 

2115
01:48:47,600 --> 01:48:51,100
fundamental to what calligraphy 
is the future of traditional 

2116
01:48:51,100 --> 01:48:53,100
calligraphy. 
Probably involves a small 

2117
01:48:53,100 --> 01:48:56,500
community of dedicated 
practitioners serving a niche 

2118
01:48:56,500 --> 01:48:59,200
market that values handcrafted 
and historical continuity. 

2119
01:49:00,200 --> 01:49:02,700
Mass culture will continue 
moving toward digital 

2120
01:49:02,700 --> 01:49:05,700
efficiency, but there will 
always be people who want 

2121
01:49:05,700 --> 01:49:09,600
something made Slowly by hand, 
using methods that connect to 

2122
01:49:09,600 --> 01:49:12,000
the Past. 
You hope your students will 

2123
01:49:12,000 --> 01:49:14,200
continue practicing after they 
complete their training. 

2124
01:49:14,200 --> 01:49:17,200
But you also know that many 
factors influence where the 

2125
01:49:17,200 --> 01:49:19,700
someone commits to a difficult 
profession with limited 

2126
01:49:19,700 --> 01:49:23,300
Financial Rewards. 
You can teach them technique and

2127
01:49:23,300 --> 01:49:26,300
share the philosophical 
Dimensions whether they choose 

2128
01:49:26,300 --> 01:49:28,700
to build lives around 
calligraphy, depends on 

2129
01:49:28,700 --> 01:49:30,800
circumstances beyond your 
control. 

2130
01:49:31,500 --> 01:49:34,100
The rhythm of your days follows 
patterns established by 

2131
01:49:34,100 --> 01:49:37,400
generations, of calligraphers 
you wake Before Dawn and 

2132
01:49:37,400 --> 01:49:39,400
grinding while the world is 
still quiet. 

2133
01:49:40,100 --> 01:49:43,300
You practice basic Strokes to 
warm up your hand and Center 

2134
01:49:43,300 --> 01:49:45,700
your mind. 
You work on commissions during 

2135
01:49:45,700 --> 01:49:47,900
the hours when your energy and 
focus are strongest. 

2136
01:49:48,700 --> 01:49:51,400
Clean your tools as the day ends
and prepare for tomorrow. 

2137
01:49:51,400 --> 01:49:54,800
This routine might seem 
monotonous to someone who craves

2138
01:49:54,800 --> 01:49:58,300
variety and excitement for you. 
It provides structure. 

2139
01:49:58,300 --> 01:50:00,100
That makes sustained Excellence 
possible. 

2140
01:50:00,100 --> 01:50:04,000
The consistency removes decision
fatigue, and allows you to 

2141
01:50:04,008 --> 01:50:08,100
direct all your mental energy to
the actual work of calligraphy. 

2142
01:50:08,100 --> 01:50:10,700
You know, longer wonder if you 
made the right career choice, 

2143
01:50:10,700 --> 01:50:13,900
those questions belong to your 
youth when other paths still 

2144
01:50:13,900 --> 01:50:16,600
seemed possible. 
Now, calligraphy is simply what 

2145
01:50:16,600 --> 01:50:18,600
you do. 
It defines how you spend your 

2146
01:50:18,600 --> 01:50:21,900
time and how you understand 
yourself removing calligraphy 

2147
01:50:21,900 --> 01:50:24,600
from your life would be like 
removing your skeleton, the 

2148
01:50:24,600 --> 01:50:27,600
structure that holds everything 
else together would collapse the

2149
01:50:27,600 --> 01:50:29,300
money. 
You earn supports a modest 

2150
01:50:29,300 --> 01:50:32,300
lifestyle, you rent this studio 
and a small room where you 

2151
01:50:32,300 --> 01:50:35,000
sleep, you eat, simple food and 
wearing clothes. 

2152
01:50:35,000 --> 01:50:37,800
You own, few possessions beyond 
your tools and a small 

2153
01:50:37,808 --> 01:50:41,700
collection of books and Scrolls.
This Simplicity is partly 

2154
01:50:41,700 --> 01:50:45,500
necessity and partly Choice, 
desire for luxury goods would 

2155
01:50:45,500 --> 01:50:48,300
create pressure to accept more 
commissions and work faster. 

2156
01:50:49,100 --> 01:50:51,900
Your quality would inevitably 
decline under that pressure, 

2157
01:50:51,900 --> 01:50:55,800
better to live simply and 
maintain standards than to grow 

2158
01:50:55,800 --> 01:50:57,800
wealthy while producing inferior
work. 

2159
01:50:58,700 --> 01:51:01,500
Your master lived this way and 
you see no reason to live 

2160
01:51:01,500 --> 01:51:04,300
differently, some calligraphers 
marry and raise families. 

2161
01:51:04,300 --> 01:51:07,900
You have chosen not to The 
demands of family, life would 

2162
01:51:07,900 --> 01:51:09,500
conflict with the focus 
Dedication. 

2163
01:51:09,500 --> 01:51:13,200
That calligraphy requires you do
not judge colleagues who manage 

2164
01:51:13,200 --> 01:51:16,600
both but you know, your own 
limitations divided, attention, 

2165
01:51:16,600 --> 01:51:20,100
produces divided results, your 
relationships exist, primarily 

2166
01:51:20,100 --> 01:51:21,700
within the calligraphy 
Community. 

2167
01:51:21,700 --> 01:51:24,700
You know, other calligraphers 
around the city and occasionally

2168
01:51:24,700 --> 01:51:27,100
visit their Studios to examine 
their work and to discuss 

2169
01:51:27,100 --> 01:51:29,700
technical challenges. 
These conversations are the 

2170
01:51:29,700 --> 01:51:31,600
closest thing you have to a 
social life. 

2171
01:51:31,600 --> 01:51:35,400
The isolation rarely bothers you
because the work itself provides

2172
01:51:35,400 --> 01:51:38,000
fulfillment, that relationships 
might offer others. 

2173
01:51:38,000 --> 01:51:42,300
Each completed commission gives 
satisfaction, each Improvement 

2174
01:51:42,300 --> 01:51:43,900
in technique, brings quiet. 
Joy. 

2175
01:51:43,900 --> 01:51:47,000
Each moment of perfect 
concentration, feels like 

2176
01:51:47,000 --> 01:51:51,000
communion with something larger 
than yourself. you sometimes 

2177
01:51:51,000 --> 01:51:54,500
imagine your master watching you
work not judging or criticizing 

2178
01:51:54,500 --> 01:51:57,400
but simply observing with the 
neutral attention he brought to 

2179
01:51:57,400 --> 01:52:00,500
everything This imagined 
presence comforts you during 

2180
01:52:00,500 --> 01:52:04,000
difficult projects or when doubt
Creeps in about your abilities. 

2181
01:52:04,800 --> 01:52:07,000
The Scrolls hanging in your 
studio rotates. 

2182
01:52:07,000 --> 01:52:10,600
Seasonally spring brings poems 
about renewal and growth. 

2183
01:52:10,600 --> 01:52:12,900
Some are displays bold 
energetic. 

2184
01:52:12,900 --> 01:52:17,100
Calligraphy Autumn features 
contemplative texts winter shows

2185
01:52:17,100 --> 01:52:21,700
Stark minimal compositions these
rotations Mark times passage in 

2186
01:52:21,700 --> 01:52:24,200
a life that otherwise contains 
few external markers. 

2187
01:52:24,200 --> 01:52:27,200
Your students will eventually 
leave to establish their own 

2188
01:52:27,200 --> 01:52:29,900
practices. 
New students will arrive to 

2189
01:52:29,900 --> 01:52:33,300
replace them this cycle repeats 
endlessly with each generation 

2190
01:52:33,300 --> 01:52:35,700
learning from the previous one, 
and eventually teaching. 

2191
01:52:35,700 --> 01:52:39,300
The next You're simply one Link 
in a chain that extends 

2192
01:52:39,300 --> 01:52:42,100
centuries into the past and 
hopefully centuries into the 

2193
01:52:42,100 --> 01:52:44,400
future. 
The Scrolls, you create will 

2194
01:52:44,400 --> 01:52:48,000
Outlast you if they are properly
cared for Paper can survive 

2195
01:52:48,000 --> 01:52:50,900
hundreds of years in good 
conditions, your characters will

2196
01:52:50,900 --> 01:52:53,700
still be readable long after 
everyone who need you has died. 

2197
01:52:54,600 --> 01:52:58,800
This form of immortality is 
modest, but real You do not sign

2198
01:52:58,800 --> 01:53:01,400
your work with elaborate 
flourishes or prominent seals. 

2199
01:53:01,400 --> 01:53:04,500
Your Mark appears small and 
discreet in the corner of each 

2200
01:53:04,500 --> 01:53:06,700
piece. 
The work should speak for itself

2201
01:53:06,700 --> 01:53:09,200
without requiring promotion of 
the makers identity. 

2202
01:53:10,200 --> 01:53:12,900
This humility is traditional, 
though, some contemporary 

2203
01:53:12,900 --> 01:53:14,800
calligraphers. 
Take a more individualistic 

2204
01:53:14,800 --> 01:53:17,400
approach. 
The discipline required for 

2205
01:53:17,400 --> 01:53:19,400
calligraphy shaped other aspects
of your life. 

2206
01:53:20,100 --> 01:53:23,300
You approach most tasks with the
same careful attention you bring

2207
01:53:23,300 --> 01:53:26,600
to brushwork you clean 
methodically you organized 

2208
01:53:26,600 --> 01:53:29,300
systematically, you move 
deliberately rather than 

2209
01:53:29,300 --> 01:53:31,400
rushing. 
These habits develop through 

2210
01:53:31,400 --> 01:53:34,800
years of calligraphic training, 
some people might describe you 

2211
01:53:34,800 --> 01:53:38,800
as slow or overly careful, you 
do not experience yourself that 

2212
01:53:38,800 --> 01:53:42,000
way, moving at the proper speed 
for the task at hand feels 

2213
01:53:42,000 --> 01:53:45,300
natural. 
Rushing creates, errors pausing 

2214
01:53:45,300 --> 01:53:48,700
allows consideration the pace 
that looks slow to others, is 

2215
01:53:48,700 --> 01:53:51,100
simply the pace that produce as 
quality results. 

2216
01:53:51,800 --> 01:53:54,500
Your relationship with time has 
evolved through calligraphy 

2217
01:53:54,500 --> 01:53:57,800
practice, when you were young 
time felt like an enemy that 

2218
01:53:57,800 --> 01:53:59,800
would run out before you achieve
your goals. 

2219
01:53:59,800 --> 01:54:02,200
Now, time feels more like a 
medium. 

2220
01:54:02,200 --> 01:54:04,900
You move through the future will
arrive at its own pace 

2221
01:54:04,900 --> 01:54:09,200
regardless of your anxiety. 
The past is finished and cannot 

2222
01:54:09,200 --> 01:54:12,000
be changed. 
Only the present moment offers 

2223
01:54:12,000 --> 01:54:16,400
any real opportunity for action.
This perspective does not 

2224
01:54:16,400 --> 01:54:19,600
prevent you from planning or 
learning from experience, but it

2225
01:54:19,608 --> 01:54:22,700
reduces the tendency to lift 
perpetually ahead of or behind 

2226
01:54:22,700 --> 01:54:26,100
the current moment. 
The brush moving across paper 

2227
01:54:26,100 --> 01:54:27,700
right now is all that really 
matters. 

2228
01:54:27,700 --> 01:54:32,100
Everything else is abstraction. 
Physical sensations of 

2229
01:54:32,108 --> 01:54:35,200
calligraphy ground. 
You in concrete reality, the 

2230
01:54:35,200 --> 01:54:38,400
roughness of paper under your 
palm, the weight of the brush in

2231
01:54:38,400 --> 01:54:42,600
your hand, the smell of ink, the
slight ache in your shoulders. 

2232
01:54:42,600 --> 01:54:46,300
After hours of work, these 
Sensations, anchor awareness in 

2233
01:54:46,300 --> 01:54:48,400
the body and prevent excessive 
mental wandering. 

2234
01:54:49,000 --> 01:54:51,700
You notice that younger people 
increasingly live in their 

2235
01:54:51,700 --> 01:54:54,300
heads. 
They think constantly about past

2236
01:54:54,300 --> 01:54:56,700
and future. 
They experience the present 

2237
01:54:56,700 --> 01:54:58,900
moment through the filter of 
their mental commentary. 

2238
01:54:59,700 --> 01:55:02,700
Calligraphy offers an antidote 
to this tendency by demanding 

2239
01:55:02,700 --> 01:55:06,100
embodied participation. 
You cannot write well, while 

2240
01:55:06,100 --> 01:55:09,400
lost in, thought your daily 
practice serves no purpose 

2241
01:55:09,400 --> 01:55:12,700
Beyond itself, you do not 
practice to prepare for anything

2242
01:55:12,700 --> 01:55:16,300
specific you practice because 
practice is the activity that 

2243
01:55:16,300 --> 01:55:19,100
calligraphy consists of the 
doing is the point. 

2244
01:55:20,000 --> 01:55:22,900
Any results or accomplishments 
that emerge or buy products 

2245
01:55:22,900 --> 01:55:25,900
rather than goals? 
this understanding took many 

2246
01:55:25,900 --> 01:55:28,900
years to develop early in your 
training, you practice to 

2247
01:55:28,900 --> 01:55:31,900
improve and to earn approval and
to eventually make a living 

2248
01:55:32,700 --> 01:55:35,600
These motivations were not wrong
but they kept you focused on 

2249
01:55:35,600 --> 01:55:38,900
outcomes rather than process. 
You measured progress by 

2250
01:55:38,900 --> 01:55:42,200
comparing to today's work to 
yesterday's work and feeling 

2251
01:55:42,200 --> 01:55:45,400
either satisfied or disappointed
based on whether Improvement was

2252
01:55:45,400 --> 01:55:48,000
visible. 
When outcomes became less 

2253
01:55:48,000 --> 01:55:50,700
important than the quality of 
your attention during practice 

2254
01:55:50,700 --> 01:55:53,200
your work, paradoxically 
improved. 

2255
01:55:53,900 --> 01:55:57,600
Letting go of the need to 
achieve specific results, free 

2256
01:55:57,600 --> 01:56:00,000
due to fully inhabit. 
Each moment of practice. 

2257
01:56:00,900 --> 01:56:03,900
The Strokes became more natural 
because you stopped trying to 

2258
01:56:03,908 --> 01:56:07,600
force them into pre-determined 
shapes, your hand, learn to 

2259
01:56:07,600 --> 01:56:10,000
respond to the paper and ink 
without interference from 

2260
01:56:10,000 --> 01:56:11,800
anxious. 
Thoughts about, whether the 

2261
01:56:11,800 --> 01:56:14,600
result would be good enough. 
The evening arrives, and you 

2262
01:56:14,600 --> 01:56:17,600
finish cleaning your tools. 
For the day, tomorrow will bring

2263
01:56:17,600 --> 01:56:21,100
new paper and freshing, the same
characters will require the same

2264
01:56:21,100 --> 01:56:23,800
careful attention. 
Nothing dramatic will happen 

2265
01:56:23,800 --> 01:56:26,200
progress. 
If it occurs will be measured in

2266
01:56:26,200 --> 01:56:29,200
tiny increments invisible to 
Casual observation. 

2267
01:56:29,200 --> 01:56:32,300
This is the life you chose and 
continue to choose with each 

2268
01:56:32,300 --> 01:56:34,600
morning's decision, to grinding 
can pick up the brush. 

2269
01:56:35,400 --> 01:56:38,500
The alternative of not doing 
calligraphy barely registers as 

2270
01:56:38,500 --> 01:56:41,500
a possibility anymore. 
The question is not whether to 

2271
01:56:41,500 --> 01:56:44,100
practice, but only what to 
practice and how to practice it 

2272
01:56:44,100 --> 01:56:47,600
slightly better than yesterday. 
you extinguish the lamps and 

2273
01:56:47,600 --> 01:56:51,100
lock the studio outside, the 
city continues, its endless 

2274
01:56:51,100 --> 01:56:55,000
activity, Inside this space 
dedicated to an ancient art 

2275
01:56:55,000 --> 01:56:57,000
form. 
Everything waits in Stillness, 

2276
01:56:57,000 --> 01:57:00,300
for tomorrow's, renewal of 
effort, the brushes hang drying.

2277
01:57:00,300 --> 01:57:04,200
The paper rests in its Stacks 
the ink Stone, sits clean and 

2278
01:57:04,200 --> 01:57:06,400
ready. 
You walked to your room thinking

2279
01:57:06,400 --> 01:57:08,800
about nothing. 
In particular, dinner will be 

2280
01:57:08,800 --> 01:57:10,800
simple. 
As always, sleep will come 

2281
01:57:10,800 --> 01:57:13,800
easily after a day of focused 
work and tomorrow, you will 

2282
01:57:13,800 --> 01:57:15,500
return to the studio to begin 
again. 

2283
01:57:16,300 --> 01:57:19,600
This is how a calligrapher's 
life unfolds day after day year 

2284
01:57:19,600 --> 01:57:23,000
after year, in the steady rhythm
of practice and rest. 

2285
01:57:23,000 --> 01:57:26,800
In the gradual accumulation of 
skill in the quiet satisfaction 

2286
01:57:26,800 --> 01:57:38,000
of work done. 
Well, You're lying on packed 

2287
01:57:38,000 --> 01:57:39,200
Earth in. 
What will someday be called, 

2288
01:57:39,200 --> 01:57:41,800
France, but right now has no 
name at all. 

2289
01:57:41,808 --> 01:57:47,200
The year is approximately 28,000
BCE and above you smoke from the

2290
01:57:47,200 --> 01:57:50,800
fire drifts toward a sealing of 
rock that your people of painted

2291
01:57:50,800 --> 01:57:53,900
with running animals. 
Outside this cave, winter is 

2292
01:57:53,900 --> 01:57:56,700
locked the world in ice. 
But here, the fire keeps you 

2293
01:57:56,700 --> 01:57:58,400
warm enough to drift towards 
sleep. 

2294
01:57:58,400 --> 01:58:03,500
Your body knows this transition.
Intimately your breathing slows,

2295
01:58:03,500 --> 01:58:06,600
the Rhythm changing, from the 
quick, shallow pattern of 

2296
01:58:06,600 --> 01:58:10,100
activity to something deeper and
more regular. 

2297
01:58:11,400 --> 01:58:14,900
Your muscles release their 
daytime tension, one group at a 

2298
01:58:14,900 --> 01:58:17,200
time. 
First your jaw, then your 

2299
01:58:17,200 --> 01:58:20,600
shoulders, then your hands that 
have been gripping tools all 

2300
01:58:20,600 --> 01:58:23,300
day. 
Your eyelids grow heavy and the 

2301
01:58:23,300 --> 01:58:27,200
flickering firelight becomes 
less distinct blurring into warm

2302
01:58:27,200 --> 01:58:31,200
orange smears, against your 
closed eyes, and then without 

2303
01:58:31,200 --> 01:58:35,500
Fanfare or ceremony without even
noticing the precise moment of 

2304
01:58:35,500 --> 01:58:39,400
transition, you find yourself 
running alongside the painted 

2305
01:58:39,400 --> 01:58:41,700
animals. 
They've leaped from the stone 

2306
01:58:41,700 --> 01:58:44,800
walls, into a grassy plain that 
exists nowhere on Earth. 

2307
01:58:45,500 --> 01:58:48,900
The grass is impossibly green 
greener than anything. 

2308
01:58:48,900 --> 01:58:52,400
You've seen in this ice locked 
world and it brushes against 

2309
01:58:52,400 --> 01:58:55,700
your legs as you run. 
The deer beside you. 

2310
01:58:55,700 --> 01:58:58,100
The one painted in red okra on 
the cave. 

2311
01:58:58,100 --> 01:59:01,000
Wall turns its head to look at 
you with eyes. 

2312
01:59:01,000 --> 01:59:03,500
That seemed to hold more 
intelligence than any animal 

2313
01:59:03,500 --> 01:59:06,100
should possess You don't 
question this. 

2314
01:59:06,800 --> 01:59:09,900
The boundary between waking and 
sleeping feels less like a wall 

2315
01:59:09,900 --> 01:59:13,400
and more like a curtain that 
shifts in an unfelt Breeze. 

2316
01:59:13,400 --> 01:59:17,300
You move between states without 
noticing the movement without 

2317
01:59:17,300 --> 01:59:19,800
marking the transition as 
something worthy of examination.

2318
01:59:21,000 --> 01:59:24,000
during the day you hunt and 
gather and maintain the fire, 

2319
01:59:24,800 --> 01:59:28,000
During the night, you run with 
painted animals and visit the 

2320
01:59:28,000 --> 01:59:31,200
spirits of your ancestors and 
see things that haven't happened

2321
01:59:31,200 --> 01:59:33,300
yet. 
But might These seem like 

2322
01:59:33,300 --> 01:59:35,000
equally real aspects of 
existence. 

2323
01:59:35,000 --> 01:59:37,900
The Red Deer is trying to tell 
you something. 

2324
01:59:37,900 --> 01:59:41,500
He uses. 
No words your language is still 

2325
01:59:41,500 --> 01:59:45,000
young consisting of a few 
hundred sounds that convey 

2326
01:59:45,000 --> 01:59:48,300
immediate concrete meanings but 
somehow you understand? 

2327
01:59:49,900 --> 01:59:52,900
the herd has moved to the 
valley, Beyond The Ridge or a 

2328
01:59:52,900 --> 01:59:56,900
fallen tree creates, shelter 
from the wind, It's good grazing

2329
01:59:56,900 --> 02:00:00,800
their protected by the tree and 
the curve of the land, you 

2330
02:00:00,800 --> 02:00:03,500
should hunt there. 
When morning comes, when you 

2331
02:00:03,500 --> 02:00:07,000
wake slowly surfacing through 
layers of Consciousness like 

2332
02:00:07,000 --> 02:00:09,600
Rising through water. 
You'll tell the elders about 

2333
02:00:09,600 --> 02:00:12,800
this Vision. 
They'll not seriously, the 

2334
02:00:12,800 --> 02:00:16,100
weathered faces showing no 
surprise because to them dreams 

2335
02:00:16,100 --> 02:00:19,700
aren't random firings of 
arresting brain, a concept that 

2336
02:00:19,700 --> 02:00:22,700
won't be articulated for another
30,000 years. 

2337
02:00:24,000 --> 02:00:28,400
Dreams are messages warnings and
visits from the world that 

2338
02:00:28,400 --> 02:00:32,300
exists beneath the world. 
Place where the spirits of 

2339
02:00:32,300 --> 02:00:35,400
animals live when they're not 
wearing their physical bodies. 

2340
02:00:36,300 --> 02:00:40,800
No one in your community has a 
word for subconscious or are Yem

2341
02:00:40,800 --> 02:00:44,500
sleep or memory consolidation. 
They simply know that sleep 

2342
02:00:44,500 --> 02:00:49,800
opens doors The funny thing is 
you're not entirely wrong in a 

2343
02:00:49,800 --> 02:00:52,400
way that neuroscientists, 30 
Millennia from now will struggle

2344
02:00:52,400 --> 02:00:56,000
to explain fully your brain has 
been processing information all 

2345
02:00:56,000 --> 02:00:58,700
day. 
You've been noticing patterns in

2346
02:00:58,700 --> 02:01:01,400
animal behavior without 
consciously cataloging them. 

2347
02:01:02,200 --> 02:01:05,800
The way certain birds fly, when 
deer and nearby, the angle of 

2348
02:01:05,800 --> 02:01:09,300
trampled grass, the age of 
dropping and the scent carried 

2349
02:01:09,300 --> 02:01:13,300
on yesterday's wind. 
You've registered distant 

2350
02:01:13,300 --> 02:01:15,000
sounds. 
You didn't actively listen to 

2351
02:01:15,000 --> 02:01:18,300
tracked. 
Subtle changes in weather and 

2352
02:01:18,300 --> 02:01:22,300
observed 100, small details that
your conscious mind was too busy

2353
02:01:22,300 --> 02:01:26,900
with survival to fully analyze. 
Now, freed from the need to 

2354
02:01:26,900 --> 02:01:28,600
focus on immediate threats and 
opportunities. 

2355
02:01:28,600 --> 02:01:32,600
Your sleeping brain is sorting 
through these observations. 

2356
02:01:32,600 --> 02:01:37,100
It's finding patterns, making 
connections and occasionally 

2357
02:01:37,100 --> 02:01:39,300
stumbling onto something, 
genuinely useful. 

2358
02:01:39,300 --> 02:01:43,200
The information emerges dressed 
in the symbols and metaphors. 

2359
02:01:43,200 --> 02:01:47,800
Your culture provides Talking 
animals, Spirit Journeys and 

2360
02:01:47,800 --> 02:01:51,600
painted figures come to life. 
You interpret it as the deer 

2361
02:01:51,600 --> 02:01:54,800
speaking to you, which seems 
perfectly reasonable. 

2362
02:01:54,800 --> 02:01:57,100
Given your understanding of how 
the world works. 

2363
02:01:58,200 --> 02:02:01,000
Tomorrow, When The Hunters, find
the herd, exactly where your 

2364
02:02:01,000 --> 02:02:04,400
dream suggested, your status in 
the community will rise. 

2365
02:02:04,400 --> 02:02:07,100
Slightly. 
You'll be known as someone the 

2366
02:02:07,100 --> 02:02:10,100
spirit speak to someone whose 
dreams carry weight. 

2367
02:02:11,000 --> 02:02:13,600
This will encourage you to pay 
even more attention to your 

2368
02:02:13,600 --> 02:02:17,500
dreams, to try to remember the 
more clearly and to look for 

2369
02:02:17,500 --> 02:02:21,100
messages in the nightly 
vision's. and this attention 

2370
02:02:21,100 --> 02:02:24,700
itself will begin to change the 
dreams though, you won't notice 

2371
02:02:24,700 --> 02:02:28,900
this feedback loop, this subtle 
influence, that awareness exerts

2372
02:02:28,900 --> 02:02:33,000
on the thing, being observed, 
over the years, you'll develop a

2373
02:02:33,000 --> 02:02:36,600
sensitivity to the feeling of 
dreaming, not quite awareness, 

2374
02:02:36,600 --> 02:02:39,700
not the clear knowledge that 
you're asleep and this isn't 

2375
02:02:39,700 --> 02:02:44,100
physically real, but the kind of
receptiveness an openness to the

2376
02:02:44,100 --> 02:02:47,300
strange logic and impossible 
events that characterize the 

2377
02:02:47,300 --> 02:02:51,300
dream state when you dream of 
flying, you'll accept it. 

2378
02:02:52,200 --> 02:02:54,100
When you're dead. 
Grandmother appears looking 

2379
02:02:54,100 --> 02:02:57,300
young and strong, you'll speak 
with her without confusion. 

2380
02:02:58,200 --> 02:03:01,100
When you find yourself in a 
landscape that combines features

2381
02:03:01,100 --> 02:03:04,600
from many different places, 
you'll navigate it confidently. 

2382
02:03:05,900 --> 02:03:09,300
Acceptance this lack of critical
questioning is actually what 

2383
02:03:09,300 --> 02:03:11,900
allows your dreams to be so 
vivid and useful? 

2384
02:03:12,900 --> 02:03:16,300
Your brain can process and 
recombine information freely 

2385
02:03:16,300 --> 02:03:20,200
because your conscious mind 
isn't interfering isn't saying 

2386
02:03:20,200 --> 02:03:22,500
wait, that's impossible. 
Well, this doesn't make sense. 

2387
02:03:23,600 --> 02:03:27,800
Dreams flow like water following
their own logic Making 

2388
02:03:27,800 --> 02:03:31,000
Connections that waking thought 
might dismiss as nonsensical, 

2389
02:03:31,000 --> 02:03:33,800
but that sometimes reveal 
genuine insights about the 

2390
02:03:33,808 --> 02:03:35,800
natural world you depend on for 
survival. 

2391
02:03:36,700 --> 02:03:40,500
Your standing in the Egyptian 
City of Memphis around 2000 BCE 

2392
02:03:40,500 --> 02:03:43,800
and you have a problem that's 
been gnawing at you for three 

2393
02:03:43,800 --> 02:03:47,200
nights running. 
Each night you've had the same 

2394
02:03:47,200 --> 02:03:51,200
disturbing dream, your teeth are
falling out scattering across 

2395
02:03:51,200 --> 02:03:55,300
the ground like pale seeds, 
leaving your mouth, empty and 

2396
02:03:55,300 --> 02:03:58,400
aching. 
You can feel them loosening in 

2397
02:03:58,400 --> 02:04:02,600
the dream can taste blood and 
can see them lying in the dust 

2398
02:04:02,600 --> 02:04:06,100
at your feet. 
The dream is vivid enough that 

2399
02:04:06,100 --> 02:04:09,500
you wake each time touching your
mouth relieved to find your 

2400
02:04:09,500 --> 02:04:12,500
teeth, still firmly in place, 
but deeply unsettled by the 

2401
02:04:12,500 --> 02:04:16,000
recurring vision. 
This is clearly significant. 

2402
02:04:16,900 --> 02:04:18,800
In Egypt dreams are taking 
seriously. 

2403
02:04:18,800 --> 02:04:22,900
They're considered messages from
the gods, warnings about the 

2404
02:04:22,900 --> 02:04:26,700
future or reflections of 
spiritual imbalance that needs 

2405
02:04:26,700 --> 02:04:29,400
correctly. 
But you're not educated in the 

2406
02:04:29,400 --> 02:04:31,000
mysteries of dream 
interpretation. 

2407
02:04:31,000 --> 02:04:33,900
You're a mid-level scribe, 
comfortable enough, but not 

2408
02:04:33,900 --> 02:04:37,700
wealthy learned in hierarchic 
and Mathematics, but not in the 

2409
02:04:37,700 --> 02:04:39,700
symbolic language of the Divine 
realm. 

2410
02:04:39,700 --> 02:04:43,500
So you've come to the temple, 
joining a stream of other dream 

2411
02:04:43,500 --> 02:04:47,400
trouble citizens, seeking guide 
and the priest two greets, you 

2412
02:04:47,400 --> 02:04:51,100
is younger than you expected. 
Perhaps 30 years old with the 

2413
02:04:51,100 --> 02:04:55,700
shaved head and white linen 
robes that Mark his calling He 

2414
02:04:55,700 --> 02:04:57,300
shows no surprise at your 
arrival. 

2415
02:04:57,300 --> 02:05:01,300
People come here daily with 
similar concerns, their sleep 

2416
02:05:01,300 --> 02:05:05,100
disrupted by visions, they can't
interpret He leads you through 

2417
02:05:05,100 --> 02:05:09,700
Courtyards fragrant with incense
past pools where lotus flowers 

2418
02:05:09,700 --> 02:05:14,000
float into a small chamber where
previous visitors of carved 

2419
02:05:14,000 --> 02:05:17,300
their dreams into the walls. 
This inadvertent Archive of 

2420
02:05:17,300 --> 02:05:19,700
Bronze. 
Age anxiety is as fascinating if

2421
02:05:19,700 --> 02:05:23,000
you take time to read it. 
Someone dreamed of climbing a 

2422
02:05:23,000 --> 02:05:26,500
master on a ship, another saw 
themselves, eating figs that 

2423
02:05:26,500 --> 02:05:30,200
turn to Ash in their mouth. 
third encountered, a cat, the 

2424
02:05:30,200 --> 02:05:33,400
size of a cow which probably 
says something about that 

2425
02:05:33,400 --> 02:05:36,500
particular individual's 
relationship with cats or 

2426
02:05:36,500 --> 02:05:40,100
possibly their relationship with
Divine judgment since cats are 

2427
02:05:40,100 --> 02:05:44,500
sacred to bastet There are 
dreams of flying drowning, 

2428
02:05:44,500 --> 02:05:48,700
losing one's way in familiar 
streets, meeting with the dead 

2429
02:05:48,700 --> 02:05:52,700
and encountering gods, in both 
terrible and benevolent forms. 

2430
02:05:54,500 --> 02:05:57,300
he's consults a Papyrus scroll, 
that's already ancient by his 

2431
02:05:57,300 --> 02:06:01,800
standards, its edges warned soft
from handling, some sections 

2432
02:06:01,800 --> 02:06:06,000
faded to near eligibility This 
is a dream book. 

2433
02:06:06,000 --> 02:06:09,600
One of several copies made from 
an original that dates back, 

2434
02:06:09,600 --> 02:06:13,000
hundreds of years. 
It lists hundreds of Dreams 

2435
02:06:13,000 --> 02:06:16,600
scenarios and their meanings 
organized with the bureaucratic 

2436
02:06:16,600 --> 02:06:19,800
Precision Egyptians bring to 
everything from tax collection 

2437
02:06:19,800 --> 02:06:23,500
to theology. 
The categorization is sometimes 

2438
02:06:23,500 --> 02:06:27,600
odd by modern standards. 
Dreams are divided into good and

2439
02:06:27,600 --> 02:06:31,400
bad rather than by symbolic 
content and the interpretations 

2440
02:06:31,400 --> 02:06:35,000
can be startlingly direct or 
mysteriously vague depending on 

2441
02:06:35,008 --> 02:06:38,600
the entry. 
He finds the section on teeth 

2442
02:06:38,600 --> 02:06:42,200
and runs his finger Down The 
Columns of higher attic script. 

2443
02:06:43,000 --> 02:06:45,100
Teeth falling out. 
Could indicate the death of 

2444
02:06:45,108 --> 02:06:48,300
relatives though, the text 
Hedges, its Bets with enough 

2445
02:06:48,300 --> 02:06:50,700
qualifiers, that it's really 
entirely wrong. 

2446
02:06:50,700 --> 02:06:55,200
The number of teeth matters, 
which teeth upper or lower 

2447
02:06:55,200 --> 02:06:58,300
matter. 
Whether you see them fall or 

2448
02:06:58,300 --> 02:07:01,700
simply notice, the missing 
matters, whether there's blood 

2449
02:07:01,700 --> 02:07:05,600
or pain involved matters the 
priest asks, you these questions

2450
02:07:05,600 --> 02:07:09,100
methodically and you do your 
best to remember details from 

2451
02:07:09,100 --> 02:07:12,300
dreams that felt Vivid at the 
time but are now fragmenting in 

2452
02:07:12,300 --> 02:07:15,700
your memory You feel 
simultaneously, enlightened and 

2453
02:07:15,700 --> 02:07:17,200
anxious. 
When he finishes his 

2454
02:07:17,200 --> 02:07:20,500
interpretation, which is 
probably the optimal outcome 

2455
02:07:20,500 --> 02:07:24,000
from the Temple's perspective. 
You've received a knowledge that

2456
02:07:24,000 --> 02:07:28,000
explains the dream. 
But that knowledge carries its 

2457
02:07:28,000 --> 02:07:31,100
own weight of concern. 
The priest reading your 

2458
02:07:31,100 --> 02:07:35,400
expression with practiced, ease 
offers you an option Temple 

2459
02:07:35,400 --> 02:07:38,200
sleep. 
For fee, that will strain your 

2460
02:07:38,200 --> 02:07:40,500
budget. 
But remains manageable, you can 

2461
02:07:40,500 --> 02:07:44,300
spend the night in a special 
chamber where the god Imhotep, 

2462
02:07:44,300 --> 02:07:48,600
the deified architect and 
healer, may visit, your dreams 

2463
02:07:48,600 --> 02:07:52,400
and provide clearer Guidance. 
The chamber is dedicated to 

2464
02:07:52,400 --> 02:07:56,400
incubation dreams, a practice, 
the Egyptians of refined over 

2465
02:07:56,400 --> 02:08:00,900
centuries. 
You agree, partly from piety and

2466
02:08:00,900 --> 02:08:03,800
partly from genuine curiosity 
about what will happen. 

2467
02:08:04,700 --> 02:08:08,500
The priest seems pleased, he 
explains that you should purify 

2468
02:08:08,500 --> 02:08:12,300
yourself abstain from certain 
foods for the rest of the day 

2469
02:08:12,300 --> 02:08:16,500
and return at sunset. 
When you come back, the evening 

2470
02:08:16,500 --> 02:08:18,400
air is Cooling and the skies 
turning. 

2471
02:08:18,400 --> 02:08:21,900
The color of copper Priest. 
Gives you a herbs to drink. 

2472
02:08:21,900 --> 02:08:24,600
Nothing dramatic. 
Just a mild tea. 

2473
02:08:24,600 --> 02:08:27,400
That makes your thoughts 
pleasantly fuzzy and your body 

2474
02:08:27,400 --> 02:08:30,300
relaxed. 
He leads you to the incubation 

2475
02:08:30,300 --> 02:08:32,700
chamber. 
A small room painted with 

2476
02:08:32,700 --> 02:08:36,400
calming scenes. 
Lotus flowers bloom in 

2477
02:08:36,400 --> 02:08:38,900
impossible. 
Profusion the Nile flows 

2478
02:08:38,900 --> 02:08:42,900
peacefully through Green Banks 
Birds Wing across a cloudless 

2479
02:08:42,900 --> 02:08:46,000
sky. 
The painted ceiling shows stars 

2480
02:08:46,000 --> 02:08:49,800
and constellations carefully. 
Rendered with the goddess nut 

2481
02:08:49,800 --> 02:08:53,800
arching across the heavens. 
The priest explains what you 

2482
02:08:53,800 --> 02:08:57,300
should do, lie down on the 
sleeping mat, clear? 

2483
02:08:57,300 --> 02:09:00,600
Your mind of daily concerns, 
Focus your thoughts on your 

2484
02:09:00,600 --> 02:09:03,700
question. 
Your need for guidance invite 

2485
02:09:03,700 --> 02:09:08,200
Imhotep to speak to you, then 
simply allow sleep to come 

2486
02:09:08,200 --> 02:09:11,000
naturally. 
You're not to force anything, 

2487
02:09:11,000 --> 02:09:15,900
not to strain towards some 
mystical experience, just rest 

2488
02:09:15,900 --> 02:09:20,700
remain open and trust that if 
the God has wisdom for you, it 

2489
02:09:20,700 --> 02:09:25,000
will come As you drift towards 
sleep in this carefully prepared

2490
02:09:25,000 --> 02:09:28,800
space, you're aware in a 
distant, dreamy way. 

2491
02:09:29,600 --> 02:09:32,600
That you're trying to dream 
something specific, you're not 

2492
02:09:32,608 --> 02:09:37,700
quite controlling the dream but 
your suggesting requesting. 

2493
02:09:39,000 --> 02:09:41,800
The boundary feels blurry and 
perhaps that blurriness is the 

2494
02:09:41,800 --> 02:09:44,500
point. 
Your conscious mind is releasing

2495
02:09:44,500 --> 02:09:46,700
control. 
While simultaneously holding an 

2496
02:09:46,700 --> 02:09:50,200
intention creating a kind of 
directed receptiveness. 

2497
02:09:50,200 --> 02:09:51,900
That is different from your 
normal sleep. 

2498
02:09:53,500 --> 02:09:56,100
The chambers painted walls, seem
to pulse slightly in the dim 

2499
02:09:56,100 --> 02:09:58,800
lamp light. 
The center of the herbs lingers 

2500
02:09:58,800 --> 02:10:02,400
in your nostrils, you can hear 
distant sounds from the city. 

2501
02:10:02,400 --> 02:10:06,800
Someone laughing, a dog barking.
Cartwheels on Stone. 

2502
02:10:06,800 --> 02:10:10,700
But they feel far away 
separated, from you by more than

2503
02:10:10,708 --> 02:10:14,300
just the temple walls, your 
breathing deepens, your 

2504
02:10:14,300 --> 02:10:17,700
thoughts, begin to wander and 
fragment and then you're asleep 

2505
02:10:17,700 --> 02:10:20,200
though. 
The transition is so smooth, you

2506
02:10:20,200 --> 02:10:23,000
don't notice it happening. 
When you dream that night, you 

2507
02:10:23,000 --> 02:10:26,500
find yourself walking through a 
garden more beautiful than any 

2508
02:10:26,500 --> 02:10:29,900
you've seen in Waking Life. 
Trees are heavy with fruit 

2509
02:10:29,900 --> 02:10:33,800
pomegranates and dates and figs 
all growing together despite 

2510
02:10:33,800 --> 02:10:37,700
their different seasons. 
Water flows in channels that 

2511
02:10:37,700 --> 02:10:40,700
catch the light and flowers 
bloom in colors. 

2512
02:10:40,700 --> 02:10:43,300
You can't quite name. 
Your ancestors. 

2513
02:10:43,300 --> 02:10:47,500
Are there tending the plants 
moving among the trees with calm

2514
02:10:47,500 --> 02:10:50,700
purpose? 
Your grandfather dead. 

2515
02:10:50,700 --> 02:10:53,700
These 10 years looks up and 
smiles at you. 

2516
02:10:54,400 --> 02:10:57,900
He says something about roots 
and growth about things that 

2517
02:10:57,900 --> 02:11:00,200
seemed lost but merely 
transformed. 

2518
02:11:00,200 --> 02:11:04,800
You wait convinced that imitate 
this Vision that the gods spoke 

2519
02:11:04,800 --> 02:11:07,200
through the symbols of the 
garden and your ancestors as 

2520
02:11:07,200 --> 02:11:12,600
words and maybe in a sense he 
did or rather you did by 

2521
02:11:12,600 --> 02:11:16,100
creating conditions where your 
sleeping mind knew what kind of 

2522
02:11:16,100 --> 02:11:18,200
dream would bring you comfort 
and clarity. 

2523
02:11:19,600 --> 02:11:23,700
The temple environment, the 
priests Guidance, the herbal 

2524
02:11:23,700 --> 02:11:27,000
preparation and the painted 
walls suggesting peaceful 

2525
02:11:27,000 --> 02:11:30,100
imagery. 
All of it can inspired to shape 

2526
02:11:30,100 --> 02:11:32,200
your dreaming in particular 
direction. 

2527
02:11:33,200 --> 02:11:36,400
The temple Priests of noticed 
something crucial, even if they 

2528
02:11:36,400 --> 02:11:38,600
interpret it through their 
theological framework. 

2529
02:11:39,500 --> 02:11:43,700
Dreams can be influenced by 
expectation environment and 

2530
02:11:43,700 --> 02:11:46,600
intention. 
They haven't developed this into

2531
02:11:46,600 --> 02:11:49,300
a systematic technique for 
achieving awareness during 

2532
02:11:49,300 --> 02:11:53,200
dreams, but their circling 
around a fundamental insight 

2533
02:11:53,200 --> 02:11:56,300
about consciousness. 
The mind can be prepared for 

2534
02:11:56,300 --> 02:12:00,500
certain types of experience. 
The boundary between waking 

2535
02:12:00,500 --> 02:12:03,500
intention and sleeping. 
Vision is more permeable than 

2536
02:12:03,500 --> 02:12:06,000
rigid. 
And the act of paying attention 

2537
02:12:06,000 --> 02:12:10,700
to dreams of treating them, a 
significant somehow changes the 

2538
02:12:10,700 --> 02:12:14,000
dreams themselves. 
When you leave the temple, the 

2539
02:12:14,000 --> 02:12:17,000
next morning, your calmer the 
dream of falling teeth. 

2540
02:12:17,000 --> 02:12:20,300
Hasn't recurred you've received,
what feels like meaningful 

2541
02:12:20,300 --> 02:12:23,400
guidance, though. 
If pressed you'd have difficulty

2542
02:12:23,400 --> 02:12:26,500
explaining exactly what you 
learned or how it helps with 

2543
02:12:26,500 --> 02:12:30,300
your original anxiety, but that 
vagueness is part of the 

2544
02:12:30,300 --> 02:12:33,200
process. 
Dream worked on you emotionally 

2545
02:12:33,200 --> 02:12:36,200
and symbolically, rather than 
providing clear intellectual 

2546
02:12:36,200 --> 02:12:38,400
answers. 
And that seems to be exactly 

2547
02:12:38,400 --> 02:12:41,400
what you needed. 
You're a student in Athens 

2548
02:12:41,400 --> 02:12:45,200
round, 400 BCE and your teacher 
is just giving you an 

2549
02:12:45,200 --> 02:12:47,600
assignment. 
That sounds suspiciously like 

2550
02:12:47,600 --> 02:12:49,300
he's making things up as he goes
along. 

2551
02:12:50,400 --> 02:12:54,500
Remember your dreams, he says, 
with the Casual Authority that 

2552
02:12:54,500 --> 02:12:56,900
teaches you when they want to 
sound like they're conveying 

2553
02:12:56,900 --> 02:12:59,800
ancient wisdom rather than 
personal speculation. 

2554
02:13:01,500 --> 02:13:05,300
Not just remember that you had 
them but remember the details, 

2555
02:13:05,300 --> 02:13:11,200
what you saw, what you felt 
where your attention went and 

2556
02:13:11,200 --> 02:13:13,200
how you move through the 
Dreamscape. 

2557
02:13:13,900 --> 02:13:17,200
This teacher is influenced by 
Pythagorean ideas though. 

2558
02:13:17,200 --> 02:13:19,700
He's careful to keep the more 
mystical aspects, quiet. 

2559
02:13:21,100 --> 02:13:24,000
Athens has a complicated 
relationship with philosophers 

2560
02:13:24,000 --> 02:13:27,600
who claim special access to 
Hidden knowledge as Socrates 

2561
02:13:27,600 --> 02:13:30,400
discovered in the most permanent
way possible just a few years 

2562
02:13:30,400 --> 02:13:33,100
ago. 
But your teacher can convince 

2563
02:13:33,100 --> 02:13:36,300
that dreams matter, that they 
reveal something about, the 

2564
02:13:36,300 --> 02:13:40,600
souls true nature and that they 
represent the psyche freed from 

2565
02:13:40,600 --> 02:13:43,800
the constraints of physical 
sensation, and able to perceive 

2566
02:13:43,800 --> 02:13:47,400
more subtle truths. 
First step toward understanding 

2567
02:13:47,400 --> 02:13:52,600
them, he insists is simply 
paying attention. so, you start 

2568
02:13:52,600 --> 02:13:57,000
trying, That first night you go 
to sleep, with the intention of 

2569
02:13:57,000 --> 02:14:00,200
remembering telling yourself 
firmly as you drift off. 

2570
02:14:00,200 --> 02:14:04,900
I will remember my dreams. 
I will wait and recall them 

2571
02:14:04,900 --> 02:14:07,500
clearly. 
This seems to have no effect 

2572
02:14:07,500 --> 02:14:10,400
whatsoever. 
You wake the next morning with 

2573
02:14:10,400 --> 02:14:12,100
the vague sense that you 
dreamed. 

2574
02:14:12,100 --> 02:14:16,100
Something important there was 
water maybe or was it a 

2575
02:14:16,100 --> 02:14:20,500
Marketplace or possibly both? 
The details evaporate like 

2576
02:14:20,500 --> 02:14:24,900
Morning Mist, leaving only 
frustration and the dim sense of

2577
02:14:24,900 --> 02:14:27,400
having lost something that was 
present just moments ago. 

2578
02:14:28,400 --> 02:14:30,800
The second night, you try a 
different approach. 

2579
02:14:31,700 --> 02:14:35,000
You place a wax, tablet, and 
stylus next to your sleeping mat

2580
02:14:35,000 --> 02:14:38,800
within easy reach. 
The idea is to wake yourself 

2581
02:14:38,800 --> 02:14:41,800
slightly during the night and 
scratch down whatever. 

2582
02:14:41,800 --> 02:14:45,800
You remember before sinking back
into sleep, this works better. 

2583
02:14:45,800 --> 02:14:52,100
You do wait one disoriented and 
confused with fragments of a 

2584
02:14:52,100 --> 02:14:55,500
dream, still cleaning to your 
mind, you grope for the tablet 

2585
02:14:55,500 --> 02:14:58,700
in the darkness and scratch a 
few words before sleep. 

2586
02:14:58,700 --> 02:15:00,900
Reclaims. 
You In the morning. 

2587
02:15:00,900 --> 02:15:02,100
You examine what? 
You wrote. 

2588
02:15:03,100 --> 02:15:06,100
The letters are clumsy carved by
someone half asleep. 

2589
02:15:06,100 --> 02:15:08,600
And not bothering with proper 
spacing or straight lines. 

2590
02:15:09,500 --> 02:15:13,900
You can decipher them, fish, 
made of light, the teacher had 

2591
02:15:13,900 --> 02:15:17,600
wings, it felt like flying, but 
also like swimming. 

2592
02:15:18,600 --> 02:15:22,000
Reading these words brings the 
dream flooding back in more 

2593
02:15:22,000 --> 02:15:24,000
detail. 
You're in a place that was 

2594
02:15:24,000 --> 02:15:28,200
simultaneously ocean and sky 
where movement was effortless 

2595
02:15:28,200 --> 02:15:31,500
where your teacher glided past 
you with great feathered wings 

2596
02:15:31,500 --> 02:15:35,100
and where schools of luminous 
fish swam through the air like 

2597
02:15:35,100 --> 02:15:39,300
they were moving through water. 
By the 5th night you've 

2598
02:15:39,300 --> 02:15:42,100
developed a routine. 
You keep the tablet ready? 

2599
02:15:42,900 --> 02:15:45,000
Before falling asleep. 
You spend a few minutes 

2600
02:15:45,000 --> 02:15:47,400
reviewing the day and telling 
yourself. 

2601
02:15:47,400 --> 02:15:51,400
You'll remember your dreams. 
when you wait whether in the 

2602
02:15:51,408 --> 02:15:54,700
middle of the night or at dawn 
you lie still for a moment 

2603
02:15:54,700 --> 02:15:59,200
before moving letting the dream 
memories solidify then reach for

2604
02:15:59,200 --> 02:16:03,300
the tablet and record what you 
can the act of writing seems to 

2605
02:16:03,300 --> 02:16:07,200
Anchor the memories making them 
more stable and retrievable. 

2606
02:16:08,100 --> 02:16:11,300
This practice simple as it 
sounds is quietly revolutionary.

2607
02:16:12,000 --> 02:16:14,800
Your training your mind to build
a bridge between sleeping and 

2608
02:16:14,800 --> 02:16:17,700
waking consciousness. 
Your creating the habit of 

2609
02:16:17,700 --> 02:16:21,200
noticing your own mental State's
of treating dreams as 

2610
02:16:21,200 --> 02:16:24,700
experienced as worth preserving 
rather than ephemeral nonsense 

2611
02:16:24,700 --> 02:16:28,400
to be dismissed upon waking. 
And occasionally something odd 

2612
02:16:28,400 --> 02:16:33,100
happened while dreaming you have
a moment of recognition a flash 

2613
02:16:33,100 --> 02:16:36,400
of thought that says I should 
remember this from my dream 

2614
02:16:36,400 --> 02:16:38,600
journal. 
It's brief and you usually 

2615
02:16:38,600 --> 02:16:40,700
forget it. 
Anyway, despite the intention. 

2616
02:16:41,600 --> 02:16:44,000
But the fact that it happens at 
all suggests something 

2617
02:16:44,000 --> 02:16:47,900
interesting about the nature of 
awareness during sleep, your 

2618
02:16:47,900 --> 02:16:50,100
teacher is pleased with your 
progress, though. 

2619
02:16:50,100 --> 02:16:53,299
He himself is still working out 
the theoretical implications. 

2620
02:16:54,100 --> 02:16:56,799
He is noticed that students who 
practice dream recall 

2621
02:16:56,799 --> 02:17:00,700
consistently sometimes report 
moments of clarity within the 

2622
02:17:00,700 --> 02:17:04,400
dream itself. 
Brief instance, where they seem 

2623
02:17:04,400 --> 02:17:08,100
to know their dreaming where 
they possess a dual awareness of

2624
02:17:08,100 --> 02:17:11,500
being a sleep. 
While experiencing the dream, he

2625
02:17:11,500 --> 02:17:14,299
doesn't have a proper framework 
for this yet and doesn't know 

2626
02:17:14,299 --> 02:17:16,600
what to call it or how to 
encourage it deliberately. 

2627
02:17:17,500 --> 02:17:20,799
But he seen enough examples to 
suspect that the sleeping mind 

2628
02:17:20,799 --> 02:17:23,700
is more accessible to conscious 
awareness than most people 

2629
02:17:23,700 --> 02:17:26,200
assume. 
You notice these moments 

2630
02:17:26,200 --> 02:17:28,200
yourself as your practice 
continues. 

2631
02:17:29,200 --> 02:17:32,500
One night, your dreaming that 
your competing in the gymnasium 

2632
02:17:32,500 --> 02:17:37,500
racing against other students. 
When suddenly you think my legs 

2633
02:17:37,500 --> 02:17:39,799
feel strange. 
Am I Dreaming? 

2634
02:17:40,799 --> 02:17:42,500
The question itself is 
remarkable. 

2635
02:17:42,500 --> 02:17:46,400
It shows some part of your mind 
stepping back and evaluating The

2636
02:17:46,400 --> 02:17:49,400
Experience rather than simply 
being immersed in it. 

2637
02:17:50,400 --> 02:17:54,000
But the answer doesn't come 
clearly or rather dream logic 

2638
02:17:54,000 --> 02:17:57,900
provides a nonsensical answer 
that you accept without further 

2639
02:17:57,900 --> 02:18:02,400
questioning Know, it's just that
the ground is sloped differently

2640
02:18:02,400 --> 02:18:06,299
today. and the dream continues 
with you convinced of your 

2641
02:18:06,299 --> 02:18:09,700
waking State, despite the 
impossibility of your legs 

2642
02:18:09,700 --> 02:18:13,600
feeling simultaneously, heavy 
and weightless In the markets of

2643
02:18:13,600 --> 02:18:16,500
Athens dream, interpretation is 
becoming a booming business 

2644
02:18:16,500 --> 02:18:21,100
professional or Neuromancer set 
up shop near the Agora offering 

2645
02:18:21,100 --> 02:18:23,000
to decode dreams for a small 
fee. 

2646
02:18:23,000 --> 02:18:27,100
Most of them are charlatans, 
clever readers of human nature 

2647
02:18:27,100 --> 02:18:30,100
who tell people what they want 
to hear in vague enough terms to

2648
02:18:30,100 --> 02:18:34,100
seem profound but a few of 
noticed the same patterns your 

2649
02:18:34,100 --> 02:18:37,900
teachers observed, People who 
pay attention to their dreams, 

2650
02:18:37,900 --> 02:18:42,600
who recalled and reflect on the 
report different experience than

2651
02:18:42,600 --> 02:18:46,299
people who ignore their dream 
life entirely. the act of 

2652
02:18:46,299 --> 02:18:50,200
observation seems to change the 
thing being observed, when you 

2653
02:18:50,208 --> 02:18:53,799
treat dreams as meaningless. 
Forgettable noise, they remain 

2654
02:18:53,799 --> 02:18:57,000
vague and unmemorable. 
But when you approach them with 

2655
02:18:57,000 --> 02:19:00,600
attention and respect recording 
them carefully, looking for 

2656
02:19:00,600 --> 02:19:04,500
patterns and recurring symbols, 
the dreams themselves seemed to 

2657
02:19:04,500 --> 02:19:08,299
become more Vivid, more 
coherent, and more accessible to

2658
02:19:08,299 --> 02:19:11,700
memory. 
It's as if you're sleeping mind 

2659
02:19:11,700 --> 02:19:15,400
responds to being taken 
seriously offering clearer and 

2660
02:19:15,400 --> 02:19:18,700
more detailed experiences, when 
it knows those experiences will 

2661
02:19:18,700 --> 02:19:21,799
be valued and preserved. 
You've been keeping your dream 

2662
02:19:21,799 --> 02:19:25,100
journal for three months now and
it's become a fascinating 

2663
02:19:25,100 --> 02:19:28,200
document. 
You can see patterns emerging 

2664
02:19:28,200 --> 02:19:32,299
certain images that recur 
particular anxieties that 

2665
02:19:32,299 --> 02:19:36,100
surface in symbolic form and 
Creative Solutions to problems. 

2666
02:19:36,100 --> 02:19:39,799
You've been working on during 
the day, there's the recurring 

2667
02:19:39,799 --> 02:19:43,000
dream of being in the academy, 
but unable to find your 

2668
02:19:43,000 --> 02:19:46,799
classroom, which clearly relates
to your ongoing anxiety about 

2669
02:19:46,799 --> 02:19:50,200
measuring up to your teachers 
expectations, there are dreams 

2670
02:19:50,200 --> 02:19:53,200
where your speaking eloquently 
in public, which seemed to 

2671
02:19:53,200 --> 02:19:55,600
follow days. 
When you felt in articulate and 

2672
02:19:55,600 --> 02:19:59,800
clumsy with words, And there are
stranger less interpretable 

2673
02:19:59,800 --> 02:20:04,800
dreams, surreal Landscapes, 
impossible architecture and 

2674
02:20:04,800 --> 02:20:08,200
encounters with figures. 
Who might be gods or might be a 

2675
02:20:08,200 --> 02:20:13,000
malgamation of people, you know,
one entry stands out, you 

2676
02:20:13,000 --> 02:20:15,900
dreamed your walking through 
Athens at night, the streets 

2677
02:20:15,900 --> 02:20:21,800
familiar but somehow different 
Cleaner more orderly lit by a 

2678
02:20:21,800 --> 02:20:24,300
silvery light that came from no 
visible source. 

2679
02:20:25,100 --> 02:20:27,900
You passed your teacher's house 
and notice the door was open 

2680
02:20:27,900 --> 02:20:30,600
inside. 
He was sitting at a table 

2681
02:20:30,600 --> 02:20:34,600
covered with Scrolls, but the 
Scrolls were blank He looked up 

2682
02:20:34,600 --> 02:20:37,600
at you and said something about 
empty pages being the truest 

2683
02:20:37,600 --> 02:20:41,500
books and then this is the part 
that struck you a significant 

2684
02:20:41,500 --> 02:20:45,400
you thought to yourself within 
the dream, I need to remember 

2685
02:20:45,400 --> 02:20:48,000
this phrase so I can ask him 
what it means tomorrow. 

2686
02:20:49,600 --> 02:20:53,500
That thought shows a level of 
metacognition of awareness about

2687
02:20:53,500 --> 02:20:56,500
your own awareness, that's 
unusual in dreams. 

2688
02:20:57,400 --> 02:20:59,900
You were conscious enough to 
recognize that you are having an

2689
02:20:59,900 --> 02:21:03,700
experience worth preserving to 
think about your future waking 

2690
02:21:03,700 --> 02:21:08,000
self and what that self would 
want to know. you were for that 

2691
02:21:08,000 --> 02:21:10,900
brief moment, operating with a 
kind of dual Consciousness 

2692
02:21:10,900 --> 02:21:15,200
simultaneously immersed in the 
dream experience and standing 

2693
02:21:15,200 --> 02:21:20,000
slightly apart from it, 
observing and evaluating When 

2694
02:21:20,000 --> 02:21:22,800
you mentioned this dream to your
teacher, his eyes lit up with 

2695
02:21:22,800 --> 02:21:26,100
interest. 
That moment of recognition, he 

2696
02:21:26,100 --> 02:21:28,700
said, is what we should be 
cultivating. 

2697
02:21:29,600 --> 02:21:32,000
The ability to maintain some 
thread of a witness. 

2698
02:21:32,000 --> 02:21:36,100
Even when the rational Minds 
sleeps, the pythagoreans 

2699
02:21:36,100 --> 02:21:39,300
believed the soul travels during
sleep freed from bodily, 

2700
02:21:39,300 --> 02:21:42,100
constraints. 
Perhaps, what you experienced 

2701
02:21:42,100 --> 02:21:46,000
was, your soul becoming aware of
itself recognizing its own 

2702
02:21:46,000 --> 02:21:47,900
nature, even while engaged in 
the journey. 

2703
02:21:49,200 --> 02:21:53,000
He's assigned you a new practice
throughout the day at random 

2704
02:21:53,000 --> 02:21:54,400
moments. 
Pause and ask yourself. 

2705
02:21:54,400 --> 02:21:58,400
Am I Dreaming then examine your 
surroundings for evidence. 

2706
02:21:59,500 --> 02:22:01,400
Can you remember how you got to 
where you are? 

2707
02:22:02,200 --> 02:22:04,900
Do the details remain stable, 
when you look away and back, 

2708
02:22:04,908 --> 02:22:07,600
does everything follow logical 
rules. 

2709
02:22:08,800 --> 02:22:11,600
The point isn't to answer the 
question, obviously you're awake

2710
02:22:11,600 --> 02:22:15,100
during the day but to build a 
habit of questioning of 

2711
02:22:15,100 --> 02:22:17,000
examining your state of 
consciousness. 

2712
02:22:18,200 --> 02:22:21,100
The theory is that, if you do 
this often enough while awake, 

2713
02:22:21,100 --> 02:22:24,800
you'll eventually do it while a 
sleep and that moment of 

2714
02:22:24,800 --> 02:22:27,900
questioning might trigger the 
realization that your dreaming. 

2715
02:22:28,800 --> 02:22:32,200
your skeptical, but willing to 
try, After all the dream 

2716
02:22:32,200 --> 02:22:35,400
journal, practice seems 
pointless at first and it turned

2717
02:22:35,400 --> 02:22:38,900
out to be genuinely valuable. 
So you start incorporating These

2718
02:22:38,900 --> 02:22:42,600
reality checks into your day. 
While listening to lecture, you 

2719
02:22:42,608 --> 02:22:45,100
pause and ask yourself. 
Am I Dreaming? 

2720
02:22:46,100 --> 02:22:49,100
You look at your hands check, if
the text on the scroll stays 

2721
02:22:49,100 --> 02:22:52,600
consistent and try to remember 
the sequence of events that 

2722
02:22:52,600 --> 02:22:56,000
brought you to this moment. 
The answers always know I'm 

2723
02:22:56,000 --> 02:22:58,800
awake but the practice keeps you
attentive to your own 

2724
02:22:58,800 --> 02:23:01,600
Consciousness in a way. 
That's oddly interesting. 

2725
02:23:02,500 --> 02:23:05,500
You're a novice monk in a 
monastery perched on a Tibetan 

2726
02:23:05,500 --> 02:23:10,000
Mountainside around 900 CE. 
The air is thin enough that 

2727
02:23:10,000 --> 02:23:13,600
newcomers spend their first 
weeks short of breath gasping 

2728
02:23:13,600 --> 02:23:16,800
during meditation sessions and 
struggling to complete simple 

2729
02:23:16,800 --> 02:23:19,300
physical tasks without their 
hearts hammering. 

2730
02:23:20,200 --> 02:23:23,300
But you've lived here since 
childhood your parents brought 

2731
02:23:23,300 --> 02:23:26,400
you to the monastery when you 
were seven offering you to the 

2732
02:23:26,400 --> 02:23:29,900
sang hires and act of devotion 
and your lungs of adapted to the

2733
02:23:29,908 --> 02:23:32,900
altitude. 
What hasn't adapted despite 

2734
02:23:32,900 --> 02:23:36,200
years of training is your 
ability to maintain awareness 

2735
02:23:36,200 --> 02:23:40,700
during sleep, which your teacher
insists is possible necessary 

2736
02:23:40,700 --> 02:23:45,600
and most annoyingly simple. 
Once you understand the 

2737
02:23:45,600 --> 02:23:49,500
technique properly. 
The problem he explains for what

2738
02:23:49,500 --> 02:23:53,200
must be the 20th time his voice 
patient but edged with the 

2739
02:23:53,200 --> 02:23:57,100
faintest aspiration. 
Is that you assume waking and 

2740
02:23:57,100 --> 02:23:59,400
sleeping a fundamentally 
different states? 

2741
02:24:00,400 --> 02:24:04,600
But Consciousness continues it 
simply changes its object of 

2742
02:24:04,600 --> 02:24:07,400
attention. 
This sounds profound when he 

2743
02:24:07,400 --> 02:24:10,800
says it accompanied by the 
singing bowls and the thin 

2744
02:24:10,800 --> 02:24:14,100
Mountain Air and the sense that 
wisdom is being transmitted. 

2745
02:24:14,900 --> 02:24:17,300
But it isn't particularly 
helpful when you're lying on 

2746
02:24:17,300 --> 02:24:20,600
your sleeping mat at night, 
tired and confused trying to 

2747
02:24:20,608 --> 02:24:23,000
figure out what exactly you're 
supposed to do differently. 

2748
02:24:24,000 --> 02:24:28,200
Continue Consciousness. 
How by what mechanism through, 

2749
02:24:28,200 --> 02:24:31,900
what practice the technique he's
taught, you involves cultivating

2750
02:24:31,900 --> 02:24:34,400
a habit of questioning reality 
during the day. 

2751
02:24:35,400 --> 02:24:38,200
Throughout your waking hours, 
you're supposed to periodically,

2752
02:24:38,200 --> 02:24:40,100
stop, whatever you're doing and 
ask yourself. 

2753
02:24:40,100 --> 02:24:43,700
Am I Dreaming right now? 
Then you look for signs that 

2754
02:24:43,700 --> 02:24:47,600
might indicate you're in a dream
text that shifts when you look 

2755
02:24:47,600 --> 02:24:51,900
away and back unusual events 
that violate natural law or 

2756
02:24:51,900 --> 02:24:55,400
logical, inconsistencies in your
environment or recent memories 

2757
02:24:55,400 --> 02:24:59,600
during the day, the answer is 
always know, I'm awake but the 

2758
02:24:59,600 --> 02:25:02,200
practice builds a habit that 
eventually according to your 

2759
02:25:02,200 --> 02:25:06,100
teacher carries over into sleep.
You've been doing this for 

2760
02:25:06,100 --> 02:25:09,500
months every hour. 
Roughly you pause and ask the 

2761
02:25:09,500 --> 02:25:12,200
question. 
You examine your hands, they 

2762
02:25:12,200 --> 02:25:14,200
look normal solid and 
consistent. 

2763
02:25:14,200 --> 02:25:18,500
You read a line of scripture. 
Look away and read it again. 

2764
02:25:18,500 --> 02:25:22,600
The text is unchanged. 
You try to recall how you 

2765
02:25:22,600 --> 02:25:25,500
arrived at your current 
location, and the sequence of 

2766
02:25:25,508 --> 02:25:29,100
events makes perfect sense. 
You're definitely awake. 

2767
02:25:29,100 --> 02:25:34,400
And yet the practice continues 
day after day, a ritualized, 

2768
02:25:34,400 --> 02:25:38,100
questioning that starting to 
feel less like meditation, and 

2769
02:25:38,100 --> 02:25:41,200
more like an elaborate game. 
You're playing with yourself or 

2770
02:25:41,200 --> 02:25:44,700
unclear Stakes. 
Tonight after evening prayers 

2771
02:25:44,700 --> 02:25:47,800
your lying on your narrow 
sleeping mat and your mind is 

2772
02:25:47,800 --> 02:25:50,600
still buzzing with the question.
Am I dreaming? 

2773
02:25:50,600 --> 02:25:55,500
You're definitely not. 
The stone floor is cold even 

2774
02:25:55,500 --> 02:25:58,600
through the thin cushion. 
Your knee hurts from the 

2775
02:25:58,600 --> 02:26:02,100
extended kneeling during 
prostration, you can hear 

2776
02:26:02,100 --> 02:26:04,300
another monks snoring three 
mattes away. 

2777
02:26:04,300 --> 02:26:09,400
A rhythmic rare that suggests 
serious sinus problems and zero 

2778
02:26:09,400 --> 02:26:11,700
awareness of how disruptive the 
sound is. 

2779
02:26:11,700 --> 02:26:14,300
Your own breathing is slowing 
asleep. 

2780
02:26:14,300 --> 02:26:17,400
Approaches that familiar descent
into unconsciousness. 

2781
02:26:17,400 --> 02:26:19,700
That's happened thousands of 
times before. 

2782
02:26:20,700 --> 02:26:24,000
You drift off thinking about the
question which is exactly what 

2783
02:26:24,000 --> 02:26:27,300
your teacher suggested. 
Not forcing it, not 

2784
02:26:27,300 --> 02:26:31,300
concentrating hard, just letting
it float gently in your mind as 

2785
02:26:31,300 --> 02:26:33,000
you cross the threshold into 
sleep. 

2786
02:26:33,000 --> 02:26:38,600
Am I Dreaming, Am I Dreaming? 
Am I the Dream Begins? 

2787
02:26:38,600 --> 02:26:41,200
Ordinarily enough? 
You're walking through the 

2788
02:26:41,200 --> 02:26:43,600
monastery Courtyard? 
And the light has that 

2789
02:26:43,600 --> 02:26:47,700
particular quality of late 
afternoon, golden and slanting 

2790
02:26:47,700 --> 02:26:51,700
making the prayer Flags cast 
Long Shadows, across the stones.

2791
02:26:51,700 --> 02:26:56,200
Everything feels normal, your 
feet on the ground, feel solid. 

2792
02:26:57,000 --> 02:27:00,200
The air has the characteristic, 
crispness of high altitude. 

2793
02:27:00,200 --> 02:27:03,300
Nothing seems unusual or worth 
questioning. 

2794
02:27:05,000 --> 02:27:07,200
You walked toward the Fountain 
of the courtyard Center 

2795
02:27:07,200 --> 02:27:08,800
intending to fill your water 
bowl. 

2796
02:27:09,500 --> 02:27:11,800
But when you get close, you 
notice something odd. 

2797
02:27:12,600 --> 02:27:16,500
Fountain is Flowing upward. 
Water is climbing into the air 

2798
02:27:16,500 --> 02:27:20,500
in a neat column Rising 10 feet 
or more before dispersing into 

2799
02:27:20,500 --> 02:27:22,600
missed that vanishes into the 
sunlight. 

2800
02:27:23,500 --> 02:27:26,500
This should surprise you. 
This should immediately signal 

2801
02:27:26,500 --> 02:27:28,200
that. 
Something is wrong, that this 

2802
02:27:28,200 --> 02:27:32,700
violates everything, you know 
about how water behaves The 

2803
02:27:32,700 --> 02:27:35,800
dream logic that strange 
cognitive fog that makes 

2804
02:27:35,800 --> 02:27:39,100
impossible things seem 
reasonable offers an explanation

2805
02:27:39,100 --> 02:27:41,000
that you accept without 
question. 

2806
02:27:41,000 --> 02:27:44,200
Oh, someone must have changed 
the fountain. 

2807
02:27:44,200 --> 02:27:46,900
That's nice. 
It looks quite beautiful like 

2808
02:27:46,900 --> 02:27:48,900
this. 
You stand there watching The 

2809
02:27:48,900 --> 02:27:52,300
Impossible water for several 
moments admiring the way like 

2810
02:27:52,300 --> 02:27:55,600
catches in the ascending column 
and how the mistakes small 

2811
02:27:55,600 --> 02:28:00,100
rainbows and then like a quiet 
bell ringing in a distant room 

2812
02:28:00,100 --> 02:28:03,200
the question surfaces from some 
deeper part of your mind. 

2813
02:28:04,000 --> 02:28:06,800
Am I Dreaming it's the same 
question. 

2814
02:28:06,800 --> 02:28:10,700
You've asked yourself countless 
times during the day, but now in

2815
02:28:10,700 --> 02:28:12,800
this context it triggers 
something different. 

2816
02:28:13,700 --> 02:28:17,500
You look at the fountain again 
really look at it and understand

2817
02:28:17,500 --> 02:28:21,700
that water doesn't flow upward 
you look at your hands another 

2818
02:28:21,700 --> 02:28:24,700
technique your teacher 
demonstrated and they look. 

2819
02:28:25,600 --> 02:28:30,200
Odd the details won't quite hold
still you try counting your 

2820
02:28:30,200 --> 02:28:36,800
fingers and the number keeps 
changing. 5 then 6 then 4 the 

2821
02:28:36,800 --> 02:28:39,300
count shifting each time. 
You try to focus on it. 

2822
02:28:40,200 --> 02:28:43,400
And suddenly with a Clarity 
that's almost shocking and it's 

2823
02:28:43,400 --> 02:28:43,900
bright. 
Nice. 

2824
02:28:43,900 --> 02:28:47,500
You understand you're asleep. 
This is dream. 

2825
02:28:47,500 --> 02:28:51,100
You're aware of this fact while 
the dream continues around you. 

2826
02:28:52,600 --> 02:28:55,600
The fountain is still there, 
still flowing, impossibly 

2827
02:28:55,600 --> 02:28:59,600
upward, the courtyard hasn't 
changed the late afternoon. 

2828
02:28:59,600 --> 02:29:01,800
Light still slant across the 
stones. 

2829
02:29:02,600 --> 02:29:05,500
But your relationship to all of 
it has transformed completely. 

2830
02:29:06,500 --> 02:29:09,700
You can feel your sleeping body 
on the mat in some distant 

2831
02:29:09,700 --> 02:29:13,000
peripheral way. 
Cold Stone beneath you. 

2832
02:29:13,000 --> 02:29:16,700
The rough wool blanket and the 
position of your limbs. 

2833
02:29:18,000 --> 02:29:21,300
You understand that this entire 
scene is occurring in your mind 

2834
02:29:21,300 --> 02:29:24,000
that you're lying unconscious on
a monastery. 

2835
02:29:24,000 --> 02:29:26,400
Sleeping mat while 
simultaneously standing 

2836
02:29:26,400 --> 02:29:28,800
conscious in this dream 
Courtyard. 

2837
02:29:29,700 --> 02:29:33,800
The Duel aware is strange and 
wonderful and unlike anything 

2838
02:29:33,800 --> 02:29:37,800
you've experienced before you 
realize with a combination of 

2839
02:29:37,800 --> 02:29:41,400
excitement and deep calm that 
you might be able to change 

2840
02:29:41,400 --> 02:29:44,100
things. 
This is part of the training, 

2841
02:29:44,100 --> 02:29:48,000
not just becoming aware in 
dreams, but learning to work 

2842
02:29:48,000 --> 02:29:52,000
with them, to shake them, to use
them for Spiritual Development, 

2843
02:29:52,000 --> 02:29:53,700
and exploration of 
consciousness. 

2844
02:29:55,200 --> 02:29:58,400
You will make the fountain flow 
normally nothing happens. 

2845
02:29:58,400 --> 02:30:03,100
You try again, concentrating? 
Harder focusing. 

2846
02:30:03,100 --> 02:30:06,800
Your intention the way you would
during meditation Still nothing.

2847
02:30:07,800 --> 02:30:11,600
The water continues its upward 
Journey completely ignoring your

2848
02:30:11,600 --> 02:30:14,900
mental commands. 
Apparently dream control isn't 

2849
02:30:14,900 --> 02:30:18,000
quite as simple as your teacher 
implied, which you'll enjoy 

2850
02:30:18,000 --> 02:30:19,800
pointing out to him tomorrow 
morning with all the 

2851
02:30:19,800 --> 02:30:22,900
satisfaction of a student, 
finding a gap in the Masters 

2852
02:30:22,900 --> 02:30:26,000
knowledge. 
But the awareness remains stable

2853
02:30:26,000 --> 02:30:28,600
and clear. 
You spend, what feels like 

2854
02:30:28,600 --> 02:30:31,900
several minutes, simply 
observing the dream noting its 

2855
02:30:31,900 --> 02:30:35,500
qualities marveling. 
At the vividness of sensation. 

2856
02:30:36,200 --> 02:30:39,100
The stone beneath your feet 
feels absolutely real. 

2857
02:30:39,100 --> 02:30:42,700
The air has texture and 
temperature and sounds have 

2858
02:30:42,700 --> 02:30:44,500
proper directionality and 
volume. 

2859
02:30:44,500 --> 02:30:49,200
Everything is rendered in 
perfect detail indistinguishable

2860
02:30:49,200 --> 02:30:52,300
from waking experience except 
for the fact that you know it's 

2861
02:30:52,300 --> 02:30:55,200
not you experiment with 
different actions. 

2862
02:30:55,200 --> 02:30:58,800
You try to fly because this 
seems like an obvious thing to 

2863
02:30:58,800 --> 02:31:02,200
attempt in a lucid dream. 
You jump and will yourself 

2864
02:31:02,200 --> 02:31:06,100
upward but gravity Works 
normally and you simply land 

2865
02:31:06,100 --> 02:31:09,100
back on the ground. 
You try to make something 

2866
02:31:09,100 --> 02:31:12,000
appear, perhaps a lotus flower 
in your hand. 

2867
02:31:12,000 --> 02:31:14,600
You close your eyes and 
concentrate. 

2868
02:31:14,600 --> 02:31:17,400
And when you open them, there's 
nothing there. 

2869
02:31:18,300 --> 02:31:21,900
Whatever capacity you have to 
influence this dream, it's not 

2870
02:31:21,900 --> 02:31:24,800
responding to direct commands or
visualizations. 

2871
02:31:25,700 --> 02:31:28,600
But then you notice something. 
Interesting, your emotions 

2872
02:31:28,600 --> 02:31:33,000
affect the dream When you feel 
frustrated about your inability 

2873
02:31:33,000 --> 02:31:36,600
to control things, the light in 
the courtyard, dims slightly in 

2874
02:31:36,600 --> 02:31:39,400
the air grows cooler. 
When you let go of that 

2875
02:31:39,400 --> 02:31:42,500
frustration and simply feel 
curious about the experience. 

2876
02:31:43,200 --> 02:31:46,400
the light brightens again and 
the whole scene becomes more 

2877
02:31:46,400 --> 02:31:51,400
Vivid it subtle, but 
unmistakable The dream responds 

2878
02:31:51,400 --> 02:31:54,100
to your emotional state rather 
than to your conscious 

2879
02:31:54,100 --> 02:31:57,600
intention. 
You try working with this, you 

2880
02:31:57,600 --> 02:32:01,700
cultivate a feeling of calm Joy.
The kind you experience during 

2881
02:32:01,700 --> 02:32:05,400
successful meditation The 
courtyard seems to Glow in 

2882
02:32:05,400 --> 02:32:10,600
response colors, becoming richer
edges, more defined, you shift 

2883
02:32:10,600 --> 02:32:14,600
to compassion, thinking of all 
beings trapped in the cycle of 

2884
02:32:14,600 --> 02:32:16,600
suffering and wishing them 
liberation. 

2885
02:32:17,500 --> 02:32:22,200
The dream softens somehow. 
Becoming gentler more welcoming.

2886
02:32:23,100 --> 02:32:26,000
The outward flowing Fountain, 
begins producing a sound like 

2887
02:32:26,000 --> 02:32:29,100
Distant Bells. 
This continues for what feels 

2888
02:32:29,100 --> 02:32:32,800
like much longer than most 
streams, last five minutes, 10 

2889
02:32:32,800 --> 02:32:34,900
minutes. 
You can't really judge, time 

2890
02:32:34,900 --> 02:32:38,400
accurately. 
But throughout it all, you 

2891
02:32:38,400 --> 02:32:41,300
maintain that thread of 
awareness, that knowledge that 

2892
02:32:41,300 --> 02:32:45,300
you're asleep and dreaming its 
effortful in a subtle way. 

2893
02:32:45,300 --> 02:32:49,400
Requiring a kind of balanced 
attention where you can't think 

2894
02:32:49,400 --> 02:32:52,800
too hard about being aware or 
you'll lose the awareness, but 

2895
02:32:52,800 --> 02:32:56,200
you can't let your mind wander 
completely or you'll slip back 

2896
02:32:56,200 --> 02:32:57,900
into ordinary unconscious 
dreaming. 

2897
02:32:58,600 --> 02:33:02,800
Eventually something shifts your
attention wavers for just a 

2898
02:33:02,800 --> 02:33:04,900
moment. 
You start thinking about how 

2899
02:33:04,900 --> 02:33:07,800
you'll describe this experience 
to your teacher and the 

2900
02:33:07,800 --> 02:33:10,800
analytical thinking pulls you 
slightly toward wakefulness. 

2901
02:33:12,400 --> 02:33:15,200
The courtyard begins to fade 
becoming less solid and more 

2902
02:33:15,200 --> 02:33:17,000
dreamlike in the conventional 
sense. 

2903
02:33:18,000 --> 02:33:21,100
Try to hold onto the awareness 
but it's slipping the clear 

2904
02:33:21,100 --> 02:33:23,900
knowledge dissolving and then 
you're in a different dream, 

2905
02:33:23,900 --> 02:33:26,800
entirely. 
Something about climbing stairs,

2906
02:33:26,800 --> 02:33:30,500
that keep rearranging themselves
and the Lucidity is gone. 

2907
02:33:31,400 --> 02:33:34,400
You wake a while later in the 
Deep part of the night, when the

2908
02:33:34,400 --> 02:33:38,100
monastery is completely silent. 
for a moment, you lie, there 

2909
02:33:38,100 --> 02:33:42,700
perfectly still Afraid that 
moving will disrupt the crystal 

2910
02:33:42,700 --> 02:33:44,300
clear memory of what just 
happened. 

2911
02:33:45,400 --> 02:33:48,400
Then carefully you reach for the
small journal and ink you keep 

2912
02:33:48,408 --> 02:33:51,300
Neil mat. 
Specifically for recording 

2913
02:33:51,300 --> 02:33:54,600
dreams, another practice your 
teacher insists on. 

2914
02:33:55,500 --> 02:33:58,000
And you write down everything 
you can remember while it's 

2915
02:33:58,000 --> 02:34:00,700
still fresh. 
The next morning during the 

2916
02:34:00,700 --> 02:34:02,600
period. 
After Dawn meditation, when 

2917
02:34:02,600 --> 02:34:06,000
students can ask questions, you 
catch your teachers eye and give

2918
02:34:06,000 --> 02:34:09,200
a small nod. 
He smiles slightly and nods back

2919
02:34:09,200 --> 02:34:13,100
understanding immediately. 
You've crossed a threshold that 

2920
02:34:13,100 --> 02:34:16,200
monks have been Crossing for 
centuries joining a quiet 

2921
02:34:16,200 --> 02:34:18,700
tradition of practitioners 
who've learned to maintain 

2922
02:34:18,700 --> 02:34:20,900
Consciousness through the 
transition into sleep. 

2923
02:34:22,200 --> 02:34:26,300
The tradition calls, it dream 
yoga using dreams as a practice 

2924
02:34:26,300 --> 02:34:29,300
ground for recognizing the 
illusory nature of all 

2925
02:34:29,300 --> 02:34:32,300
experience. 
For developing the kind of 

2926
02:34:32,300 --> 02:34:35,400
stable awareness that persists 
regardless of whether you're 

2927
02:34:35,400 --> 02:34:39,500
awake or asleep. 
Over the following weeks, you'll

2928
02:34:39,500 --> 02:34:42,900
have more lucid dreams, each one
teaching, you something about 

2929
02:34:42,900 --> 02:34:46,400
the nature of awareness and the 
relationship between mind and 

2930
02:34:46,400 --> 02:34:48,900
experience. 
You'll learn that strong. 

2931
02:34:48,900 --> 02:34:51,700
Emotions tend to destabilize the
Lucid state. 

2932
02:34:52,600 --> 02:34:55,700
You'll discover the expectation 
shape, the dream, more than 

2933
02:34:55,700 --> 02:34:58,700
direct commands do. 
You'll find that the most 

2934
02:34:58,700 --> 02:35:02,000
profound experiences come not 
from trying to control the dream

2935
02:35:02,000 --> 02:35:05,400
but from Simply being present 
in, it maintaining awareness 

2936
02:35:05,400 --> 02:35:07,900
while remaining open to whatever
arises. 

2937
02:35:08,700 --> 02:35:11,000
Your teacher will guide you 
deeper into the practice 

2938
02:35:11,000 --> 02:35:14,000
teaching you to use. 
Lucid dreams for specific 

2939
02:35:14,000 --> 02:35:18,800
purposes, rehearsing meditations
contemplating Buddhist 

2940
02:35:18,800 --> 02:35:20,600
teachings. 
In the Vivid symbolic language 

2941
02:35:20,600 --> 02:35:23,600
of dreams, and even practicing 
for the experience of death. 

2942
02:35:24,300 --> 02:35:27,400
Which Tibetan Buddhism views. 
A similar to the dream state? 

2943
02:35:28,100 --> 02:35:30,900
Consciousness separated from its
familiar reference points. 

2944
02:35:30,900 --> 02:35:35,600
Navigating a realm shape by 
Karma and mental habits but all 

2945
02:35:35,600 --> 02:35:39,300
of that comes later tonight. 
You've simply had your first 

2946
02:35:39,300 --> 02:35:43,100
clear moment of recognition 
within a dream that flash of 

2947
02:35:43,100 --> 02:35:48,600
awareness that says I'm sleeping
and I know it It's a small 

2948
02:35:48,600 --> 02:35:50,600
achievement in the monasteries 
terms. 

2949
02:35:50,600 --> 02:35:52,700
Many monks have gone much 
further. 

2950
02:35:52,700 --> 02:35:55,800
Maintaining continuous 
Consciousness through sleep 

2951
02:35:55,800 --> 02:36:00,000
transforming dreams into 
sophisticated meditations. 

2952
02:36:00,000 --> 02:36:04,700
But for you right now, it feels 
miraculous like discovering a 

2953
02:36:04,700 --> 02:36:07,300
hidden room in a house. 
You thought you knew completely 

2954
02:36:08,100 --> 02:36:12,200
You're a Merchant's daughter in 
Florence around 1350 CE and 

2955
02:36:12,200 --> 02:36:14,900
you've been having the strangest
experience for the past week. 

2956
02:36:16,100 --> 02:36:19,400
Started when you attended a 
sermon with a priest, discussed 

2957
02:36:19,400 --> 02:36:23,200
visions and divine messages 
emphasizing with considerable, 

2958
02:36:23,200 --> 02:36:26,000
dramatic Flair, that God, 
sometimes speaks to people in 

2959
02:36:26,000 --> 02:36:31,700
sleep, sending angels or Saints 
to deliver warnings guidance or 

2960
02:36:31,700 --> 02:36:34,900
comfort. 
The examples he gave were Vivid.

2961
02:36:35,700 --> 02:36:37,500
People dreaming of Heaven's 
Glory. 

2962
02:36:38,100 --> 02:36:41,500
Receiving instructions about 
their life's purpose and even 

2963
02:36:41,500 --> 02:36:45,300
being shown future events that 
later came to pass exactly as 

2964
02:36:45,300 --> 02:36:48,700
dreamed. that night while 
dreaming that you were flying 

2965
02:36:48,700 --> 02:36:53,000
over the city's, red tiled roofs
you suddenly thought God is 

2966
02:36:53,000 --> 02:36:55,500
showing me this. 
The thought itself woke, you 

2967
02:36:55,508 --> 02:36:59,100
partially pulling you into that 
strange liminal State between 

2968
02:36:59,100 --> 02:37:02,300
sleeping and waking. 
You hovered there for several 

2969
02:37:02,300 --> 02:37:05,500
moments aware that you were in 
bed, but still able to see the 

2970
02:37:05,500 --> 02:37:07,300
Dreamscape of Florence spreading
below. 

2971
02:37:07,300 --> 02:37:11,100
You, the Duomo with its 
incomplete dough, the Arno, 

2972
02:37:11,100 --> 02:37:14,200
winding through the city, and 
the surrounding Hills covered in

2973
02:37:14,208 --> 02:37:15,400
Olive. 
Groves and Vineyards. 

2974
02:37:15,400 --> 02:37:17,900
It was disorienting and 
wonderful. 

2975
02:37:17,900 --> 02:37:21,100
And you fell back into the 
dream, almost immediately. 

2976
02:37:21,100 --> 02:37:25,000
But this time without the 
awareness simply experiencing 

2977
02:37:25,000 --> 02:37:27,500
the flight as a seamless part of
the dream narrative. 

2978
02:37:28,200 --> 02:37:31,400
Since then it's been happening, 
more frequently, you'll be in 

2979
02:37:31,408 --> 02:37:34,700
the middle of a completely 
ordinary dream walking through 

2980
02:37:34,700 --> 02:37:36,700
the market. 
Helping your mother with weaving

2981
02:37:36,700 --> 02:37:41,500
attending Mass, when recognition
strike's, this is a dream 

2982
02:37:42,700 --> 02:37:46,600
Sometimes the realization ends, 
the dream instantly popping it 

2983
02:37:46,600 --> 02:37:49,000
like a soap bubble, and leaving 
you lying awake. 

2984
02:37:49,000 --> 02:37:52,400
In the darkness of your bedroom.
Disoriented and slightly 

2985
02:37:52,400 --> 02:37:56,200
disappointed. 
Other times you maintain the 

2986
02:37:56,200 --> 02:37:59,700
awareness for a few moments, 
observing the Dream from this 

2987
02:37:59,700 --> 02:38:04,700
strange dual perspective, where 
your simultaneously inside the 

2988
02:38:04,700 --> 02:38:06,900
experience and watching it from 
outside. 

2989
02:38:08,000 --> 02:38:10,400
And you haven't told anyone 
about this because you're not 

2990
02:38:10,408 --> 02:38:13,100
entirely sure it's appropriate 
or safe to discuss. 

2991
02:38:14,100 --> 02:38:17,200
The church has complicated and 
somewhat contradictory views 

2992
02:38:17,200 --> 02:38:20,000
about dreams. 
Summer considered Divine 

2993
02:38:20,000 --> 02:38:23,900
messages sent by God, or his 
angels to guide the faithful. 

2994
02:38:24,700 --> 02:38:27,000
These are sacred and should be 
heated carefully. 

2995
02:38:27,700 --> 02:38:31,400
Other dreams are Temptations 
from demons designed to lead 

2996
02:38:31,400 --> 02:38:33,600
people. 
Astray through false vision and 

2997
02:38:33,600 --> 02:38:36,900
deceptive imagery. 
These should be resisted and 

2998
02:38:36,900 --> 02:38:39,700
ignored. 
And still other dreams are just 

2999
02:38:39,708 --> 02:38:41,900
the result of eating too much 
cheese before bed. 

3000
02:38:41,900 --> 02:38:45,100
According to your grandmother 
and have no spiritual 

3001
02:38:45,100 --> 02:38:48,700
significance, whatsoever. 
The idea that you might be 

3002
02:38:48,700 --> 02:38:52,800
somehow conscious during dreams 
aware that your dreaming, while 

3003
02:38:52,800 --> 02:38:56,200
the dream continues choosing, 
what happens or at least 

3004
02:38:56,200 --> 02:38:59,100
observing with full knowledge 
that none of it is real. 

3005
02:38:59,800 --> 02:39:02,700
This feels like it might fall 
into the potentially heretical 

3006
02:39:02,700 --> 02:39:05,700
category. 
Are you supposed to be able to 

3007
02:39:05,700 --> 02:39:08,300
do this? 
Is this a gift from God or 

3008
02:39:08,300 --> 02:39:09,300
something? 
More dangerous. 

3009
02:39:10,500 --> 02:39:13,700
Could demons use this state to 
deceive you more effectively? 

3010
02:39:14,500 --> 02:39:16,300
Catching you in a moment of 
vulnerability. 

3011
02:39:17,400 --> 02:39:20,600
You don't know and you're not 
about to ask the priest and risk

3012
02:39:20,600 --> 02:39:23,900
being told to do Penance or 
worse. but you've noticed 

3013
02:39:23,900 --> 02:39:27,700
patterns in, when the awareness 
arises it comes, most easily, 

3014
02:39:27,700 --> 02:39:31,000
when something in the dream is 
unusual when you're deceased 

3015
02:39:31,000 --> 02:39:33,900
aren't appears looking young and
healthy and of Wasted by the 

3016
02:39:33,900 --> 02:39:37,400
plague that took her when the 
street you're walking down leads

3017
02:39:37,400 --> 02:39:40,800
somewhere, it shouldn't when you
find yourself in your father's 

3018
02:39:40,800 --> 02:39:45,300
warehouse, but It somehow also 
the cathedral, or when the laws 

3019
02:39:45,300 --> 02:39:48,800
of nature Bend in small ways 
that would be impossible in 

3020
02:39:48,800 --> 02:39:51,900
Waking Life. 
These inconsistencies seem to 

3021
02:39:51,900 --> 02:39:55,600
trigger a part of your mind that
notices and questions even while

3022
02:39:55,600 --> 02:39:59,400
a sleep It similar to the way. 
You might notice a wrong note in

3023
02:39:59,400 --> 02:40:02,900
a familiar hymn the 
inconsistency stands out against

3024
02:40:02,900 --> 02:40:06,300
your knowledge of how things 
should be and your mind Flags it

3025
02:40:06,300 --> 02:40:10,600
as requiring attention. 
In dreams though, this noticing 

3026
02:40:10,600 --> 02:40:13,600
is usually suppressed by what 
you think of as dream fog. 

3027
02:40:13,600 --> 02:40:17,000
That's strange acceptance. 
That makes impossible things, 

3028
02:40:17,000 --> 02:40:20,600
seem perfectly reasonable. 
When the fog lifts for a moment,

3029
02:40:20,608 --> 02:40:24,300
awareness comes through. 
You've also discovered through 

3030
02:40:24,300 --> 02:40:28,000
trial and error that you can. 
Sometimes continue the dream by 

3031
02:40:28,000 --> 02:40:31,600
staying calm. 
If you get excited, when you 

3032
02:40:31,600 --> 02:40:35,800
realize you're dreaming 
thinking, oh I can do anything, 

3033
02:40:35,800 --> 02:40:40,100
I can fly anywhere, I can make 
anything happen. 

3034
02:40:41,000 --> 02:40:44,800
You wake up immediately. 
The Surge of emotion pulling you

3035
02:40:44,800 --> 02:40:47,600
out of sleep. 
But if you simply observe, 

3036
02:40:47,600 --> 02:40:51,500
staying curious, but relaxed, 
the dream continues, while you 

3037
02:40:51,500 --> 02:40:55,500
watch it unfold with that split 
awareness, simultaneously, the 

3038
02:40:55,500 --> 02:40:58,900
dreamer and the Observer of 
dreams tonight, your trying 

3039
02:40:58,900 --> 02:41:02,100
something experimental. 
You've been thinking about this 

3040
02:41:02,100 --> 02:41:05,400
phenomenon for days, turning it 
over in your mind during the 

3041
02:41:05,400 --> 02:41:08,400
long hours of sowing and 
household work and you've come 

3042
02:41:08,400 --> 02:41:09,900
up with a technique that might 
help. 

3043
02:41:10,700 --> 02:41:13,000
Before falling asleep, you spend
a few minutes in the 

3044
02:41:13,000 --> 02:41:16,200
candlelight, studying your hands
really looking at them. 

3045
02:41:16,200 --> 02:41:19,600
The pattern of lines on your 
palms, the shape of your nails, 

3046
02:41:19,600 --> 02:41:23,500
the way your fingers taper and 
the small scar on your left 

3047
02:41:23,500 --> 02:41:26,400
thumb from when you cut yourself
on a spindle two years ago 

3048
02:41:27,600 --> 02:41:31,100
you're creating a kind of 
anchor, something familiar that 

3049
02:41:31,100 --> 02:41:34,500
you can check while dreaming. 
The idea is that if you can 

3050
02:41:34,500 --> 02:41:37,400
remember to look at your hands 
in a dream, they might look 

3051
02:41:37,400 --> 02:41:39,800
different enough to trigger that
moment of recognition. 

3052
02:41:39,800 --> 02:41:44,400
It's based partly on something. 
You heard once that in dreams 

3053
02:41:44,400 --> 02:41:47,600
your hands often look wrong, 
having too many fingers are not 

3054
02:41:47,600 --> 02:41:50,900
enough appearing blurry or 
shifting in form. 

3055
02:41:50,900 --> 02:41:54,500
You don't know if this is 
universally true, but it seems 

3056
02:41:54,500 --> 02:41:57,300
worth testing. 
You blow out the candle and 

3057
02:41:57,300 --> 02:41:59,800
settle into your bed, which you 
share with your younger sister? 

3058
02:41:59,800 --> 02:42:03,200
She's already asleep, breathing,
deeply and evenly. 

3059
02:42:03,200 --> 02:42:07,400
One arm flung across her eyes. 
You lie, there in the darkness 

3060
02:42:07,400 --> 02:42:10,900
thinking about your hands about 
the need to remember to check 

3061
02:42:10,900 --> 02:42:14,600
them and about the strangeness 
of trying to remind yourself to 

3062
02:42:14,600 --> 02:42:19,300
do something while unconscious. 
The thoughts gross, softer and 

3063
02:42:19,300 --> 02:42:22,500
less distinct to sleep. 
Approaches blurring into 

3064
02:42:22,500 --> 02:42:25,900
fragment tree images and 
incomplete sentences, and then 

3065
02:42:25,900 --> 02:42:28,300
your dreaming. 
You're in a garden. 

3066
02:42:28,300 --> 02:42:31,000
You've never seen before though,
it has elements from the 

3067
02:42:31,000 --> 02:42:34,000
monastery Garden's, you visited.
And from descriptions, you've 

3068
02:42:34,000 --> 02:42:38,500
heard of Paradise in sermons, 
Rose's, climb over stone walls, 

3069
02:42:38,500 --> 02:42:41,800
but in stead of smelling like 
roses, they smell of cinnamon 

3070
02:42:41,800 --> 02:42:46,200
and cloves. 
Spices your father trades in the

3071
02:42:46,200 --> 02:42:48,800
sky. 
Is that particular shade of blue

3072
02:42:48,800 --> 02:42:52,500
that you see sometimes at dusk 
when the last Light is fading, 

3073
02:42:52,500 --> 02:42:54,300
but the Stars haven't yet 
appeared? 

3074
02:42:55,100 --> 02:42:57,500
There's music playing from 
somewhere though. 

3075
02:42:57,500 --> 02:43:01,100
You can't see any musicians, a 
single Voice singing, a Melody, 

3076
02:43:01,100 --> 02:43:04,300
that's hauntingly beautiful. 
But not quite like any song, You

3077
02:43:04,300 --> 02:43:07,500
Know? 
You walk through this Garden for

3078
02:43:07,500 --> 02:43:11,600
what feels like a long time. 
Just experiencing it until 

3079
02:43:11,600 --> 02:43:13,600
something. 
Makes you think of your hands. 

3080
02:43:15,100 --> 02:43:18,300
The thought comes unbidden I 
should look at my hands. 

3081
02:43:18,300 --> 02:43:23,300
You raise them studying them in 
the dream, strange light and 

3082
02:43:23,300 --> 02:43:25,000
immediately noticed that they're
wrong. 

3083
02:43:25,900 --> 02:43:30,600
The number of fingers, keep 
shifting five, then six, then 

3084
02:43:30,600 --> 02:43:33,200
four the count. 
Changing each time, you try to 

3085
02:43:33,208 --> 02:43:36,000
focus. 
The skin looks somehow 

3086
02:43:36,000 --> 02:43:39,700
translucent, as if you could see
through it to the bones 

3087
02:43:39,700 --> 02:43:42,600
underneath. 
The scar on your left, thumb is 

3088
02:43:42,600 --> 02:43:45,800
missing, or maybe it's their 
butt on the wrong finger. 

3089
02:43:45,800 --> 02:43:49,800
You can't quite tell. 
This wrongness triggers the 

3090
02:43:49,800 --> 02:43:54,500
recognition, I'm dreaming. 
The garden remains solid around 

3091
02:43:54,500 --> 02:43:57,100
you. 
The Roses continue to bloom, 

3092
02:43:57,100 --> 02:44:00,200
there are impossible, scent 
filling the air, The Voice 

3093
02:44:00,200 --> 02:44:02,600
continues, singing, its nameless
Melody. 

3094
02:44:04,000 --> 02:44:07,600
But you're aware now. 
Fully conscious of the fact that

3095
02:44:07,600 --> 02:44:11,200
you're a sleep in your bed. 
That your sister is beside you 

3096
02:44:11,200 --> 02:44:15,500
that Florence is outside your 
window and that none of this 

3097
02:44:15,500 --> 02:44:19,100
Garden exists anywhere except in
your sleeping mind. 

3098
02:44:19,800 --> 02:44:23,200
The awareness brings a surge of 
Wonder, but also a touch of 

3099
02:44:23,208 --> 02:44:26,800
fear. 
What if this is a trap, What if 

3100
02:44:26,800 --> 02:44:32,000
becoming aware in dreams opens 
you to demonic influence but the

3101
02:44:32,008 --> 02:44:37,000
garden feels benign. 
Even holy The singing voice has 

3102
02:44:37,000 --> 02:44:40,600
the quality of church music. 
The Light is gentle and 

3103
02:44:40,600 --> 02:44:44,700
welcoming, if this is a test or 
a Temptation, you can't see how 

3104
02:44:45,600 --> 02:44:48,000
You decided to try something 
that's been in your mind. 

3105
02:44:48,000 --> 02:44:51,800
Since these experience is began.
You've always wanted to see the 

3106
02:44:51,800 --> 02:44:56,500
ocean Florence is landlocked. 
The sea is days away by horse. 

3107
02:44:56,500 --> 02:45:00,300
And as a Merchant's daughter, 
your travel has been limited to 

3108
02:45:00,300 --> 02:45:03,400
the city and its immediate 
surroundings, but you've heard 

3109
02:45:03,400 --> 02:45:06,500
descriptions from Travelers and 
your father has brought you 

3110
02:45:06,500 --> 02:45:11,500
shells and once thrillingly A 
small preserved seahorse that 

3111
02:45:11,500 --> 02:45:15,000
you keep in a box of treasures 
in the dream, you simply decide 

3112
02:45:15,000 --> 02:45:16,700
that beyond the Garden, Wall 
lies, the ocean. 

3113
02:45:16,700 --> 02:45:20,300
You Don't Force It Or 
concentrate hard or visualize it

3114
02:45:20,300 --> 02:45:22,700
in detail. 
You just gently intend that it's

3115
02:45:22,700 --> 02:45:24,800
there. 
The way you might decide to turn

3116
02:45:24,800 --> 02:45:26,800
left instead of right while 
walking. 

3117
02:45:27,700 --> 02:45:30,500
You make your way to the wall. 
Made of old honey. 

3118
02:45:30,500 --> 02:45:34,100
Colored Stone covered in 
flowering vines that release 

3119
02:45:34,100 --> 02:45:36,800
perfume when you brush against 
them and look over it. 

3120
02:45:38,400 --> 02:45:41,300
There's a moment of resistance, 
as if reality itself is 

3121
02:45:41,300 --> 02:45:45,500
uncertain hanging in balance, 
and then, the ocean appears 

3122
02:45:45,500 --> 02:45:47,900
stretching, blue and endless to 
the Horizon. 

3123
02:45:47,900 --> 02:45:50,100
Exactly. 
As you've imagined it. 

3124
02:45:50,800 --> 02:45:54,900
The view is impossibly clear, 
you can see individual waves, 

3125
02:45:54,900 --> 02:45:58,500
white foam breaking and seabirds
wheeling in the distance. 

3126
02:45:58,500 --> 02:46:02,900
The Sound reaches you that 
rhythmic crash and hiss of water

3127
02:46:02,900 --> 02:46:06,100
meeting land. 
You can smell salt sharp and 

3128
02:46:06,100 --> 02:46:08,600
clean. 
So vivid, it almost makes you 

3129
02:46:08,600 --> 02:46:11,300
sneeze. 
Spray touches your face. 

3130
02:46:11,300 --> 02:46:15,000
Cool. 
And fine, you've done it. you've

3131
02:46:15,000 --> 02:46:18,900
changed the dream through simple
intention and you're awake 

3132
02:46:18,900 --> 02:46:22,100
enough to Marvel at the 
achievement even as it unfolds 

3133
02:46:22,900 --> 02:46:26,600
The detail is extraordinary 
because your dreaming mind is 

3134
02:46:26,600 --> 02:46:29,100
filling in all the elements. 
You've heard about in Travelers 

3135
02:46:29,100 --> 02:46:32,000
stories, combining them with 
your own imagination to. 

3136
02:46:32,000 --> 02:46:34,400
Create something that feels 
completely real. 

3137
02:46:35,100 --> 02:46:37,000
The ocean has actual depth and 
movement. 

3138
02:46:37,000 --> 02:46:41,200
Not the flat painted quality. 
You might expect from imagined 

3139
02:46:41,200 --> 02:46:44,900
scenery. 
Waves, roll toward the shore 

3140
02:46:44,900 --> 02:46:49,600
with proper weight and momentum.
The Horizon curves slightly just

3141
02:46:49,600 --> 02:46:52,600
as you've heard, it does. 
You spend what feels like 

3142
02:46:52,600 --> 02:46:55,400
several minutes. 
Just watching drinking in this 

3143
02:46:55,400 --> 02:46:58,000
site. 
You've longed to see and then, 

3144
02:46:58,000 --> 02:47:01,000
because you're aware enough to 
be curious about the limits of 

3145
02:47:01,008 --> 02:47:05,500
this state, you try to fly, you 
climb onto the wall and jump 

3146
02:47:05,500 --> 02:47:08,900
willing yourself to soar over 
the water, like the sea birds. 

3147
02:47:09,600 --> 02:47:13,000
Nothing happens. 
You simply fall landing on the 

3148
02:47:13,008 --> 02:47:16,100
sand below the wall with a thump
that should hurt, but doesn't 

3149
02:47:17,300 --> 02:47:19,300
Dream physics. 
Apparently has its own rules 

3150
02:47:19,300 --> 02:47:22,600
that don't always respond to 
your intention or perhaps, you 

3151
02:47:22,600 --> 02:47:25,900
don't quite believe you can fly 
and that doubt prevents it from 

3152
02:47:25,900 --> 02:47:29,100
happening. 
You're not sure you try again 

3153
02:47:29,100 --> 02:47:32,000
running and leaping, trying to 
feel what flying might be like, 

3154
02:47:32,000 --> 02:47:34,300
but gravity pulls you back each 
time. 

3155
02:47:34,300 --> 02:47:36,800
This failure is oddly 
reassuring. 

3156
02:47:37,900 --> 02:47:41,000
If you could do, absolutely 
anything, just by wishing it? 

3157
02:47:41,700 --> 02:47:44,800
This might feel more like 
Madness than like exploration. 

3158
02:47:45,600 --> 02:47:48,600
the resistance the way 
something's changed and others 

3159
02:47:48,600 --> 02:47:52,700
don't gives the experience a 
kind of structure that makes it 

3160
02:47:52,700 --> 02:47:56,600
seem more real rather than less.
Eventually you're awareness 

3161
02:47:56,600 --> 02:47:59,900
begins to waver, you've been 
maintaining it for what feels 

3162
02:47:59,900 --> 02:48:03,500
like a remarkably long time, but
the effort is subtle and 

3163
02:48:03,500 --> 02:48:06,700
cumulative and you can feel 
yourself starting to tire. 

3164
02:48:07,500 --> 02:48:11,600
The ocean becomes less distinct.
The sound of waves grows 

3165
02:48:11,600 --> 02:48:14,300
quieter. 
The garden behind you Fades into

3166
02:48:14,300 --> 02:48:16,800
vagueness. 
You're slipping back into 

3167
02:48:16,800 --> 02:48:19,700
ordinary unconscious dreaming 
and you don't quite have the 

3168
02:48:19,700 --> 02:48:22,700
skill yet to prevent it. 
The last thing you remember 

3169
02:48:22,700 --> 02:48:26,400
clearly is standing on the beach
watching the sun set over the 

3170
02:48:26,400 --> 02:48:29,300
water, which shouldn't be 
happening since the sun was 

3171
02:48:29,300 --> 02:48:30,900
high. 
Overhead just moments ago. 

3172
02:48:30,900 --> 02:48:33,400
But Dreamtime follows its own 
logic. 

3173
02:48:34,200 --> 02:48:37,100
And feeling deeply grateful for 
this experience, whatever its 

3174
02:48:37,100 --> 02:48:40,900
source and meaning might be. 
When you wake in the morning, 

3175
02:48:40,900 --> 02:48:43,200
your sister is already up and 
getting dressed. 

3176
02:48:44,100 --> 02:48:47,600
You lie there for a moment, not 
moving afraid, that the memory 

3177
02:48:47,600 --> 02:48:49,700
will dissolve the way dreams 
usually do. 

3178
02:48:50,900 --> 02:48:54,800
But it remains Vivid and clear 
every detail accessible. 

3179
02:48:54,800 --> 02:48:58,500
You remember the guardian the 
roses and the singing voice. 

3180
02:48:58,500 --> 02:49:02,000
You remember looking at your 
hands and understanding you 

3181
02:49:02,000 --> 02:49:04,600
would dreaming. 
You remember the ocean appearing

3182
02:49:04,600 --> 02:49:06,900
on the wall for filling your 
intention? 

3183
02:49:08,000 --> 02:49:09,900
You remember trying and failing 
to fly? 

3184
02:49:09,900 --> 02:49:14,000
You don't tell anyone, but you 
start experimenting, more 

3185
02:49:14,000 --> 02:49:16,500
deliberately Each night before 
sleep. 

3186
02:49:16,500 --> 02:49:20,400
You study your hands and remind 
yourself to check them in 

3187
02:49:20,400 --> 02:49:22,800
dreams. 
You think about impossible 

3188
02:49:22,800 --> 02:49:26,500
things you'd like to see the 
mountains to the north covered 

3189
02:49:26,500 --> 02:49:29,300
in snow Forest. 
You've never visited and the 

3190
02:49:29,300 --> 02:49:32,300
inside of the Doge's Palace in 
Venice which you've heard 

3191
02:49:32,300 --> 02:49:37,000
described but never seen and 
sometimes not always, but with 

3192
02:49:37,000 --> 02:49:40,800
increasing frequency. 
You find yourself aware in your 

3193
02:49:40,808 --> 02:49:44,800
dreams, conscious enough to 
explore and experiment while the

3194
02:49:44,800 --> 02:49:48,100
rest of your mind creates a 
labor at Worlds from memory and 

3195
02:49:48,100 --> 02:49:51,200
Imagination. 
It becomes a secret practice 

3196
02:49:51,200 --> 02:49:54,800
something entirely yours in a 
life where privacy and personal 

3197
02:49:54,800 --> 02:49:57,300
choice are limited in Waking 
Life. 

3198
02:49:57,300 --> 02:50:00,200
You'll do what's expected help 
with the household? 

3199
02:50:00,200 --> 02:50:04,600
Marry the man, your father 
chooses and probably die young 

3200
02:50:04,600 --> 02:50:07,500
from childbirth or plague like 
so many women do. 

3201
02:50:08,500 --> 02:50:11,900
But in dreams, your beginning to
find a kind of freedom and 

3202
02:50:11,900 --> 02:50:14,000
agency that Waking Life doesn't 
offer. 

3203
02:50:14,000 --> 02:50:19,000
You can explore create and test 
the boundaries of Consciousness 

3204
02:50:19,000 --> 02:50:21,800
itself. 
You still don't know if this is 

3205
02:50:21,800 --> 02:50:25,200
a spiritual gift or a 
psychological Quirk Divine, 

3206
02:50:25,200 --> 02:50:28,700
communication, or merely the 
mines strange capacity for 

3207
02:50:28,700 --> 02:50:32,300
self-reflection. 
The uncertainty doesn't trouble 

3208
02:50:32,300 --> 02:50:36,200
you as much as it once did. 
Whatever this is, It's revealing

3209
02:50:36,200 --> 02:50:39,400
something about the nature of 
awareness about the flexibility 

3210
02:50:39,400 --> 02:50:42,900
of Consciousness and about the 
strange fact that you can be 

3211
02:50:42,900 --> 02:50:46,800
both the dreamer and the 
Observer of dreams, you're a 

3212
02:50:46,808 --> 02:50:50,600
natural philosopher in London 
around 1750 CE and you've been 

3213
02:50:50,608 --> 02:50:53,600
conducting what you consider a 
very serious scientific 

3214
02:50:53,600 --> 02:50:56,700
experiment, though, your 
colleagues at the Royal Society 

3215
02:50:56,700 --> 02:51:00,300
would probably laugh if you told
them about it for six months, 

3216
02:51:00,300 --> 02:51:03,500
you've been keeping a detailed 
dream journal noting. 

3217
02:51:03,500 --> 02:51:07,200
Not just the content of dreams 
but your State of Mind within 

3218
02:51:07,200 --> 02:51:11,400
them, any moments of awareness 
or recognition and the factors 

3219
02:51:11,400 --> 02:51:14,100
that seem to influence dream 
recall and clarity. 

3220
02:51:15,300 --> 02:51:18,400
The enlightenment has encouraged
a particular kind of curiosity. 

3221
02:51:18,400 --> 02:51:23,100
The belief that anything can be 
studied measured and potentially

3222
02:51:23,100 --> 02:51:26,600
understood through, systematic 
observation and careful 

3223
02:51:26,600 --> 02:51:30,100
reasoning. 
Most people apply this to rocks,

3224
02:51:30,100 --> 02:51:34,700
plants, the movement of planets,
the properties of gases and 

3225
02:51:34,700 --> 02:51:38,200
electrical phenomena. 
You've decided to apply it to 

3226
02:51:38,200 --> 02:51:41,200
sleep and dreams, treating your 
own Consciousness. 

3227
02:51:41,200 --> 02:51:44,400
As a laboratory where 
experiments can be conducted. 

3228
02:51:44,400 --> 02:51:49,100
Your Journal has become quite 
extensive each morning 

3229
02:51:49,100 --> 02:51:52,700
immediately upon waking for 
getting out of bed before 

3230
02:51:52,700 --> 02:51:56,400
speaking to your wife, before 
your mind is fully engaged with 

3231
02:51:56,400 --> 02:51:59,800
the days concerns, you write 
down everything you can remember

3232
02:51:59,800 --> 02:52:03,100
from the night's dreams, not 
just the narrative, but the 

3233
02:52:03,100 --> 02:52:06,600
quality of the experience, were 
you aware of dreaming? 

3234
02:52:07,300 --> 02:52:11,400
Did anything seem unusual? 
How Vivid were the sensations? 

3235
02:52:12,000 --> 02:52:13,900
Did you question anything that 
happened? 

3236
02:52:13,900 --> 02:52:18,000
Could you remember how the dream
began or did you simply find 

3237
02:52:18,000 --> 02:52:19,500
yourself already in the middle 
of it? 

3238
02:52:20,300 --> 02:52:23,300
Your observations have revealed 
several interesting patterns. 

3239
02:52:24,100 --> 02:52:27,800
First you've confirmed what some
folk wisdom suggests but others 

3240
02:52:27,800 --> 02:52:31,200
dismiss. 
Certain foods do seem to affect 

3241
02:52:31,200 --> 02:52:33,400
dreams though. 
Not in the ways. 

3242
02:52:33,400 --> 02:52:37,200
Folklore, typically claims it's 
not about specific ingredients. 

3243
02:52:37,200 --> 02:52:41,400
Having magical properties, 
rather, it's about digestion. 

3244
02:52:41,400 --> 02:52:45,500
Anything that causes mild, 
physical discomfort that keeps 

3245
02:52:45,500 --> 02:52:49,000
the body from resting completely
peacefully, tensed to produce 

3246
02:52:49,000 --> 02:52:53,300
more Vivid and chaotic dreams. 
A heavy meal before bed leads to

3247
02:52:53,300 --> 02:52:57,900
strange energetic dreams. 
Mild hunger, leads to dreams 

3248
02:52:57,900 --> 02:53:03,200
about food, indigestion produces
anxiety, dreams, the body State 

3249
02:53:03,200 --> 02:53:05,600
influences, the minds nighttime 
activities. 

3250
02:53:05,600 --> 02:53:10,700
Second you've noticed something 
about memory dreams fade rapidly

3251
02:53:10,700 --> 02:53:14,000
upon waking, but the speed of 
fading can be influenced. 

3252
02:53:14,900 --> 02:53:18,800
If you lie, still upon waking 
and focus on the dream, letting 

3253
02:53:18,800 --> 02:53:21,600
it play through your memory 
before moving or thinking about 

3254
02:53:21,600 --> 02:53:24,500
other things, you can retain 
much more detail. 

3255
02:53:25,500 --> 02:53:27,800
Movement and immediate 
engagement with daily. 

3256
02:53:27,800 --> 02:53:31,700
Concerns seem to disrupt the 
delicate memory, traces dreams 

3257
02:53:31,700 --> 02:53:35,000
leave behind. 
The simple Act of physical 

3258
02:53:35,000 --> 02:53:37,800
Stillness for a few moments can 
double or triple what you 

3259
02:53:37,800 --> 02:53:40,400
remember. 
Third and most intriguingly 

3260
02:53:40,400 --> 02:53:43,000
you've confirmed. 
What the ancient Tibetans, 

3261
02:53:43,000 --> 02:53:46,800
apparently, new regular reality,
testing during the day, 

3262
02:53:46,800 --> 02:53:48,800
sometimes carries over into 
dreams. 

3263
02:53:48,800 --> 02:53:51,700
You've developed a habit of 
reading text twice. 

3264
02:53:51,700 --> 02:53:55,600
Looking at a page looking away. 
Then looking back to confirm the

3265
02:53:55,600 --> 02:53:59,100
words haven't changed. 
In Waking Life, they never 

3266
02:53:59,100 --> 02:54:02,700
change. 
Text is stable, but three times.

3267
02:54:02,700 --> 02:54:06,600
Now, you've thought to try this 
test in dreams, watched the word

3268
02:54:06,600 --> 02:54:10,500
shift and rearrange themselves, 
like living things and realized 

3269
02:54:10,500 --> 02:54:14,100
you were asleep. 
The most recent Timeless 

3270
02:54:14,100 --> 02:54:17,600
happened, you were dreaming that
you were in your study working 

3271
02:54:17,600 --> 02:54:19,500
on a paper about planetary 
motion. 

3272
02:54:20,500 --> 02:54:24,300
Everything seemed completely 
normal, The Familiar smell of 

3273
02:54:24,308 --> 02:54:28,200
ink and paper, the weight of 
your pain, the scratch of the 

3274
02:54:28,200 --> 02:54:30,200
nearby Vellum and the 
comfortable chair. 

3275
02:54:30,200 --> 02:54:34,200
You sit in for hours each day. 
But something prompted you to 

3276
02:54:34,200 --> 02:54:37,100
look at what you'd written. 
Look away at the window. 

3277
02:54:37,100 --> 02:54:42,600
Then, look back at the page, the
words completely changed, not 

3278
02:54:42,600 --> 02:54:44,900
just shifted slightly but 
transformed entirely. 

3279
02:54:44,900 --> 02:54:49,500
What had been equations was now 
a recipe for Plum Pudding and in

3280
02:54:49,500 --> 02:54:54,200
a handwriting that wasn't yours.
You stared at this impossibility

3281
02:54:54,200 --> 02:54:57,100
for several seconds before the 
recognition struck. 

3282
02:54:57,700 --> 02:55:02,900
I'm dreaming the study remained 
around you perfectly solid and 

3283
02:55:02,900 --> 02:55:05,400
details. 
But now you understood its 

3284
02:55:05,400 --> 02:55:10,200
nature, this wasn't your actual 
study you are lying in bed up 

3285
02:55:10,200 --> 02:55:13,700
stairs. 
This entire scene was a curing 

3286
02:55:13,700 --> 02:55:17,300
in your sleeping mind. 
The most interesting finding in 

3287
02:55:17,300 --> 02:55:19,700
your research, though has been 
about intention. 

3288
02:55:20,600 --> 02:55:22,900
You've discovered that the 
period between waking and 

3289
02:55:22,900 --> 02:55:27,000
sleeping those few minutes when 
you're drowsy, but still not 

3290
02:55:27,000 --> 02:55:28,700
aware. 
When your thoughts are becoming 

3291
02:55:28,700 --> 02:55:31,700
loose and disconnected, but 
haven't entirely dissolved 

3292
02:55:31,700 --> 02:55:36,400
offers a unique opportunity. if 
you hold a question or 

3293
02:55:36,400 --> 02:55:39,700
intentional Loosely in mind 
during this transition, not 

3294
02:55:39,900 --> 02:55:43,100
Forcing it but just letting it 
float there, like a leaf on 

3295
02:55:43,100 --> 02:55:44,900
water. 
It sometimes influences, the 

3296
02:55:44,900 --> 02:55:47,700
dream that follows you don't get
direct answers. 

3297
02:55:47,700 --> 02:55:51,400
Exactly. 
Dreams, don't solve mathematical

3298
02:55:51,400 --> 02:55:54,000
problems or provide, Clear 
Solutions to practical 

3299
02:55:54,000 --> 02:55:56,200
challenges. 
But you're dreaming. 

3300
02:55:56,200 --> 02:56:00,100
Mind seems to process the 
question creating scenarios and 

3301
02:56:00,100 --> 02:56:03,600
images related to it. 
Approaching it from unexpected 

3302
02:56:03,600 --> 02:56:07,300
angles that can provide New 
Perspectives last week provided 

3303
02:56:07,300 --> 02:56:10,100
a perfect example. 
You'd been struggling with a 

3304
02:56:10,100 --> 02:56:12,000
problem related to a mechanical 
device. 

3305
02:56:12,000 --> 02:56:16,000
Your designing specifically how 
to create a smoother transition 

3306
02:56:16,000 --> 02:56:17,900
between gears of different 
sizes. 

3307
02:56:17,900 --> 02:56:22,100
You tried several approaches all
producing too much friction or 

3308
02:56:22,100 --> 02:56:25,200
too much noise, or requiring 
such precise manufacturing that 

3309
02:56:25,200 --> 02:56:27,200
they'd be impractical to 
actually build. 

3310
02:56:28,300 --> 02:56:30,500
The problem was genuinely 
vexing. 

3311
02:56:30,500 --> 02:56:33,700
And you fell asleep thinking 
about it, turning it over in 

3312
02:56:33,700 --> 02:56:35,500
your mind as Consciousness 
faded. 

3313
02:56:36,200 --> 02:56:39,600
You didn't solve it directly in 
the dream but you dreamed about 

3314
02:56:39,600 --> 02:56:43,800
walking beside a stream watching
water flow around rocks. 

3315
02:56:44,500 --> 02:56:47,600
The dream had that Vivid 
absorbing quality that sometimes

3316
02:56:47,600 --> 02:56:51,000
happens and you found yourself 
fascinated by how the water 

3317
02:56:51,000 --> 02:56:55,500
adapted, its flow to obstacles. 
Moving fast to hear slower there

3318
02:56:55,500 --> 02:56:59,500
creating Eddie's and World Pools
but overall maintaining its 

3319
02:56:59,500 --> 02:57:03,200
direction toward the sea. 
When you crouch down to look 

3320
02:57:03,200 --> 02:57:06,300
more closely, you could see how 
the water's path changed 

3321
02:57:06,300 --> 02:57:09,100
gradually around each Rock, not 
abruptly. 

3322
02:57:09,100 --> 02:57:12,600
But through a series of small 
adjustments, you work with that 

3323
02:57:12,600 --> 02:57:15,600
image, still clear in your mind 
and suddenly, the gear problem, 

3324
02:57:15,600 --> 02:57:19,300
seemed obvious, You'd been 
thinking about it wrong, trying 

3325
02:57:19,300 --> 02:57:22,600
to create an immediate perfect 
transition from one gear to the 

3326
02:57:22,600 --> 02:57:25,500
next. 
What you needed was a series of 

3327
02:57:25,500 --> 02:57:28,900
smaller transitions, 
intermediate gears that would 

3328
02:57:28,900 --> 02:57:31,700
allow the change to happen 
gradually rather than all at 

3329
02:57:31,700 --> 02:57:34,200
once. 
The dream hadn't handed you an 

3330
02:57:34,200 --> 02:57:37,900
answer, it had helped you 
reframe the question to see the 

3331
02:57:37,900 --> 02:57:41,400
problem from a different angle. 
To night your trying something 

3332
02:57:41,400 --> 02:57:44,500
more ambitious. 
You've prepared your sleeping 

3333
02:57:44,500 --> 02:57:45,300
room. 
Carefully. 

3334
02:57:45,300 --> 02:57:48,500
Treating it like a laboratory 
being set up for an important 

3335
02:57:48,500 --> 02:57:51,200
experiment. 
You've eliminated potential 

3336
02:57:51,200 --> 02:57:55,600
sources of disturbance, secure 
the shutters against wind Bank, 

3337
02:57:55,600 --> 02:57:57,900
the fire. 
So it won't need tending and 

3338
02:57:57,900 --> 02:58:00,500
informed, your wife that you'd 
prefer not to be woken. 

3339
02:58:00,500 --> 02:58:04,200
Unless there's an emergency, 
you've ensured a comfortable 

3340
02:58:04,200 --> 02:58:08,000
temperature, proper bedding and 
removal of anything that might 

3341
02:58:08,000 --> 02:58:09,900
cause physical discomfort during
the night. 

3342
02:58:10,700 --> 02:58:12,900
You've spent the evening 
reviewing your dream journal, 

3343
02:58:12,900 --> 02:58:16,000
particularly the entries that 
described moments of awareness 

3344
02:58:16,000 --> 02:58:19,300
within dreams. 
You're reminding yourself of 

3345
02:58:19,300 --> 02:58:23,000
what that state feels like, what
triggers it and what maintains 

3346
02:58:23,000 --> 02:58:25,400
it. 
And as you prepare for bed, 

3347
02:58:25,400 --> 02:58:27,500
you're holding a gentle 
intention. 

3348
02:58:28,200 --> 02:58:30,300
I want to recognize when I'm 
dreaming. 

3349
02:58:31,100 --> 02:58:33,700
I want to be aware during 
tonight's dreams. 

3350
02:58:33,700 --> 02:58:37,400
You're not forcing this or 
concentrating hard that would 

3351
02:58:37,400 --> 02:58:39,600
likely interfere with the 
natural onset of sleep. 

3352
02:58:39,600 --> 02:58:43,800
You're just planting the seed of
the idea, letting it sink into 

3353
02:58:43,800 --> 02:58:46,200
your mind as you drift off 
trusting. 

3354
02:58:46,200 --> 02:58:48,700
That some part of your 
Consciousness will remember it 

3355
02:58:48,700 --> 02:58:52,300
even as the rational waking part
of your mind shuts down for the 

3356
02:58:52,300 --> 02:58:55,500
night. 
The Dream Begins in your study 

3357
02:58:55,500 --> 02:58:58,000
which should be your first clue 
that something's odd since 

3358
02:58:58,000 --> 02:58:59,900
you're actually in your bedroom 
up stairs. 

3359
02:59:00,600 --> 02:59:04,100
But dream logic makes it seem 
reasonable the way dreams always

3360
02:59:04,100 --> 02:59:07,400
do. 
There's no moment of questioning

3361
02:59:07,400 --> 02:59:10,500
how you got here or why you're 
here, instead of in bed you 

3362
02:59:10,500 --> 02:59:14,800
simply are here and that seems 
natural You're examining a book 

3363
02:59:14,800 --> 02:59:17,200
trying to make sense of its 
contents. 

3364
02:59:17,200 --> 02:59:21,800
The text is difficult to read. 
Somehow both clear and blurry at

3365
02:59:21,800 --> 02:59:24,100
the same time and the subject 
keeps shifting. 

3366
02:59:24,100 --> 02:59:28,600
Now, it's about astronomy now. 
Botany now it's written in a 

3367
02:59:28,600 --> 02:59:30,200
language. 
You don't recognize but seem to 

3368
02:59:30,200 --> 02:59:34,100
understand anyway. 
This should be strange but you 

3369
02:59:34,100 --> 02:59:38,000
accept it without question until
you remember your reading test. 

3370
02:59:39,000 --> 02:59:41,000
The memory surface is almost 
casually. 

3371
02:59:41,000 --> 02:59:43,400
I should check if the text 
changes. 

3372
02:59:43,400 --> 02:59:46,700
You look at a paragraph reading 
it carefully. 

3373
02:59:47,600 --> 02:59:49,800
It's about the migration 
patterns of birds. 

3374
02:59:50,600 --> 02:59:53,800
You look away at the window 
where rain is falling, even 

3375
02:59:53,800 --> 02:59:55,800
though you're certain it was 
sunny a moment ago. 

3376
02:59:55,800 --> 03:00:00,000
Then you look back at the book, 
the words of completely changed.

3377
03:00:00,000 --> 03:00:04,100
Now they're written in a 
language that doesn't exist made

3378
03:00:04,100 --> 03:00:08,200
of symbols that look like a 
combination of Greek Arabic and 

3379
03:00:08,200 --> 03:00:11,300
something else entirely. 
And yet you can read them 

3380
03:00:11,300 --> 03:00:15,100
perfectly understanding a 
philosophical argument about the

3381
03:00:15,100 --> 03:00:17,600
nature of time. 
That's far more sophisticated 

3382
03:00:17,600 --> 03:00:22,000
than anything you've actually 
studied. the impossibility of 

3383
03:00:22,000 --> 03:00:27,200
this should be obvious and this 
time it is The recognition 

3384
03:00:27,200 --> 03:00:30,700
arrive, smoothly without the 
jolt of surprised that sometimes

3385
03:00:30,700 --> 03:00:33,000
triggers waking. 
I'm dreaming. 

3386
03:00:34,000 --> 03:00:36,900
You're getting better at this 
maintaining the awareness 

3387
03:00:36,900 --> 03:00:39,900
without becoming so excited or 
analytical that you pull 

3388
03:00:39,900 --> 03:00:43,700
yourself out of sleep. 
The study remains solid around 

3389
03:00:43,700 --> 03:00:46,300
you, the familiar walls lined 
with books. 

3390
03:00:46,300 --> 03:00:50,700
The desk cluttered with papers 
and instruments the window now 

3391
03:00:50,700 --> 03:00:53,900
showing a garden that exists 
nowhere near your actual house. 

3392
03:00:53,900 --> 03:00:58,200
Here's where your scientific 
curiosity takes over instead of 

3393
03:00:58,208 --> 03:01:01,700
trying to fly or visit exotic 
locations, or do any of the 

3394
03:01:01,700 --> 03:01:04,200
dramatic things. 
One might do in a lucid dream, 

3395
03:01:04,200 --> 03:01:07,500
you decide to investigate the 
nature of the dream itself. 

3396
03:01:08,400 --> 03:01:12,100
You want to understand this 
phenomenon to gather data and to

3397
03:01:12,100 --> 03:01:15,200
test hypotheses about how 
Consciousness Works in this 

3398
03:01:15,200 --> 03:01:20,100
altered state, You examine your 
hand closely, holding it up to 

3399
03:01:20,100 --> 03:01:24,100
the light from the window. 
When you focus hard on it, it 

3400
03:01:24,100 --> 03:01:27,500
becomes unstable, the fingers, 
you seem to blur and multiply 

3401
03:01:27,500 --> 03:01:30,200
the skin takes on strange 
colors. 

3402
03:01:30,200 --> 03:01:33,700
The whole hand feels like it 
might dissolve into missed. 

3403
03:01:34,500 --> 03:01:37,200
But when you relax your 
attention, just viewing it 

3404
03:01:37,200 --> 03:01:41,200
gently without intense scrutiny.
It stabilizes again. 

3405
03:01:41,200 --> 03:01:44,800
Looking almost normal, though. 
Somehow not quite right in ways.

3406
03:01:44,800 --> 03:01:49,800
You can't exactly specify. 
You touch various objects in the

3407
03:01:49,800 --> 03:01:53,000
study noting how realistic the 
textures feel. 

3408
03:01:54,000 --> 03:01:55,800
Smooth. 
Wood of your desk, has proper 

3409
03:01:55,800 --> 03:01:59,600
grain and temperature the books.
Have the expected weight and 

3410
03:01:59,600 --> 03:02:03,200
flexible covers the pages crisp 
under your fingers. 

3411
03:02:03,900 --> 03:02:07,100
The window glass is cool and 
hard, exactly, as it should be. 

3412
03:02:08,000 --> 03:02:12,000
The rug under your feet has the 
right texture, soft and slightly

3413
03:02:12,000 --> 03:02:16,400
worn in familiar places. 
Everything has physical presence

3414
03:02:16,400 --> 03:02:19,800
and substance even though you 
understand, it's all occurring 

3415
03:02:19,800 --> 03:02:23,900
your mind that there's no actual
desk or books or window just 

3416
03:02:23,900 --> 03:02:27,400
neural patterns, creating an 
extraordinarily convincing 

3417
03:02:27,400 --> 03:02:30,400
simulation. 
You try and experiment. 

3418
03:02:30,400 --> 03:02:32,800
Can you create something from 
nothing? 

3419
03:02:33,600 --> 03:02:35,600
You decide there should be an 
apple on the desk. 

3420
03:02:36,500 --> 03:02:39,300
A perfect red, apple fresh, and 
crisp. 

3421
03:02:40,100 --> 03:02:43,300
You look away from the desk 
toward the bookshelf, holding 

3422
03:02:43,300 --> 03:02:46,200
the intention that when you look
back, the Apple will be there. 

3423
03:02:47,000 --> 03:02:49,400
You count to three, then turn 
your gaze back to the desk. 

3424
03:02:49,400 --> 03:02:53,600
It is a perfect Red Apple 
sitting exactly where you 

3425
03:02:53,600 --> 03:02:56,800
intended on the corner of the 
desk, near the window. 

3426
03:02:57,800 --> 03:03:00,300
You pick it up, testing its 
weight in your hand. 

3427
03:03:01,200 --> 03:03:05,800
It feels completely real 
substantial and cool. 

3428
03:03:05,800 --> 03:03:12,200
It smells faintly of autumn of 
orchards and harvests You take a

3429
03:03:12,200 --> 03:03:16,400
bite and it tastes impossibly, 
perfect, crisp and sweet and 

3430
03:03:16,400 --> 03:03:19,900
tart all at once. 
More ideal than any real Apple, 

3431
03:03:19,900 --> 03:03:23,000
you've ever eaten, the juice is 
cool on your tongue. 

3432
03:03:23,900 --> 03:03:26,200
You can feel the texture of 
Apple flesh, and hear the 

3433
03:03:26,200 --> 03:03:29,000
crunch. 
This is fascinating from a 

3434
03:03:29,008 --> 03:03:32,100
philosophical perspective, 
you've created something from 

3435
03:03:32,100 --> 03:03:35,300
nothing or rather from memory 
and Imagination. 

3436
03:03:36,500 --> 03:03:39,200
You're sleeping mind has 
assembled this apple from 

3437
03:03:39,200 --> 03:03:42,300
recalled experiences. 
Every Apple you've ever seen 

3438
03:03:42,300 --> 03:03:46,000
tasted or touched and 
synthesized them into this ideal

3439
03:03:46,000 --> 03:03:49,400
version. 
Fact that it seems completely 

3440
03:03:49,400 --> 03:03:53,200
real indistinguishable from 
awaking Apple except for its 

3441
03:03:53,200 --> 03:03:56,600
impossible Perfection. 
So something profound about the 

3442
03:03:56,600 --> 03:03:58,100
nature of perception and 
reality. 

3443
03:03:59,200 --> 03:04:02,300
You can continue experimenting, 
testing the boundaries of what's

3444
03:04:02,300 --> 03:04:05,500
possible in this state. 
You try to make it daytime. 

3445
03:04:05,500 --> 03:04:08,900
Instead of nighttime looking 
away from the window and 

3446
03:04:08,900 --> 03:04:10,800
intending that the son should be
shining. 

3447
03:04:10,800 --> 03:04:14,100
When you look back. 
The light changes becoming 

3448
03:04:14,100 --> 03:04:18,100
brighter and warmer. 
But it's not quite daylight more

3449
03:04:18,100 --> 03:04:21,000
like a strange, Twilight, that 
brighter than it should be. 

3450
03:04:21,000 --> 03:04:24,600
As if you're sleeping, mind 
couldn't quite manage the full 

3451
03:04:24,600 --> 03:04:27,500
transformation or didn't have a 
clear enough template of what 

3452
03:04:27,500 --> 03:04:29,300
the study looks like in full 
daylight. 

3453
03:04:30,200 --> 03:04:34,100
You attempt to change the room 
itself to transform the study 

3454
03:04:34,100 --> 03:04:36,500
into something else. 
Entirely, perhaps The 

3455
03:04:36,508 --> 03:04:40,100
Observatory visited last month, 
this doesn't work at all. 

3456
03:04:40,108 --> 03:04:44,500
The room remains stubbornly 
itself though details shift and 

3457
03:04:44,500 --> 03:04:46,500
waiver when you're not looking 
directly at them. 

3458
03:04:47,200 --> 03:04:50,200
The stack of papers on the left 
side of the desk, sometimes has 

3459
03:04:50,200 --> 03:04:54,000
more pages, sometimes fewer. 
The books on the nearest shelf 

3460
03:04:54,000 --> 03:04:57,700
seem to rearrange their order. 
But the fundamental structure of

3461
03:04:57,700 --> 03:05:01,600
the room, resists change. this 
tells you something about how 

3462
03:05:01,600 --> 03:05:04,600
dreams work small changes are 
easy. 

3463
03:05:04,600 --> 03:05:08,200
Especially when you use the 
simple technique of a looking 

3464
03:05:08,200 --> 03:05:11,200
away and intending that 
something will be different when

3465
03:05:11,200 --> 03:05:14,500
you look back. 
Larger Transformations are 

3466
03:05:14,500 --> 03:05:17,400
harder perhaps because they were
require more extensive 

3467
03:05:17,400 --> 03:05:19,500
reorganization of the dream 
imagery. 

3468
03:05:20,400 --> 03:05:23,200
Your sleeping mind has 
constructed this study from 

3469
03:05:23,200 --> 03:05:26,200
familiar templates and those 
templates have a certain 

3470
03:05:26,200 --> 03:05:28,800
stability, a resistance to 
wholesale. 

3471
03:05:28,800 --> 03:05:32,400
Alteration you test one more 
thing, can you conjure another 

3472
03:05:32,400 --> 03:05:34,600
person? 
You think of your colleague from

3473
03:05:34,600 --> 03:05:37,500
the Royal Society, the one 
you've been collaborating with 

3474
03:05:37,500 --> 03:05:40,900
on the planetary motion research
You look toward the door, 

3475
03:05:40,900 --> 03:05:44,700
expecting him to enter. 
You have Footsteps in the 

3476
03:05:44,700 --> 03:05:47,300
hallway outside and the sound of
the doorknob turning. 

3477
03:05:48,000 --> 03:05:51,100
The door opens and someone 
enters but it's not your 

3478
03:05:51,100 --> 03:05:53,800
colleague. 
It's a stranger someone you've 

3479
03:05:53,800 --> 03:05:57,300
never seen before, though, his 
face as elements that remind you

3480
03:05:57,300 --> 03:05:58,800
of several different people, you
know? 

3481
03:06:00,100 --> 03:06:03,900
He opens his mouth as if to 
speak, but before any words come

3482
03:06:03,900 --> 03:06:08,100
out, you make a crucial mistake.
You start thinking about the 

3483
03:06:08,100 --> 03:06:11,600
implications of all this about 
whether these observations could

3484
03:06:11,600 --> 03:06:14,600
be considered scientific proof 
of Consciousness, during sleep 

3485
03:06:14,600 --> 03:06:18,300
about how you'll describe this 
in your journal and about what 

3486
03:06:18,300 --> 03:06:20,500
it means for theories of mine 
and perception. 

3487
03:06:21,600 --> 03:06:25,600
Analytical thinking the shift 
from experiencing to analyzing 

3488
03:06:25,600 --> 03:06:30,300
pulls you toward wakefulness. 
The Dream Begins to dissolve 

3489
03:06:30,300 --> 03:06:35,200
losing coherence and stability 
The Strangers face becomes 

3490
03:06:35,200 --> 03:06:38,400
unclear. 
It's Daddy grows dim and vague. 

3491
03:06:38,400 --> 03:06:43,400
You try to hold on to the dream,
to maintain the awareness, but 

3492
03:06:43,400 --> 03:06:46,600
it's too late. 
The Lucidity is slipping away 

3493
03:06:46,600 --> 03:06:51,400
like water through your fingers.
You drift into non-real for a 

3494
03:06:51,400 --> 03:06:53,800
while. 
Confused fragments about being 

3495
03:06:53,800 --> 03:06:57,800
late for a meeting, something 
about a broken clock and then 

3496
03:06:57,800 --> 03:07:00,400
wake fully in the darkness of 
your actual bedroom. 

3497
03:07:01,200 --> 03:07:03,600
Your wife is sleeping peacefully
beside you. 

3498
03:07:04,600 --> 03:07:08,600
The real study is downstairs 
dark and empty the whole 

3499
03:07:08,600 --> 03:07:11,900
experience exists. 
Now, only in memory and in the 

3500
03:07:11,908 --> 03:07:15,800
notes, you immediately begin 
writing by candlelight capturing

3501
03:07:15,800 --> 03:07:20,800
the details before they fade. 
But you've gathered data, you've

3502
03:07:20,800 --> 03:07:23,100
confirmed several things through
direct observation. 

3503
03:07:24,100 --> 03:07:27,400
First awareness is definitely 
possible during dreams. 

3504
03:07:27,400 --> 03:07:31,600
You can maintain Consciousness 
can observe and evaluate your 

3505
03:07:31,600 --> 03:07:36,100
experience and can remember your
waking intention and act on them

3506
03:07:36,100 --> 03:07:40,800
all while remaining a sleep. 
Second, some level of control 

3507
03:07:40,800 --> 03:07:44,000
can be achieved though. 
It has limitations and seems to 

3508
03:07:44,000 --> 03:07:46,900
work better through indirect 
influence and direct command. 

3509
03:07:47,800 --> 03:07:50,900
Third, the experience has a 
consistency to it. 

3510
03:07:51,800 --> 03:07:55,900
It's not random or chaotic but 
follows certain rules even if 

3511
03:07:55,900 --> 03:07:58,100
those rules differ from Waking 
Life. 

3512
03:07:58,900 --> 03:08:02,400
Force and perhaps most 
importantly, analytical thinking

3513
03:08:02,400 --> 03:08:06,500
disrupts the state. 
The lucid dream seems to require

3514
03:08:06,500 --> 03:08:09,400
a particular kind of 
Consciousness aware and 

3515
03:08:09,400 --> 03:08:13,500
attentive but not too rational 
or analytical observing but not 

3516
03:08:13,500 --> 03:08:16,400
dissecting. 
This suggests something 

3517
03:08:16,400 --> 03:08:18,700
interesting about the 
relationship between different 

3518
03:08:18,700 --> 03:08:23,000
modes of thought. between the 
rational mind that analyzes and 

3519
03:08:23,000 --> 03:08:27,100
the experiencing mind that 
simply observes Over the 

3520
03:08:27,100 --> 03:08:29,400
following months, you'll 
continue your experiments 

3521
03:08:29,400 --> 03:08:33,300
gradually building a systematic 
understanding of lucid dreaming.

3522
03:08:34,100 --> 03:08:37,300
You'll discover that certain 
techniques reliably increase, 

3523
03:08:37,300 --> 03:08:41,200
the frequency of lucid dreams, 
reality testing during the day 

3524
03:08:41,200 --> 03:08:45,500
setting intentions before sleep,
and using the period of waking 

3525
03:08:45,500 --> 03:08:48,000
in the middle of the night to 
practice awareness before 

3526
03:08:48,000 --> 03:08:51,400
falling back asleep. 
You'll learn to prolong the 

3527
03:08:51,400 --> 03:08:54,800
Lucid state by staying calm and 
engaged with without becoming 

3528
03:08:54,800 --> 03:08:58,900
too excited or analytical. 
You'll explore different ways of

3529
03:08:58,900 --> 03:09:02,900
influencing the dream, through 
expectation, through, emotional 

3530
03:09:02,900 --> 03:09:06,300
states, and through the simple 
technique of looking away and 

3531
03:09:06,300 --> 03:09:08,600
back with the intention, that 
something will change. 

3532
03:09:09,500 --> 03:09:11,400
You'll never publish This 
research formerly. 

3533
03:09:11,400 --> 03:09:15,700
It's too subjective to difficult
to verify and too far outside 

3534
03:09:15,700 --> 03:09:18,200
the bounds of respectable 
natural philosophy. 

3535
03:09:19,400 --> 03:09:22,800
But you'll keep your details 
records and someday centuries 

3536
03:09:22,800 --> 03:09:25,300
later. 
When the scientific study of 

3537
03:09:25,300 --> 03:09:28,700
Consciousness has become 
acceptable, researchers will 

3538
03:09:28,700 --> 03:09:31,400
find patterns in your 
observations that match their 

3539
03:09:31,400 --> 03:09:35,500
own findings. 
For now, though, you're simply a

3540
03:09:35,500 --> 03:09:38,800
curious person who's discovered 
a laboratory within your own 

3541
03:09:38,800 --> 03:09:41,200
mind. 
A place where you can explore 

3542
03:09:41,200 --> 03:09:43,900
the nature of Consciousness 
through direct experience. 

3543
03:09:45,100 --> 03:09:49,400
Your University student in 
Germany around 1850 and your 

3544
03:09:49,400 --> 03:09:51,200
philosophy. 
Professor has been discussing. 

3545
03:09:51,200 --> 03:09:54,500
The nature of Consciousness in 
ways that make your head hurt 

3546
03:09:54,500 --> 03:09:58,100
and your notebook, fill with 
questions, you're not sure how 

3547
03:09:58,100 --> 03:10:01,500
to answer. 
The course is on phenomenology, 

3548
03:10:01,500 --> 03:10:05,100
the systematic study of 
conscious experience itself. 

3549
03:10:06,000 --> 03:10:09,800
And today's lecture has been, 
particularly abstract focused on

3550
03:10:09,800 --> 03:10:12,300
the question of whether 
Consciousness requires 

3551
03:10:12,300 --> 03:10:15,800
self-awareness, whether it's 
possible to be conscious without

3552
03:10:15,800 --> 03:10:20,100
knowing that your conscience, 
The professor a thin man in his 

3553
03:10:20,100 --> 03:10:23,400
50s with wire in spectacles and 
a habit of pacing, while he 

3554
03:10:23,408 --> 03:10:28,200
talks users examples, that 
initially seem clear but become 

3555
03:10:28,200 --> 03:10:30,000
more confusing. 
The more you think about them? 

3556
03:10:30,000 --> 03:10:33,000
Consider a dog? 
He says, chasing a rabbit. 

3557
03:10:33,900 --> 03:10:38,100
The dog is certainly conscious. 
Believes the rabbit, feels the 

3558
03:10:38,100 --> 03:10:42,000
excitement of pursuit and adjust
its running to match the rabbits

3559
03:10:42,000 --> 03:10:44,700
movements. 
But is the dog aware that it's 

3560
03:10:44,700 --> 03:10:47,100
conscious. 
Does it think to itself? 

3561
03:10:47,100 --> 03:10:51,800
I am now having the experience 
of chasing a rabbit or does it 

3562
03:10:51,800 --> 03:10:56,600
simply Chase with Consciousness 
present but not reflected upon? 

3563
03:10:57,900 --> 03:11:00,700
This abstract discussion has 
been rattling around in your 

3564
03:11:00,700 --> 03:11:04,300
mind for days, getting tangled 
up with your own experiences 

3565
03:11:04,300 --> 03:11:08,900
with dreams. like many people, 
you've had occasional moments of

3566
03:11:08,900 --> 03:11:12,800
clarity within dreams, brief 
flashes where you understood, 

3567
03:11:12,800 --> 03:11:16,000
you were asleep where you 
possessed a strange Jewel 

3568
03:11:16,000 --> 03:11:20,300
awareness, These experiences of 
always seemed interesting but 

3569
03:11:20,300 --> 03:11:24,700
not particularly significant. 
Just an odd Quirk of sleep. 

3570
03:11:24,700 --> 03:11:27,800
Something that happens sometimes
for no clear reason. 

3571
03:11:28,800 --> 03:11:31,600
But now, in light of these 
philosophical discussions, those

3572
03:11:31,600 --> 03:11:34,000
dream experience is seem 
potentially relevant. 

3573
03:11:34,900 --> 03:11:37,800
If Consciousness can exist 
without self-awareness during 

3574
03:11:37,800 --> 03:11:41,400
Waking Life, what's happening 
during a dream where you become 

3575
03:11:41,400 --> 03:11:45,300
aware that your dreaming, Is 
that a case of self-awareness 

3576
03:11:45,300 --> 03:11:48,500
arising within Annalee 
unreflective conscious state? 

3577
03:11:49,300 --> 03:11:51,600
Does it, tell us something about
the layers or levels of 

3578
03:11:51,600 --> 03:11:54,600
consciousness, about how 
awareness can turn back on 

3579
03:11:54,600 --> 03:11:58,100
itself? 
One evening after a particularly

3580
03:11:58,100 --> 03:12:00,800
intense seminar on the 
phenomenology of temporal 

3581
03:12:00,800 --> 03:12:05,100
experience how we perceive time 
how the present moment contains 

3582
03:12:05,100 --> 03:12:08,800
traces of the immediate past and
anticipation of the immediate 

3583
03:12:08,800 --> 03:12:10,700
future. 
You mentioned your dream 

3584
03:12:10,700 --> 03:12:13,200
experiences to the professor 
during office hours. 

3585
03:12:13,200 --> 03:12:16,300
You're nervous about bringing it
up worried. 

3586
03:12:16,300 --> 03:12:19,600
It might seem frivolous or off 
topic, but he's encouraged 

3587
03:12:19,600 --> 03:12:22,400
students to relate the 
theoretical discussions to their

3588
03:12:22,400 --> 03:12:24,300
own experiences of 
consciousness. 

3589
03:12:25,500 --> 03:12:28,100
His eyes light up with 
unmistakable interest when you 

3590
03:12:28,100 --> 03:12:30,600
describe the moments of 
awareness within dreams. 

3591
03:12:31,400 --> 03:12:33,800
Yes, he says leaning forward in 
his chair. 

3592
03:12:33,800 --> 03:12:36,100
This is exactly the kind of 
phenomenon. 

3593
03:12:36,100 --> 03:12:39,400
We should be examining. 
The dream state offers a unique 

3594
03:12:39,400 --> 03:12:42,600
laboratory for studying 
Consciousness because it's a 

3595
03:12:42,600 --> 03:12:46,300
state where experience continues
that are normal Frameworks for 

3596
03:12:46,300 --> 03:12:48,300
interpreting experience a 
suspended. 

3597
03:12:49,000 --> 03:12:51,400
He explains that he's been 
collecting accounts of what he 

3598
03:12:51,408 --> 03:12:55,600
calls lucid dreams from the 
Latin Luck's meaning light 

3599
03:12:55,600 --> 03:12:58,500
suggesting illumination or 
clarity. 

3600
03:12:59,400 --> 03:13:01,500
These are dreams where the 
dreamer knows their dreaming 

3601
03:13:01,500 --> 03:13:04,800
where there's awareness of the 
dream state while it continues. 

3602
03:13:05,600 --> 03:13:08,700
He is noticed that certain 
people seem naturally prone to 

3603
03:13:08,708 --> 03:13:12,000
these experiences While others 
report never having them. 

3604
03:13:12,600 --> 03:13:15,800
He's also noticed that practice 
and attention seemed to matter. 

3605
03:13:15,800 --> 03:13:20,100
People who think about dreams 
who value them, and who try to 

3606
03:13:20,108 --> 03:13:23,700
remember and reflect on them 
report more instances of lucid 

3607
03:13:23,700 --> 03:13:26,000
dreaming than people who ignore 
their dream life entirely. 

3608
03:13:26,900 --> 03:13:30,900
He gives you an assignment. 
For one month, conduct a 

3609
03:13:30,900 --> 03:13:34,100
personal experiment in what he 
calls, Consciousness continuity.

3610
03:13:35,200 --> 03:13:37,600
The goal is to see if you can 
maintain some thread of 

3611
03:13:37,600 --> 03:13:41,700
awareness through the transition
from waking to sleeping and to 

3612
03:13:41,700 --> 03:13:44,300
observe what happens to 
Consciousness as it shifts 

3613
03:13:44,300 --> 03:13:48,100
between states. 
He suggests several techniques 

3614
03:13:48,100 --> 03:13:50,900
drawing on his reading of 
various spiritual and 

3615
03:13:50,900 --> 03:13:55,000
philosophical traditions. 
First keep a dream journal. 

3616
03:13:55,000 --> 03:13:58,000
Write down everything. 
You remember from dreams 

3617
03:13:58,000 --> 03:14:02,500
immediately upon waking before 
the memories fade, this builds 

3618
03:14:02,500 --> 03:14:06,200
the habit of paying attention to
dreams which seems to influence 

3619
03:14:06,200 --> 03:14:10,800
the dreams themselves. 
Second practice reality testing 

3620
03:14:10,800 --> 03:14:13,700
during the day. 
Periodically stop and ask 

3621
03:14:13,700 --> 03:14:16,800
yourself. 
Am I dreaming and look for 

3622
03:14:16,800 --> 03:14:19,700
evidence? 
Check if text changes when you 

3623
03:14:19,700 --> 03:14:23,100
look away and back. 
Try to remember how you got to 

3624
03:14:23,100 --> 03:14:26,500
where you are. 
Notice if anything unusual is 

3625
03:14:26,500 --> 03:14:30,400
happening, the idea is that this
habit will eventually carry over

3626
03:14:30,400 --> 03:14:34,600
into sleep. 
Third trying to Monica induction

3627
03:14:34,600 --> 03:14:38,300
as you're falling asleep 
repeated phrase like the next 

3628
03:14:38,300 --> 03:14:42,500
time I'm Dreaming. 
I'll remember I'm Dreaming or I 

3629
03:14:42,500 --> 03:14:44,500
will recognize my dreams as 
dreams. 

3630
03:14:45,300 --> 03:14:49,900
Don't Force It Or concentrate 
hard just let it cycle gently 

3631
03:14:49,900 --> 03:14:54,700
through your mind as you drift 
off. fourth if you wake during 

3632
03:14:54,700 --> 03:14:57,900
the night spend a few moments in
that liminal State between 

3633
03:14:57,900 --> 03:15:02,000
sleeping and waking noticing 
what Consciousness feels like in

3634
03:15:02,000 --> 03:15:05,300
that transitional Zone, you take
the assignments seriously 

3635
03:15:05,300 --> 03:15:08,400
approaching it with the same 
systematic rigor. 

3636
03:15:08,400 --> 03:15:10,000
You would bring to any academic 
study. 

3637
03:15:10,800 --> 03:15:14,000
You purchase a new notebook 
specifically for dream records 

3638
03:15:14,000 --> 03:15:17,100
every morning. 
You spend 15 minutes right in 

3639
03:15:17,100 --> 03:15:19,200
down everything. 
You can remember from the night 

3640
03:15:19,200 --> 03:15:24,300
not just narrative that's 
Sensations emotions the quality 

3641
03:15:24,300 --> 03:15:28,000
of light unusual details and 
moments of transition or 

3642
03:15:28,000 --> 03:15:31,200
confusion. 
During the day you set yourself 

3643
03:15:31,200 --> 03:15:36,400
the task of asking Am I Dreaming
at least 10 times trying to 

3644
03:15:36,408 --> 03:15:39,600
spread them throughout the day 
so it becomes a genuine habit 

3645
03:15:39,600 --> 03:15:44,700
rather than a mere formality. 
You check your hands looking for

3646
03:15:44,700 --> 03:15:48,400
the kinds of anomalies others 
have reported. wrong numbers of 

3647
03:15:48,400 --> 03:15:54,700
fingers stranger appearance 
shifting form you try to read 

3648
03:15:54,700 --> 03:15:57,900
text twice confirming it stays 
consistent. 

3649
03:15:58,600 --> 03:16:01,900
You think about how you got to 
where you are checking if the 

3650
03:16:01,900 --> 03:16:06,300
memory is clear and logical or 
vague and Confused the first 

3651
03:16:06,300 --> 03:16:10,300
week produces Nothing But 
Ordinary dreams and frustrating 

3652
03:16:10,300 --> 03:16:14,300
gaps in memory. 
You remember fragments being in 

3653
03:16:14,300 --> 03:16:17,600
a forest having conversation 
with someone whose face you 

3654
03:16:17,600 --> 03:16:20,600
can't recall looking for 
something important that keeps 

3655
03:16:20,600 --> 03:16:24,400
alluding you but nothing 
coherent and certainly no 

3656
03:16:24,400 --> 03:16:26,000
moments of awareness or 
recognition. 

3657
03:16:27,400 --> 03:16:30,500
The reality testing during the 
day just makes you feel slightly

3658
03:16:30,500 --> 03:16:34,000
foolish asking yourself if your 
dreaming while sitting in 

3659
03:16:34,000 --> 03:16:36,900
perfectly ordinary lectures or 
walking through completely 

3660
03:16:36,900 --> 03:16:40,500
normal streets. 
The second week something small 

3661
03:16:40,500 --> 03:16:45,000
happens you're having a dream 
about falling a common enough 

3662
03:16:45,000 --> 03:16:48,000
dream type. 
And as you fall tumbling through

3663
03:16:48,000 --> 03:16:51,500
space with that characteristic 
dream combination of Terror and 

3664
03:16:51,500 --> 03:16:54,400
strange Detachment. 
He suddenly think this is a 

3665
03:16:54,400 --> 03:16:59,000
dream I'm safe. 
The thought is brief lasting, 

3666
03:16:59,000 --> 03:17:01,700
perhaps a second before the 
dream ends new wake with your 

3667
03:17:01,708 --> 03:17:06,700
heart pounding. 
But it was there unmistakably a 

3668
03:17:06,700 --> 03:17:10,600
moment of recognition, a flash 
of awareness that you are asleep

3669
03:17:10,600 --> 03:17:14,000
and that the danger wasn't real.
You write it down, immediately. 

3670
03:17:14,000 --> 03:17:18,200
Noting the circumstances, you'd 
been practicing the mnemonic 

3671
03:17:18,200 --> 03:17:20,800
induction technique before sleep
repeating. 

3672
03:17:20,800 --> 03:17:24,800
I will recognize my dreams as 
you drifted off. 

3673
03:17:25,900 --> 03:17:29,300
You'd also spend extra time that
day asking yourself, if you were

3674
03:17:29,300 --> 03:17:31,100
dreaming. 
The correlation might be 

3675
03:17:31,100 --> 03:17:33,400
coincidental but it seems worth 
noting. 

3676
03:17:34,500 --> 03:17:37,900
Third week, something shifts, 
more dramatically, you're in the

3677
03:17:37,900 --> 03:17:41,000
University Library in your 
dream, which should be closed 

3678
03:17:41,000 --> 03:17:44,200
since its night. 
But this inconsistency doesn't 

3679
03:17:44,200 --> 03:17:47,700
immediately strike you as old 
your searching for a particular 

3680
03:17:47,700 --> 03:17:50,600
book. 
Moving between the tall shells, 

3681
03:17:50,600 --> 03:17:54,400
feeling that sense of mild 
frustration that comes from not 

3682
03:17:54,400 --> 03:17:55,900
being able to find what you 
need. 

3683
03:17:57,000 --> 03:18:01,300
The lighting is strange brighter
than Lamplight dimmer than 

3684
03:18:01,300 --> 03:18:04,400
daylight and coming from no 
obvious source. 

3685
03:18:05,100 --> 03:18:08,100
But again, this doesn't trigger 
any recognition. 

3686
03:18:09,100 --> 03:18:13,000
And then for no reason, you can 
later identify the question 

3687
03:18:13,000 --> 03:18:15,300
surfaces from some deeper part 
of your mind. 

3688
03:18:15,300 --> 03:18:19,600
Am I Dreaming? 
it's the same question, you've 

3689
03:18:19,600 --> 03:18:24,100
been asking yourself during the 
day but now in this context, you

3690
03:18:24,100 --> 03:18:26,600
actually examine the question, 
seriously, rather than 

3691
03:18:26,600 --> 03:18:31,000
immediately dismissing it You 
look at your hands holding them 

3692
03:18:31,000 --> 03:18:33,500
up to the strange light. 
They look wrong. 

3693
03:18:33,500 --> 03:18:37,300
The fingers seem to shift and 
waiver sometimes appearing 

3694
03:18:37,300 --> 03:18:39,500
longer than they should be. 
Sometimes shorter. 

3695
03:18:39,500 --> 03:18:42,200
You try counting them and get 
different results. 

3696
03:18:42,200 --> 03:18:48,300
Each time, five, six four, five.
Again you try the reading test, 

3697
03:18:48,300 --> 03:18:51,300
you pull a book from the nearest
shelf and open it to a random 

3698
03:18:51,308 --> 03:18:54,200
page. 
The text appears to be in German

3699
03:18:54,200 --> 03:18:57,400
and you read a sentence about 
the cultivation of wheat, in 

3700
03:18:57,400 --> 03:19:01,100
medieval agricultural systems. 
You look away then back. 

3701
03:19:02,000 --> 03:19:04,300
The text has changed completely 
now. 

3702
03:19:04,300 --> 03:19:07,500
It's in Latin discussing, a 
risotto telian metaphysics. 

3703
03:19:08,400 --> 03:19:12,100
Close the book, put it back, 
pull it out again and open it. 

3704
03:19:12,800 --> 03:19:16,100
The pages are blank. 
The recognition arrives with 

3705
03:19:16,100 --> 03:19:18,800
absolute Clarity. 
I am dreaming. 

3706
03:19:19,800 --> 03:19:22,900
But here's what surprises you, 
what will become the core of 

3707
03:19:22,900 --> 03:19:26,000
your report to the professor? 
The awareness doesn't feel like 

3708
03:19:26,000 --> 03:19:30,200
waking consciousness. 
It's subtly different less sharp

3709
03:19:30,200 --> 03:19:34,200
in some ways, but more expansive
in others, you're aware of being

3710
03:19:34,200 --> 03:19:37,700
in a dream, but you're also 
aware of multiple layers of 

3711
03:19:37,700 --> 03:19:41,200
experience simultaneously. 
Existing Somewhere. 

3712
03:19:41,200 --> 03:19:45,300
Distantly, you can feel your 
body in bed, the weight of 

3713
03:19:45,308 --> 03:19:49,200
blankets, the position of your 
limbs and the solidity of the 

3714
03:19:49,200 --> 03:19:52,500
mattress beneath you. 
That's one layer of awareness, 

3715
03:19:52,500 --> 03:19:56,300
peripheral and quiet, but 
definitely present. 

3716
03:19:57,400 --> 03:20:00,600
You are also conscious of the 
dream imagery itself, the 

3717
03:20:00,600 --> 03:20:03,900
library the shelves, the books 
and the strange sourceless 

3718
03:20:03,900 --> 03:20:06,600
light. 
This is the most Vivid layer 

3719
03:20:06,600 --> 03:20:08,400
taking up most of your 
attention. 

3720
03:20:09,400 --> 03:20:13,900
It has the full richness of 
sensory experience visual detail

3721
03:20:13,900 --> 03:20:18,200
spatial relationships. 
The texture of book covers under

3722
03:20:18,200 --> 03:20:21,700
your fingers and the smell of 
old paper and binding glue. 

3723
03:20:22,400 --> 03:20:26,300
And there's a third element 
harder to describe a kind of 

3724
03:20:26,308 --> 03:20:29,000
observing awareness. 
That's watching both the dream 

3725
03:20:29,000 --> 03:20:30,700
and your recognition of the 
dream. 

3726
03:20:31,500 --> 03:20:34,300
It's the part of you that's 
conscious of being conscious, 

3727
03:20:34,300 --> 03:20:36,200
that's aware of having 
awareness. 

3728
03:20:36,200 --> 03:20:40,200
This is the aspect that allows 
you to think I am dreaming and I

3729
03:20:40,200 --> 03:20:43,100
know it. 
That provides the meta-level 

3730
03:20:43,100 --> 03:20:44,900
perspective on the experience 
itself. 

3731
03:20:46,300 --> 03:20:49,800
This three-layered Consciousness
is exactly what your professor 

3732
03:20:49,800 --> 03:20:52,000
has been theorizing about in his
lectures. 

3733
03:20:52,600 --> 03:20:56,600
Consciousness isn't a single 
unified thing, but a collection 

3734
03:20:56,600 --> 03:21:00,200
of processes that can separate 
and recombine in interesting 

3735
03:21:00,200 --> 03:21:03,200
ways. 
During normal Waking Life, these

3736
03:21:03,200 --> 03:21:06,800
processes work together. 
So seamlessly that we experience

3737
03:21:06,800 --> 03:21:11,500
them as one thing awareness 
perception and self-awareness 

3738
03:21:11,500 --> 03:21:15,300
all flowing together into the 
unified experience of being 

3739
03:21:15,300 --> 03:21:18,200
conscious. 
But, during lucid dreams, they 

3740
03:21:18,200 --> 03:21:22,400
can partially separate creating 
the strange state of multiple 

3741
03:21:22,400 --> 03:21:25,400
simultaneous. 
Awarenesses your both in the 

3742
03:21:25,400 --> 03:21:29,300
dream and observing the dream, 
you're a sleep but also somehow 

3743
03:21:29,300 --> 03:21:33,300
awake, your experiencing and 
analyzing the experience. 

3744
03:21:33,300 --> 03:21:36,900
At the same time, the boundaries
between these different aspects 

3745
03:21:36,900 --> 03:21:40,500
of Consciousness become visible 
precisely, because they're no 

3746
03:21:40,508 --> 03:21:44,000
longer perfectly aligned. 
You spend the rest of the dream,

3747
03:21:44,000 --> 03:21:46,700
which lasts for what? 
Feels like perhaps 20 minutes 

3748
03:21:46,700 --> 03:21:49,900
though, Dreamtime is notoriously
difficult to judge. 

3749
03:21:50,700 --> 03:21:53,300
Simply observing the state 
noting. 

3750
03:21:53,300 --> 03:21:56,400
Its qualities and trying to 
understand its structure. 

3751
03:21:57,300 --> 03:22:00,500
You move through the library 
noticing how the environment 

3752
03:22:00,500 --> 03:22:02,900
shifts when you're not looking 
directly at it. 

3753
03:22:03,800 --> 03:22:06,000
Shelves, appear in different 
configurations. 

3754
03:22:06,000 --> 03:22:09,000
Doorways. 
Open where wolves should be. 

3755
03:22:09,800 --> 03:22:13,500
The room seems to expand and 
contract based on some logic. 

3756
03:22:13,500 --> 03:22:17,000
You can't quite grasp. 
You try to have coherent 

3757
03:22:17,000 --> 03:22:20,300
thoughts about philosophical, 
questions to bring your waking 

3758
03:22:20,300 --> 03:22:22,400
into electrical analysis into 
the dream. 

3759
03:22:23,300 --> 03:22:26,100
You try to think about kant's 
categories of understanding 

3760
03:22:26,100 --> 03:22:29,100
about whether the dream 
experience proves, anything 

3761
03:22:29,100 --> 03:22:31,900
about the nature of phenomenal 
versus Newman and reality. 

3762
03:22:32,800 --> 03:22:36,500
But sustained analytical 
thinking is difficult in this 

3763
03:22:36,500 --> 03:22:39,100
state. 
Your thoughts keeps sliding 

3764
03:22:39,100 --> 03:22:43,500
sideways into images and 
Sensations rather than remaining

3765
03:22:43,500 --> 03:22:47,100
as clear propositions. 
What you can do quite 

3766
03:22:47,100 --> 03:22:50,800
successfully is observe. 
You can notice the quality of 

3767
03:22:50,800 --> 03:22:53,900
Consciousness in this state and 
compare attention to how 

3768
03:22:53,900 --> 03:22:57,400
awareness works when freed from 
the usual constraints of waking 

3769
03:22:57,400 --> 03:22:59,600
perception. 
You know, notice that your 

3770
03:22:59,600 --> 03:23:02,600
attention is more fluid shifting
easily. 

3771
03:23:02,600 --> 03:23:05,100
From one thing to another 
without the effort that waking 

3772
03:23:05,100 --> 03:23:08,900
attention requires. 
You notice that emotions arise 

3773
03:23:08,900 --> 03:23:11,600
and fade more quickly without 
the sustained quality? 

3774
03:23:11,600 --> 03:23:15,500
They have during Waking Life. 
You notice that time feels 

3775
03:23:15,500 --> 03:23:19,100
elastic, stretching and 
compressing unpredictably. 

3776
03:23:20,000 --> 03:23:23,100
Most importantly, you notice 
that the sense of self feels 

3777
03:23:23,100 --> 03:23:27,000
different during Waking Life. 
You have a strong continuous 

3778
03:23:27,000 --> 03:23:30,400
sense of being a particular 
person with a particular history

3779
03:23:30,400 --> 03:23:34,100
particular characteristics, and 
particular relationships and 

3780
03:23:34,100 --> 03:23:38,800
roles in the lucid dream that 
senses, looser more provisional 

3781
03:23:39,500 --> 03:23:42,800
You know who you are, in some 
abstract sense, but the usual 

3782
03:23:42,800 --> 03:23:44,900
solidity of identity is 
softened. 

3783
03:23:44,900 --> 03:23:48,300
It's not disturbing, just 
different. 

3784
03:23:48,300 --> 03:23:52,300
As if the self is revealed to be
more flexible and constructed 

3785
03:23:52,300 --> 03:23:55,600
than it usually appears. 
Eventually you're awareness 

3786
03:23:55,600 --> 03:23:59,800
begins to fade. 
Clarity dims the multiple layers

3787
03:23:59,800 --> 03:24:03,000
of Consciousness blur back 
together and you slip into 

3788
03:24:03,000 --> 03:24:07,600
ordinary. 
You have confused dreams about 

3789
03:24:07,600 --> 03:24:10,000
trying to write something 
important, but the ink keeps 

3790
03:24:10,000 --> 03:24:13,300
disappearing and about showing 
up to an examination without 

3791
03:24:13,300 --> 03:24:16,900
having studied And then you wake
in the early morning with pale, 

3792
03:24:16,900 --> 03:24:20,400
light coming through your 
window, you lie, there perfectly

3793
03:24:20,400 --> 03:24:24,300
still not wanting to move and 
disrupt the clear memory of the 

3794
03:24:24,300 --> 03:24:27,200
lucid dream. 
You can still feel what it was 

3795
03:24:27,208 --> 03:24:31,300
like and can still access that 
state of multiple simultaneous 

3796
03:24:31,300 --> 03:24:35,200
awarenesses, you know, this 
memory will fade as the day 

3797
03:24:35,200 --> 03:24:38,700
progresses as you're waking 
consciousness reasserts its 

3798
03:24:38,700 --> 03:24:42,700
normal structure and the dream 
state becomes harder to recall 

3799
03:24:42,700 --> 03:24:45,300
clearly. 
So you reach for your dream 

3800
03:24:45,300 --> 03:24:49,500
journal and spend the next hour 
writing down everything you 

3801
03:24:49,500 --> 03:24:54,600
experience every observation and
sensation and insight trying to 

3802
03:24:54,600 --> 03:24:57,800
capture the phenomenology of the
lucid dream state. 

3803
03:24:58,700 --> 03:25:02,100
Completely as possible. 
You know, when you bring this to

3804
03:25:02,100 --> 03:25:05,300
your professor the following 
week he reads through your notes

3805
03:25:05,300 --> 03:25:09,000
with visible excitement. 
This is excellent. 

3806
03:25:09,000 --> 03:25:12,700
He says you've documented 
exactly what I've been trying to

3807
03:25:12,700 --> 03:25:14,800
articulate. 
Theoretically the way 

3808
03:25:14,800 --> 03:25:18,000
Consciousness can layer and 
separate during liminal States. 

3809
03:25:18,700 --> 03:25:21,700
The dream awareness you 
described with its three levels 

3810
03:25:21,700 --> 03:25:25,400
of perception confirms that 
Consciousness isn't a simple 

3811
03:25:25,400 --> 03:25:29,400
on-off phenomenon, but a complex
system that can reconfigure 

3812
03:25:29,400 --> 03:25:31,900
itself. 
He asks you to continue the 

3813
03:25:31,900 --> 03:25:34,900
practice to see if you can have 
more lucid dreams and gather 

3814
03:25:34,900 --> 03:25:39,000
more observational data. he's 
particularly interested in 

3815
03:25:39,000 --> 03:25:43,600
whether you can conduct specific
experiments while lucid Sting 

3816
03:25:43,600 --> 03:25:47,700
the boundaries of dream control 
examining how intention and 

3817
03:25:47,700 --> 03:25:51,700
attention shape, the dream and 
exploring, whether complex 

3818
03:25:51,700 --> 03:25:55,200
reasoning is possible in that 
state, or if it's limited to 

3819
03:25:55,200 --> 03:25:59,400
observation and experience over 
the following months, you become

3820
03:25:59,400 --> 03:26:03,100
quite skilled at lucid dreaming.
You learn the tricks that help. 

3821
03:26:03,900 --> 03:26:07,700
Waking after five or six hours 
of sleep, staying awake briefly 

3822
03:26:07,700 --> 03:26:10,800
then returning to sleep with 
strong intention seems 

3823
03:26:10,800 --> 03:26:15,000
particularly effective. you 
learn that certain mental States

3824
03:26:15,000 --> 03:26:19,600
encouraged Lucidity being well 
rested but not exhausted being 

3825
03:26:19,600 --> 03:26:23,700
interested, but not anxious, and
approaching sleep with curiosity

3826
03:26:23,700 --> 03:26:26,800
rather than determination you 
also learn about the 

3827
03:26:26,800 --> 03:26:31,100
limitations, Stand abstract, 
reasoning really is difficult in

3828
03:26:31,100 --> 03:26:33,300
lucid dreams. 
You can think about 

3829
03:26:33,300 --> 03:26:36,700
philosophical questions but you 
can't follow long chains of 

3830
03:26:36,700 --> 03:26:39,000
logical argument the way you can
while away. 

3831
03:26:40,100 --> 03:26:43,800
The Lucid State requires a 
delicate balance, too much 

3832
03:26:43,800 --> 03:26:46,800
thinking, and you wake up to 
little and you slip back into 

3833
03:26:46,800 --> 03:26:50,700
non-reg. 
Strong emotions destabilize the 

3834
03:26:50,700 --> 03:26:54,700
state trying too hard to control
things often backfires. 

3835
03:26:54,700 --> 03:26:59,400
What you can do remarkably. 
Well is observe the nature of 

3836
03:26:59,400 --> 03:27:02,800
Consciousness itself. 
You can notice how perception 

3837
03:27:02,800 --> 03:27:07,600
Works how attention flows how 
memory operates and how the 

3838
03:27:07,600 --> 03:27:09,900
sense of self forms and 
dissolves. 

3839
03:27:10,800 --> 03:27:13,600
The lucid dream becomes a 
laboratory for phenomenology 

3840
03:27:13,600 --> 03:27:18,000
offering direct experiential 
access to questions that would 

3841
03:27:18,000 --> 03:27:20,100
otherwise remain purely 
theoretical. 

3842
03:27:21,500 --> 03:27:24,200
Your professor eventually 
publishes a paper drawing on 

3843
03:27:24,200 --> 03:27:26,800
your observations and those of 
other students who've 

3844
03:27:26,800 --> 03:27:28,900
participated in similar 
experiments. 

3845
03:27:29,900 --> 03:27:31,700
The paper argues that 
Consciousness should be 

3846
03:27:31,700 --> 03:27:35,100
understood not as a single 
unified phenomenon, but as a 

3847
03:27:35,108 --> 03:27:39,200
collection of processes that 
typically work together, but can

3848
03:27:39,200 --> 03:27:40,700
separate under certain 
conditions. 

3849
03:27:41,800 --> 03:27:45,300
The lucid dream is presented as 
evidence for this layered model 

3850
03:27:45,300 --> 03:27:50,100
a state where some aspects of 
waking consciousness awareness 

3851
03:27:50,100 --> 03:27:56,600
intention memory persist While 
others critical reasoning stable

3852
03:27:56,600 --> 03:28:00,200
sense of self connection to 
sensory and put a diminished or 

3853
03:28:00,200 --> 03:28:03,400
altered the paper does not get 
much attention at the time. 

3854
03:28:03,400 --> 03:28:07,900
It's too speculative to 
dependent on subjective reports 

3855
03:28:07,900 --> 03:28:11,400
and too far outside the main 
currents of academic philosophy.

3856
03:28:12,700 --> 03:28:15,900
But it plants seeds, that will 
grow over the next century and a

3857
03:28:15,900 --> 03:28:19,500
half contributing to evolving 
understandings of Consciousness 

3858
03:28:19,500 --> 03:28:23,100
attention and the relationship 
between different modes of 

3859
03:28:23,100 --> 03:28:25,800
awareness. 
And for you personally, it 

3860
03:28:25,800 --> 03:28:28,900
transforms sleep from a 
necessary but passive part of 

3861
03:28:28,908 --> 03:28:31,400
life into an active domain of 
exploration. 

3862
03:28:32,200 --> 03:28:35,000
A place where you can 
investigate the nature of Mind 

3863
03:28:35,000 --> 03:28:38,900
through direct experience. 
You're a research subject in a 

3864
03:28:38,900 --> 03:28:42,500
sleep laboratory at Stanford 
University in California, in 

3865
03:28:42,500 --> 03:28:47,100
1975 in your covered in wires 
that make you look like you're 

3866
03:28:47,100 --> 03:28:50,800
being prepared for some kind of 
elaborate electronic experiment.

3867
03:28:50,800 --> 03:28:55,100
Electrodes of pasted to your 
scalp with thick gel, that feels

3868
03:28:55,100 --> 03:28:59,000
cold and slightly uncomfortable.
Positioned, according to the 

3869
03:28:59,000 --> 03:29:02,600
international 10 to 20 system 
for EEG recording. 

3870
03:29:03,500 --> 03:29:07,000
These will monitor your brain 
waves, tracking the electrical 

3871
03:29:07,000 --> 03:29:10,000
activity, that characterizes 
different stages of sleep. 

3872
03:29:11,000 --> 03:29:14,400
Sensors are tape to near your 
eyes, positioned to detect the 

3873
03:29:14,400 --> 03:29:17,000
rapid eye movements that occur 
during REM sleep. 

3874
03:29:17,900 --> 03:29:20,100
Phase. 
When most vivid dreams happen. 

3875
03:29:21,000 --> 03:29:24,300
Other instruments measure muscle
tension in your chin, which 

3876
03:29:24,300 --> 03:29:27,800
decreases dramatically during 
REM sleep along with your heart 

3877
03:29:27,800 --> 03:29:30,600
rate, breathing patterns, and 
body movement. 

3878
03:29:31,500 --> 03:29:34,200
You've agreed to spend several 
nights in this laboratory 

3879
03:29:34,200 --> 03:29:37,200
sleeping under observation, 
while trying to have lucid 

3880
03:29:37,200 --> 03:29:39,200
dreams. 
It's not particularly 

3881
03:29:39,200 --> 03:29:43,500
comfortable, the wires, restrict
your movement, the electrodes 

3882
03:29:43,500 --> 03:29:47,100
itch slightly, and you're aware 
of being watched and recorded in

3883
03:29:47,100 --> 03:29:48,500
a way. 
That's not conducive to 

3884
03:29:48,500 --> 03:29:51,800
relaxation. 
But you're fascinated by the 

3885
03:29:51,800 --> 03:29:53,800
research and convinced its 
important. 

3886
03:29:53,800 --> 03:29:58,400
So you volunteered despite the 
discomfort The lead researcher 

3887
03:29:58,400 --> 03:30:01,500
is a psychologist named Stephen 
Laberge who's been studying 

3888
03:30:01,500 --> 03:30:05,100
lucid dreaming for years 
fighting an uphill battle for 

3889
03:30:05,100 --> 03:30:07,900
legitimacy in a field that 
generally considers the topic 

3890
03:30:07,900 --> 03:30:12,500
fringe science at best. 
Pseudo scientific nonsense at 

3891
03:30:12,500 --> 03:30:15,300
worst. 
The problem is fundamental 

3892
03:30:15,300 --> 03:30:17,900
dreams are inherently 
subjective. 

3893
03:30:17,900 --> 03:30:22,800
Private experience is, you can 
report having been aware in a 

3894
03:30:22,800 --> 03:30:26,300
dream can describe the 
experience in detail and can 

3895
03:30:26,300 --> 03:30:30,400
swear it really happened. 
But how can researchers verify 

3896
03:30:30,400 --> 03:30:32,900
this? 
How can they prove that you are 

3897
03:30:32,900 --> 03:30:36,500
actually conscious during REM 
sleep, and not just creating 

3898
03:30:36,500 --> 03:30:40,900
false memories upon waking or 
misunderstanding normal, dream 

3899
03:30:40,900 --> 03:30:45,200
confusion for genuine awareness,
For most of scientific history. 

3900
03:30:45,200 --> 03:30:49,100
This verification problem has 
seemed insurmountable You can't 

3901
03:30:49,100 --> 03:30:53,000
directly access someone else's 
subjective experience, you can't

3902
03:30:53,000 --> 03:30:56,000
peer into their sleeping mind 
and see whether awareness is 

3903
03:30:56,000 --> 03:30:59,600
present. 
All you have is their report and

3904
03:30:59,600 --> 03:31:03,800
reports notoriously unreliable 
subject to false memories 

3905
03:31:03,800 --> 03:31:06,600
confabulation and wishful 
thinking. 

3906
03:31:07,800 --> 03:31:12,200
The burgers solution is elegant 
in its Simplicity, create a 

3907
03:31:12,200 --> 03:31:15,000
pre-arranged signal that can 
only be produced deliberately. 

3908
03:31:15,000 --> 03:31:19,600
Then have lucid dreamers execute
that signal while dreaming. if 

3909
03:31:19,600 --> 03:31:22,000
the signal appears on the 
recording equipment, at the 

3910
03:31:22,000 --> 03:31:26,300
right time during REM sleep, 
when dreams are occurring, it 

3911
03:31:26,300 --> 03:31:29,300
proves that the person was 
conscious enough to remember a 

3912
03:31:29,300 --> 03:31:33,100
task and executed deliberately 
That they weren't just passively

3913
03:31:33,100 --> 03:31:36,600
experiencing random dream 
imagery, but we're actively 

3914
03:31:36,600 --> 03:31:38,900
aware, and capable of volitional
action. 

3915
03:31:38,900 --> 03:31:42,500
The specific signal, you've 
agreed on his eye movement 

3916
03:31:42,500 --> 03:31:45,200
during REM sleep. 
Most of the bodies. 

3917
03:31:45,200 --> 03:31:48,800
Voluntary muscles are paralyzed.
This is why you don't physically

3918
03:31:48,800 --> 03:31:51,900
act out your dreams. 
While you don't actually run or 

3919
03:31:51,900 --> 03:31:55,400
fight or fly, despite dreaming 
about these actions. 

3920
03:31:56,300 --> 03:31:59,500
But the muscles controlling eye 
movement aren't paralyzed. 

3921
03:31:59,500 --> 03:32:03,200
They remain active and their 
movements, during dreams can be 

3922
03:32:03,208 --> 03:32:05,500
detected by the sensors near 
your eyes. 

3923
03:32:06,200 --> 03:32:09,200
Before going to sleep tonight, 
you and Laberge review the 

3924
03:32:09,200 --> 03:32:13,100
signal one more time. 
If you become Lucid in a dream, 

3925
03:32:13,100 --> 03:32:16,800
you'll deliberately move your 
eyes in a specific pattern left.

3926
03:32:16,800 --> 03:32:22,400
Right left, right, left right? 
Several times in quick 

3927
03:32:22,400 --> 03:32:25,300
succession. 
This pattern is distinctive 

3928
03:32:25,300 --> 03:32:27,900
enough that it won't be confused
with the random eye movements 

3929
03:32:27,900 --> 03:32:30,200
that occur during normal are ems
sleep. 

3930
03:32:31,000 --> 03:32:34,300
If it appears on the recording 
during an RM, period, it will be

3931
03:32:34,300 --> 03:32:38,000
objective verifiable evidence 
that you were conscious and 

3932
03:32:38,000 --> 03:32:40,600
capable of executing a plan 
action while dreaming. 

3933
03:32:41,500 --> 03:32:45,400
The first night produces nothing
useful, you sleep, but it's not 

3934
03:32:45,400 --> 03:32:48,100
your normal sleep. 
The laboratory environment is 

3935
03:32:48,100 --> 03:32:51,800
too unfamiliar the wires to 
constraining and you're 

3936
03:32:51,800 --> 03:32:55,900
awareness of being observed to 
present You have dreams vague 

3937
03:32:55,900 --> 03:32:57,700
and forget about with no 
lucidity. 

3938
03:32:58,800 --> 03:33:01,300
You wake feeling unrested and 
slightly discouraged. 

3939
03:33:02,400 --> 03:33:05,200
The second night is similar, 
you're more comfortable with the

3940
03:33:05,200 --> 03:33:08,100
setup, but that doesn't 
translate into lucid dreams. 

3941
03:33:08,100 --> 03:33:11,300
You have one moment that might 
have been briefed aware when 

3942
03:33:11,300 --> 03:33:14,400
this you dreaming about being in
a classroom, and something 

3943
03:33:14,400 --> 03:33:17,300
seemed odd. 
You can't remember whether you 

3944
03:33:17,300 --> 03:33:20,400
actually recognized it as a 
dream, or just felt confused 

3945
03:33:20,400 --> 03:33:23,400
within the dream narrative. 
Either way you didn't think to 

3946
03:33:23,400 --> 03:33:25,200
signal. 
So there's no data. 

3947
03:33:25,900 --> 03:33:28,300
By the third night, you're 
starting to worry that you've 

3948
03:33:28,300 --> 03:33:30,100
lost whatever. 
Knack you had for lucid 

3949
03:33:30,100 --> 03:33:32,600
dreaming. 
You've had them spontaneously 

3950
03:33:32,600 --> 03:33:34,600
before. 
That's why you were recruited 

3951
03:33:34,600 --> 03:33:37,300
for this study. 
But the pressure to perform 

3952
03:33:37,300 --> 03:33:40,600
seems to be interfering with the
spontaneity these dreams require

3953
03:33:41,400 --> 03:33:45,600
you're trying to hard thinking 
about it too much, and that very

3954
03:33:45,600 --> 03:33:49,500
effort is preventing the state, 
you're trying to achieve The 

3955
03:33:49,500 --> 03:33:52,200
birds reading your frustration, 
suggested different approach for

3956
03:33:52,208 --> 03:33:54,700
the fourth night. 
Stop trying so hard. 

3957
03:33:54,700 --> 03:33:58,400
He says, just go to sleep. 
Normally if you happen to become

3958
03:33:58,400 --> 03:34:02,000
Lucid great, send the signal. 
If not. 

3959
03:34:02,000 --> 03:34:05,900
That's fine too, no pressure. 
It's good advice, though. 

3960
03:34:05,900 --> 03:34:10,400
Paradoxical trying to not try 
deliberately cultivating an 

3961
03:34:10,400 --> 03:34:11,900
attitude of relaxed in 
different. 

3962
03:34:13,300 --> 03:34:16,100
You follow his suggestion, 
approaching sleep with less 

3963
03:34:16,100 --> 03:34:19,900
determination and more openness.
You do your usual, Priestly 

3964
03:34:19,900 --> 03:34:22,600
routine. 
Reviewing the signal pattern to 

3965
03:34:22,600 --> 03:34:24,600
make sure you remember it and 
setting. 

3966
03:34:24,600 --> 03:34:29,200
A gentle intention to recognize 
dreams as dreams, but not 

3967
03:34:29,200 --> 03:34:32,900
forcing or straining. 
Then you just let go allowing 

3968
03:34:32,900 --> 03:34:35,300
sleep to come naturally, rather 
than pursuing it. 

3969
03:34:36,800 --> 03:34:39,600
The Dream Begins in a shopping 
mall which should immediately 

3970
03:34:39,600 --> 03:34:41,900
seem odd since you're sleeping 
in a laboratory. 

3971
03:34:42,700 --> 03:34:44,600
But dream logic makes it seem 
reasonable. 

3972
03:34:44,600 --> 03:34:48,400
You're walking through corridors
lined with stores looking for 

3973
03:34:48,400 --> 03:34:51,800
something. 
You're not quite sure what The 

3974
03:34:51,800 --> 03:34:53,400
stores keep changing their 
positions. 

3975
03:34:53,400 --> 03:34:57,200
One moment the bookstore is on 
your left the next time you look

3976
03:34:57,200 --> 03:35:01,400
it's on your right or maybe it's
not there at all but replace 

3977
03:35:01,400 --> 03:35:05,500
with a clothing store you don't 
recognize The shifting positions

3978
03:35:05,500 --> 03:35:08,700
should be your first clue and 
finally, they are. 

3979
03:35:09,700 --> 03:35:12,700
The inconsistency, triggers the 
questioning habit, you've built 

3980
03:35:12,700 --> 03:35:15,000
through months of reality 
testing. 

3981
03:35:15,000 --> 03:35:19,000
Am I Dreaming? 
You check your hands holding 

3982
03:35:19,000 --> 03:35:22,800
them up to examine them. 
They look strange, the fingers 

3983
03:35:22,800 --> 03:35:25,700
seem too long or is it that your
palms are too small? 

3984
03:35:26,600 --> 03:35:28,300
The proportions are somehow 
wrong. 

3985
03:35:28,300 --> 03:35:32,600
Shifting, when you try to focus 
on them, You try to remember how

3986
03:35:32,600 --> 03:35:35,000
you got here. 
And the memory is vague 

3987
03:35:35,000 --> 03:35:37,400
fragmentary and impossible to 
pin down. 

3988
03:35:37,400 --> 03:35:40,100
Yes, you realize with sudden 
Clarity. 

3989
03:35:40,100 --> 03:35:44,600
I'm definitely dreaming. 
And then crucially you remember 

3990
03:35:44,600 --> 03:35:48,500
you're in the sleep lab your 
participating in research. 

3991
03:35:48,500 --> 03:35:50,600
You're supposed to send a 
signal. 

3992
03:35:50,600 --> 03:35:53,700
This is harder than it sounds in
theory in the dream. 

3993
03:35:53,700 --> 03:35:56,900
You don't have a body lying in a
lab bed with electrodes 

3994
03:35:56,900 --> 03:35:59,100
attached. 
You have a body standing in a 

3995
03:35:59,100 --> 03:36:02,100
shopping mall fully engaged with
that environment to move your 

3996
03:36:02,100 --> 03:36:04,500
actual physical eyes. 
You have to somehow reach 

3997
03:36:04,500 --> 03:36:06,600
through the dream to the 
physical body. 

3998
03:36:06,600 --> 03:36:09,600
You're not currently 
experiencing that exists in a 

3999
03:36:09,600 --> 03:36:12,300
different layer of reality. 
That's only peripherally 

4000
03:36:12,300 --> 03:36:16,100
accessible you focus 
concentrating on your real eyes 

4001
03:36:16,100 --> 03:36:19,900
rather than your dream eyes. 
Feels like trying to move a limb

4002
03:36:19,900 --> 03:36:22,800
that's fallen asleep. 
You know, it's there you can 

4003
03:36:22,800 --> 03:36:25,700
feel it distantly, but the 
connection is fuzzy and 

4004
03:36:25,700 --> 03:36:29,300
indirect. 
You visualize the pattern left 

4005
03:36:29,300 --> 03:36:36,600
right left right left, right? 
And then you do it or at least 

4006
03:36:36,600 --> 03:36:40,200
you try to do it moving what you
hope or your actualize in the 

4007
03:36:40,208 --> 03:36:44,000
agreed upon pattern repeating it
several times to make sure it's 

4008
03:36:44,000 --> 03:36:47,600
clear and deliberate. 
The mole continues around you. 

4009
03:36:47,600 --> 03:36:51,600
Nothing in the dream changes in 
response to the eye movements. 

4010
03:36:51,600 --> 03:36:53,500
They're happening in a different
reality. 

4011
03:36:54,400 --> 03:36:58,000
Affecting your physical body, in
the laboratory, rather than your

4012
03:36:58,000 --> 03:37:00,800
dream body in the mall. 
But you feel a sense of 

4013
03:37:00,808 --> 03:37:03,500
accomplishment of having 
completed the task? 

4014
03:37:04,300 --> 03:37:07,100
You've sent the message from 
inside the dream to the outside 

4015
03:37:07,100 --> 03:37:11,800
world, Bridging, the Gap between
sleeping and waking reality in a

4016
03:37:11,800 --> 03:37:14,900
measurable way. 
The dream continues for a while 

4017
03:37:14,900 --> 03:37:18,300
longer. 
You explore the mall conscious 

4018
03:37:18,300 --> 03:37:21,400
throughout that your dreaming 
marveling at the detail and 

4019
03:37:21,400 --> 03:37:24,600
coherence of the environment. 
Your sleeping mind is created. 

4020
03:37:25,700 --> 03:37:28,800
You try some simple experiments 
willing. 

4021
03:37:28,800 --> 03:37:34,400
Adore to appear in a blank wall 
which works Trying to fly, which

4022
03:37:34,400 --> 03:37:37,500
doesn't and changing the color 
of your clothing. 

4023
03:37:38,400 --> 03:37:40,800
Which works but takes more 
effort than you expected. 

4024
03:37:42,100 --> 03:37:45,600
The lucid dream remains stable 
and Vivid for what feels like 

4025
03:37:45,600 --> 03:37:49,400
several minutes before you drift
into non-rem and eventually 

4026
03:37:49,400 --> 03:37:52,100
wake. 
In the morning, when the 

4027
03:37:52,100 --> 03:37:55,200
researchers review the recording
equipment, there's carefully 

4028
03:37:55,200 --> 03:37:57,100
controlled excitement in the 
laboratory. 

4029
03:37:58,000 --> 03:38:01,200
The polysomnographic is show 
clear REM sleep during the 

4030
03:38:01,200 --> 03:38:05,200
period when you reported having 
the lucid dream and their 

4031
03:38:05,200 --> 03:38:09,200
unmistakable in the eye movement
recording is the signal pattern.

4032
03:38:09,200 --> 03:38:15,700
You sent left right left right 
left right appearing multiple 

4033
03:38:15,700 --> 03:38:21,100
times during REM sleep exactly 
when and where it should be if 

4034
03:38:21,100 --> 03:38:23,400
your report of lucid dreaming is
accurate. 

4035
03:38:24,100 --> 03:38:27,400
For the first time someone has 
sent a message from inside a 

4036
03:38:27,400 --> 03:38:30,400
dream to the outside world. 
Proving through objective 

4037
03:38:30,400 --> 03:38:33,100
measurement that they were 
conscious enough to remember a 

4038
03:38:33,100 --> 03:38:35,300
task and execute it deliberately
while asleep. 

4039
03:38:36,400 --> 03:38:40,000
The signal appears during REM 
sleep when brain activity is 

4040
03:38:40,000 --> 03:38:43,700
similar to waking but the body 
is paralyzed and the eyes are 

4041
03:38:43,700 --> 03:38:46,600
moving rapidly. 
This rules out the possibility 

4042
03:38:46,600 --> 03:38:50,000
that you are actually awake or 
in some lighter stage of sleep. 

4043
03:38:50,000 --> 03:38:54,800
You were genuinely dreaming as 
proven by the rear indicators, 

4044
03:38:54,800 --> 03:38:58,600
but you are also conscious and 
volitional as proven by the 

4045
03:38:58,600 --> 03:39:02,900
deliberate signal this 
experiment repeated over the 

4046
03:39:02,900 --> 03:39:06,300
following months and years with 
multiple subjects will finally 

4047
03:39:06,300 --> 03:39:10,300
established lucid dreaming as a 
legitimate phenomenon worthy of 

4048
03:39:10,300 --> 03:39:15,400
serious scientific study. 
It confirms what Tibetan Monks 

4049
03:39:15,400 --> 03:39:19,200
of claimed for centuries. 
What medieval Mystics reported 

4050
03:39:19,200 --> 03:39:23,400
and what curious philosophers 
suspected Consciousness can 

4051
03:39:23,400 --> 03:39:27,600
persist during sleep, you can be
aware that you're dreaming while

4052
03:39:27,600 --> 03:39:31,200
the dream continues. 
And with practice this state can

4053
03:39:31,200 --> 03:39:35,400
be reliably accessed and studied
the implications extend beyond 

4054
03:39:35,400 --> 03:39:37,400
just proving that lucid dreams 
exist. 

4055
03:39:38,300 --> 03:39:40,600
The research demonstrates that 
are em. 

4056
03:39:40,600 --> 03:39:42,600
Sleep, isn't simply an 
unconscious state. 

4057
03:39:42,600 --> 03:39:46,200
Where random neural firing 
produces meaningless stream. 

4058
03:39:46,200 --> 03:39:50,400
Imagery It's a state where 
complex cognition can occur or 

4059
03:39:50,400 --> 03:39:53,400
awareness can be maintained and 
where voluntary action is 

4060
03:39:53,400 --> 03:39:56,700
possible. 
The sleeper isn't passive but 

4061
03:39:56,700 --> 03:39:59,100
can actively engage with their 
dream experience. 

4062
03:39:59,100 --> 03:40:04,000
Can remember intention formed 
while awake And execute planned 

4063
03:40:04,000 --> 03:40:07,300
actions and can observe and 
report on their mental state. 

4064
03:40:08,800 --> 03:40:11,100
This opens up new questions and 
possibilities. 

4065
03:40:11,100 --> 03:40:14,900
If people can be conscious 
during dreams, what can they 

4066
03:40:14,900 --> 03:40:18,400
learn about Consciousness Itself
by investigating this state? 

4067
03:40:19,300 --> 03:40:22,600
Can lucid dreaming be used 
therapeutically helping people 

4068
03:40:22,600 --> 03:40:26,700
with nightmares or trauma. 
Can it be trained systematically

4069
03:40:26,700 --> 03:40:29,500
or does it require some innate 
capacity? 

4070
03:40:30,300 --> 03:40:33,600
What are the neural mechanisms 
that allow awareness to persist 

4071
03:40:33,600 --> 03:40:35,400
during REM sleep when it usually
doesn't? 

4072
03:40:36,300 --> 03:40:39,300
How does the brain maintain that
dual state of being a steep but 

4073
03:40:39,308 --> 03:40:42,500
also conscious? 
For you personally participating

4074
03:40:42,500 --> 03:40:44,200
in this research has been 
transformative. 

4075
03:40:45,100 --> 03:40:47,400
You've gone from someone who 
occasionally had interesting 

4076
03:40:47,400 --> 03:40:50,800
dreams to someone actively 
investigating the nature of 

4077
03:40:50,800 --> 03:40:52,800
Consciousness through direct 
experience. 

4078
03:40:54,000 --> 03:40:57,600
The laboratory setting far from 
diminishing the phenomenon has 

4079
03:40:57,600 --> 03:40:59,600
made it more real more 
legitimate. 

4080
03:41:00,500 --> 03:41:04,800
Your subjective experience now 
has objective validation what 

4081
03:41:04,800 --> 03:41:08,800
you feel and observe in lucid 
dreams corresponds to measurable

4082
03:41:08,800 --> 03:41:13,000
changes in brain activity and to
detectable signals in the 

4083
03:41:13,000 --> 03:41:16,300
physical world. 
Over the following weeks your 

4084
03:41:16,300 --> 03:41:20,900
return to the labs several more 
times contributing more data to 

4085
03:41:20,900 --> 03:41:24,400
the growing body of evidence. 
You'll get better at signaling 

4086
03:41:24,400 --> 03:41:27,000
from dreams. 
Sometimes sending complex 

4087
03:41:27,000 --> 03:41:30,200
messages different numbers of 
eye movements to indicate 

4088
03:41:30,200 --> 03:41:33,900
different things and responding 
to external stimuli that the 

4089
03:41:33,900 --> 03:41:35,700
researchers present during your 
sleep. 

4090
03:41:36,800 --> 03:41:40,300
You'll help map the relationship
between subjective experience 

4091
03:41:40,300 --> 03:41:43,400
and objective measurement 
between what lucid dreaming 

4092
03:41:43,400 --> 03:41:45,900
feels like and what it looks 
like on the monitoring 

4093
03:41:45,900 --> 03:41:48,400
equipment. 
And you'll take the techniques 

4094
03:41:48,400 --> 03:41:51,800
home with you continuing to 
practice lucid dreaming in your 

4095
03:41:51,808 --> 03:41:55,000
normal life free from electrodes
and Laboratories. 

4096
03:41:56,000 --> 03:41:58,400
The researchers giving you 
confidence that this isn't 

4097
03:41:58,400 --> 03:42:01,800
wishful thinking or 
self-deception but a real 

4098
03:42:01,800 --> 03:42:04,700
verifiable State of 
Consciousness that can be 

4099
03:42:04,700 --> 03:42:08,600
cultivated and explored. 
Every night becomes an 

4100
03:42:08,600 --> 03:42:12,300
opportunity for investigation 
for experience in Consciousness 

4101
03:42:12,300 --> 03:42:15,800
in an altered mode and for 
learning something new about how

4102
03:42:15,800 --> 03:42:18,800
awareness works when freed from 
its usual constraints. 

4103
03:42:19,700 --> 03:42:22,800
You're a modern person living in
a time when lucid dreaming as 

4104
03:42:22,800 --> 03:42:26,200
moved from mysticism to 
mainstream from forbidden 

4105
03:42:26,200 --> 03:42:28,900
knowledge to Reddit threads and 
YouTube tutorials. 

4106
03:42:28,900 --> 03:42:33,000
The information is freely 
available techniques, that monks

4107
03:42:33,000 --> 03:42:35,900
want guarded as advanced 
meditation practices and now 

4108
03:42:35,900 --> 03:42:39,800
explained in blog posts with 
titles like five easy steps to 

4109
03:42:39,800 --> 03:42:44,800
your first lucid dream. 
The democratization is wonderful

4110
03:42:44,800 --> 03:42:47,900
and slightly overwhelming and 
you've decided you want to learn

4111
03:42:47,900 --> 03:42:51,400
this skill for yourself. 
Your motivations are personal 

4112
03:42:51,400 --> 03:42:54,900
and ordinary rather than 
mystical or scientific you're 

4113
03:42:54,900 --> 03:42:57,000
not seeking spiritual 
enlightenment, or trying to 

4114
03:42:57,000 --> 03:42:58,700
prove theories about 
Consciousness. 

4115
03:42:58,700 --> 03:43:03,100
You're simply curious about the 
experience itself about what it 

4116
03:43:03,100 --> 03:43:06,600
might reveal about your own 
mind, and about the possibility 

4117
03:43:06,600 --> 03:43:09,700
of exploring these, nightly 
Landscapes, with full awareness 

4118
03:43:09,700 --> 03:43:15,000
rather than passive confusion. 
You start with the basics, the 

4119
03:43:15,000 --> 03:43:18,000
same advice that gets repeated 
across dozens of sources because

4120
03:43:18,000 --> 03:43:22,000
it actually works keep a dream 
journal, you buy a notebook. 

4121
03:43:22,000 --> 03:43:25,300
Specifically, for this purpose, 
keep it on your nightstand, next

4122
03:43:25,300 --> 03:43:28,600
to a pen and commit to writing 
in it every single morning 

4123
03:43:28,600 --> 03:43:30,900
before doing anything else 
before. 

4124
03:43:30,900 --> 03:43:34,000
Checking your phone before, 
getting out of bed, before your 

4125
03:43:34,000 --> 03:43:36,000
mind, fully engages with the 
day. 

4126
03:43:36,000 --> 03:43:38,100
You spend a few minutes 
recording. 

4127
03:43:38,100 --> 03:43:41,500
Whatever you remember from the 
night, At first, there's almost 

4128
03:43:41,500 --> 03:43:43,200
nothing. 
Dreamed. 

4129
03:43:43,200 --> 03:43:46,300
Something about water. 
Is a typical entry for the first

4130
03:43:46,300 --> 03:43:48,600
week. 
Felt to anxious about something.

4131
03:43:48,600 --> 03:43:52,800
Can't remember what? 
Fragments of conversation with 

4132
03:43:52,800 --> 03:43:55,500
someone. 
I didn't recognize the gaps of 

4133
03:43:55,500 --> 03:43:58,500
frustrating, you know. 
You must have dreamed. 

4134
03:43:58,500 --> 03:44:03,000
Everyone dreams multiple times 
each night but the memories slip

4135
03:44:03,000 --> 03:44:07,200
away like smoke leaving, only 
the faintest traces but you 

4136
03:44:07,200 --> 03:44:11,400
persist and gradually something 
interesting happens, the habit 

4137
03:44:11,400 --> 03:44:14,800
of paying attention of telling 
yourself that dreams matter, 

4138
03:44:14,800 --> 03:44:17,800
enough to record seems to 
strengthen the bridge between 

4139
03:44:17,800 --> 03:44:21,800
sleeping and waking memory. 
After two weeks, your writing 

4140
03:44:21,800 --> 03:44:25,200
full sentences after a month, 
you're feeling half a page. 

4141
03:44:25,200 --> 03:44:29,300
Most morning, sometimes more The
dreams aren't necessarily more 

4142
03:44:29,300 --> 03:44:31,300
Vivid. 
They're just more accessible 

4143
03:44:31,300 --> 03:44:35,300
easier to remember and their 
details more stable in memory 

4144
03:44:36,100 --> 03:44:40,400
You start noticing patterns, you
have recurring dreams signs 

4145
03:44:40,400 --> 03:44:44,700
things that happen in dreams, 
but never in Waking Life. your 

4146
03:44:44,700 --> 03:44:47,200
frequently back in your 
childhood home, even though you 

4147
03:44:47,208 --> 03:44:51,700
have not lived there in years, 
Often can't find your car in 

4148
03:44:51,700 --> 03:44:53,600
parking. 
Lots or you discover, you can 

4149
03:44:53,600 --> 03:44:56,900
breathe underwater or you're 
trying to read, but the text 

4150
03:44:56,900 --> 03:45:01,400
keeps changing These repeated 
elements of valuable because 

4151
03:45:01,400 --> 03:45:05,000
they can become triggers for 
Lucidity dream signs. 

4152
03:45:05,000 --> 03:45:07,100
That might help you recognize 
when your dreaming. 

4153
03:45:08,000 --> 03:45:10,600
Next, you add reality. 
Testing to your practice. 

4154
03:45:10,600 --> 03:45:13,800
This technique feels deeply 
silly, at first, asking 

4155
03:45:13,800 --> 03:45:16,900
yourself. 
Am I Dreaming while you're 

4156
03:45:16,900 --> 03:45:21,400
obviously undeniably awake? 
You're sitting at your desk or 

4157
03:45:21,400 --> 03:45:24,800
drinking coffee or standing in 
line at the grocery store or 

4158
03:45:24,800 --> 03:45:28,100
walking your dog in the park. 
Of course you're not dreaming, 

4159
03:45:28,100 --> 03:45:31,800
everything is completely normal 
and consistent. 

4160
03:45:31,800 --> 03:45:35,300
And clearly real. 
But you do the tests anyway, 

4161
03:45:35,300 --> 03:45:38,500
building The Habit that might 
eventually carry over into 

4162
03:45:38,500 --> 03:45:41,200
sleep. 
You check your hands looking for

4163
03:45:41,200 --> 03:45:45,000
the kind of anomalies people 
report in dreams wrong numbers 

4164
03:45:45,000 --> 03:45:48,600
of fingers, stranger appearance 
shifting form. 

4165
03:45:49,500 --> 03:45:53,200
You try to read text twice, 
looking at a sign or label 

4166
03:45:53,200 --> 03:45:56,200
looking away and looking back to
confirm. 

4167
03:45:56,200 --> 03:45:59,800
It hasn't changed you attempt to
remember how you got to where 

4168
03:45:59,800 --> 03:46:02,700
you are checking, whether your 
memory of the past few minutes 

4169
03:46:02,700 --> 03:46:07,000
is clear and logical or vague 
and discontinuous. you set 

4170
03:46:07,000 --> 03:46:09,900
alarms on your phone to remind 
you to reality tests throughout 

4171
03:46:09,900 --> 03:46:14,000
the day at first, you need these
reminders, but gradually the 

4172
03:46:14,000 --> 03:46:17,100
questioning becomes more 
automatic you find yourself 

4173
03:46:17,100 --> 03:46:20,800
spontaneously checking reality 
during transitions, when you 

4174
03:46:20,800 --> 03:46:24,500
enter a new room when you start 
a new activity or whenever 

4175
03:46:24,500 --> 03:46:29,600
something slightly unexpected 
happened, The Habit is forming 

4176
03:46:29,600 --> 03:46:34,000
embedding itself into your daily
awareness, patterns, the 

4177
03:46:34,000 --> 03:46:38,100
technique that finally works for
you is called mild mnemonic 

4178
03:46:38,100 --> 03:46:41,700
induction of lucid dreams. 
It was developed by Stephen 

4179
03:46:41,700 --> 03:46:44,100
Laberge. 
The same researcher who 

4180
03:46:44,108 --> 03:46:47,400
conducted the eye movement 
experiments and it's elegantly. 

4181
03:46:47,400 --> 03:46:51,200
Simple in concept, though, it 
requires practice to execute 

4182
03:46:51,200 --> 03:46:55,400
well, As you're falling asleep 
at night, you repeat a simple 

4183
03:46:55,400 --> 03:46:58,400
phrase to yourself the next time
I'm Dreaming. 

4184
03:46:58,400 --> 03:47:02,400
I'll remember I'm dreaming. 
You Don't Force It Or 

4185
03:47:02,400 --> 03:47:05,500
concentrate hard. 
That would keep you awake. 

4186
03:47:06,400 --> 03:47:08,600
You just let it cycle gently 
through your mind. 

4187
03:47:08,600 --> 03:47:12,100
Acquired intention in your 
planting in your Consciousness 

4188
03:47:12,100 --> 03:47:16,000
as it transitions towards sleep.
Sometimes you visualize 

4189
03:47:16,000 --> 03:47:20,700
recognizing a dream, Imagining 
the moment of a wenaas, though. 

4190
03:47:20,700 --> 03:47:23,300
You keep this light and relaxed 
rather than intense. 

4191
03:47:24,300 --> 03:47:27,000
The first two weeks of 
practicing mild produced nothing

4192
03:47:27,000 --> 03:47:29,800
obvious though. 
You do notice your dream recall 

4193
03:47:29,800 --> 03:47:33,200
continuing to improve your 
dreams, becoming slightly more 

4194
03:47:33,200 --> 03:47:35,900
Vivid? 
Third week, you have a dream 

4195
03:47:35,900 --> 03:47:38,700
where you briefly wander, if you
might be dreaming though, you 

4196
03:47:38,700 --> 03:47:41,600
decide you're not and continue 
with the dream narrative. 

4197
03:47:41,600 --> 03:47:46,200
It's progress, even though it 
doesn't result in full Lucidity.

4198
03:47:46,200 --> 03:47:50,100
At least the question arose. 
And at least some part of your 

4199
03:47:50,100 --> 03:47:52,400
sleeping mind was paying 
attention to the possibility. 

4200
03:47:53,400 --> 03:47:57,900
And then on the 23rd night of 
practice, it happens, you're 

4201
03:47:57,900 --> 03:48:00,100
dreaming that you're back in 
your childhood home, which 

4202
03:48:00,100 --> 03:48:02,700
should be an immediate dream 
sign since you know, you don't 

4203
03:48:02,700 --> 03:48:05,500
live there anymore. 
You're in the kitchen and the 

4204
03:48:05,500 --> 03:48:08,200
layout is wrong. 
The refrigerator is on the 

4205
03:48:08,200 --> 03:48:10,900
opposite wall from where it 
should be and there's a door 

4206
03:48:10,900 --> 03:48:13,500
that leads directly outside when
this should be a hallway. 

4207
03:48:14,800 --> 03:48:18,000
These inconsistencies don't 
immediately register a 

4208
03:48:18,000 --> 03:48:21,400
significant protected by that 
fog of dream logic that makes 

4209
03:48:21,400 --> 03:48:25,400
impossibilities seem reasonable.
But then you notice your hands 

4210
03:48:25,400 --> 03:48:28,200
as you're reaching for something
and they look strange. 

4211
03:48:29,000 --> 03:48:32,600
Slightly transparent may be or 
is it that they're flickering 

4212
03:48:32,600 --> 03:48:35,400
slightly unstable in a way hand 
shouldn't be? 

4213
03:48:36,300 --> 03:48:39,000
The strangeness triggers the 
question you've been training 

4214
03:48:39,000 --> 03:48:43,600
yourself to ask Am I Dreaming? 
You look at your hands more 

4215
03:48:43,600 --> 03:48:46,300
carefully. 
The fingers are too long or 

4216
03:48:46,300 --> 03:48:49,600
maybe your palms are too narrow.
The proportions are somehow 

4217
03:48:49,600 --> 03:48:52,600
wrong in ways. 
You can't quite articulate you 

4218
03:48:52,600 --> 03:48:58,600
try counting your fingers and 
the number keeps shifting 5 6 4.

4219
03:49:02,200 --> 03:49:04,900
Each time you try to focus on a 
specific finger. 

4220
03:49:04,900 --> 03:49:08,600
It seems to split or merge or 
simply refuse to be counted 

4221
03:49:08,600 --> 03:49:11,900
consistently. 
The recognition arrives with 

4222
03:49:11,900 --> 03:49:15,200
remarkable gentleness without 
the shock or surprise you 

4223
03:49:15,200 --> 03:49:18,200
expected. 
Oh I'm dreaming. 

4224
03:49:19,000 --> 03:49:23,600
It feels natural obvious even 
like remembering something you 

4225
03:49:23,600 --> 03:49:26,400
temporarily forgotten rather 
than discovering something new. 

4226
03:49:27,600 --> 03:49:31,000
Childhood kitchen remains around
you perfectly solid and 

4227
03:49:31,000 --> 03:49:33,900
detailed. 
The wrongly placed refrigerator 

4228
03:49:33,900 --> 03:49:37,900
is still there, The Impossible 
door is still there but your 

4229
03:49:37,900 --> 03:49:39,500
relationship to all of it has 
shifted. 

4230
03:49:39,500 --> 03:49:42,400
You understand? 
Now that you're lying in your 

4231
03:49:42,400 --> 03:49:47,500
actual bed, in your actual 
apartment, safely asleep, This 

4232
03:49:47,500 --> 03:49:52,000
kitchen exists only in your 
mind, constructed from memories 

4233
03:49:52,000 --> 03:49:55,500
and Imagination having no 
physical reality anywhere. 

4234
03:49:56,400 --> 03:49:58,400
You've read enough to know not 
to get to excited. 

4235
03:49:58,400 --> 03:50:02,800
Not to let strong emotions 
destabilize the dream you stay 

4236
03:50:02,800 --> 03:50:04,600
calm. 
Maintaining that gentle 

4237
03:50:04,600 --> 03:50:07,000
awareness simply observing. 
This state. 

4238
03:50:07,000 --> 03:50:10,900
You've worked so hard to achieve
the dream remains stable around.

4239
03:50:10,900 --> 03:50:14,000
You, you can feel both your 
dream body standing in the 

4240
03:50:14,000 --> 03:50:17,600
kitchen and distantly your 
actual body in bed. 

4241
03:50:18,500 --> 03:50:21,200
The jewel aware. 
This is strange and fascinating 

4242
03:50:21,200 --> 03:50:23,900
like being in two places 
simultaneously. 

4243
03:50:23,900 --> 03:50:27,900
You try the simplest form of 
dream control. 

4244
03:50:27,900 --> 03:50:30,700
You've read about Changing 
something small. 

4245
03:50:31,700 --> 03:50:36,100
You look at the refrigerator 
white standard nothing special 

4246
03:50:36,100 --> 03:50:40,200
and a side. 
It should be red bright fire 

4247
03:50:40,200 --> 03:50:43,100
engine red, you look away toward
the window holding that 

4248
03:50:43,100 --> 03:50:44,800
intention lightly. 
Then look back at the 

4249
03:50:44,800 --> 03:50:47,000
refrigerator. 
It's changed. 

4250
03:50:47,700 --> 03:50:51,400
Not quite the brilliant red, you
visualized more of a brick red 

4251
03:50:51,400 --> 03:50:55,700
darker and less Vivid. 
But it's definitely red instead 

4252
03:50:55,700 --> 03:50:58,800
of white. 
This small success fills you 

4253
03:50:58,800 --> 03:51:02,200
with quiet satisfaction. 
You've influenced the dream 

4254
03:51:02,200 --> 03:51:05,900
through simple intention. 
You're not just observing this 

4255
03:51:05,900 --> 03:51:09,400
altered state of consciousness 
your participating in it 

4256
03:51:09,400 --> 03:51:13,800
shaping. 
It all be it in modest ways, you

4257
03:51:13,800 --> 03:51:16,600
spend the rest of the dream, 
maybe two or three minutes 

4258
03:51:16,600 --> 03:51:18,400
though. 
Time is hard to judge and dreams

4259
03:51:18,400 --> 03:51:21,600
simply exploring. 
You walk through the house, 

4260
03:51:21,600 --> 03:51:26,000
noting how it simultaneously 
familiar and strange how your 

4261
03:51:26,000 --> 03:51:30,000
sleeping mind has reconstructed 
it in perfectly mixing memories 

4262
03:51:30,000 --> 03:51:33,100
from different time periods. 
Adding elements that never 

4263
03:51:33,100 --> 03:51:37,000
existed and creating a composite
version rather than a thoughtful

4264
03:51:37,000 --> 03:51:40,300
reproduction. 
When you try to leave through 

4265
03:51:40,300 --> 03:51:42,800
the impossible door, you find 
yourself in a garden that 

4266
03:51:42,800 --> 03:51:45,800
existed to completely different 
house from your childhood. 

4267
03:51:46,800 --> 03:51:50,700
Dream geography, follows its own
rules Unbound by physical 

4268
03:51:50,700 --> 03:51:53,300
reality. 
You accept this without 

4269
03:51:53,300 --> 03:51:57,100
confusion or concern? 
Simply noting it as an 

4270
03:51:57,100 --> 03:51:58,900
interesting feature of how 
dreams work. 

4271
03:51:59,700 --> 03:52:03,100
The Lucidity ends when you make 
the mistake of thinking too hard

4272
03:52:03,100 --> 03:52:05,400
about it. 
Wondering how long you've been 

4273
03:52:05,400 --> 03:52:08,700
Lucid trying to estimate if 
you're breaking any personal 

4274
03:52:08,700 --> 03:52:11,300
records? 
the analytical thinking 

4275
03:52:11,300 --> 03:52:15,000
disrupts, the delicate balance 
of awareness and you slip back 

4276
03:52:15,000 --> 03:52:18,900
into ordinary dreaming the 
Clarity dissolving, like fog in 

4277
03:52:18,900 --> 03:52:21,900
sunlight. 
When you wake the next morning, 

4278
03:52:21,900 --> 03:52:23,900
you immediately reach for your 
dream journal. 

4279
03:52:23,900 --> 03:52:28,600
Capturing every detail while the
memory is still fresh, you 

4280
03:52:28,600 --> 03:52:32,400
remember the kitchen? 
The strange hands and the moment

4281
03:52:32,400 --> 03:52:35,700
of recognition. 
You remember changing the 

4282
03:52:35,700 --> 03:52:39,400
refrigerators color walking 
through the house and finding 

4283
03:52:39,400 --> 03:52:41,700
the garden from a different 
childhood home. 

4284
03:52:42,600 --> 03:52:46,400
Most importantly, you remember 
what it felt like that dual 

4285
03:52:46,400 --> 03:52:50,700
awareness that sense of being 
simultaneously asleep and awake 

4286
03:52:50,700 --> 03:52:55,600
dreaming and observing dreams. 
Over the following weeks, you 

4287
03:52:55,600 --> 03:52:59,300
have more lucid dreams. 
Not every night, not even most 

4288
03:52:59,300 --> 03:53:02,600
nights but with increasing 
frequency, as you can continue 

4289
03:53:02,600 --> 03:53:05,400
your practice. 
Each one teaches you something 

4290
03:53:05,400 --> 03:53:09,600
about how this state Works about
your own Consciousness and about

4291
03:53:09,600 --> 03:53:11,300
how it operates under altered 
conditions. 

4292
03:53:11,300 --> 03:53:14,700
You learn that strong emotions 
tend to wake you up. 

4293
03:53:14,708 --> 03:53:18,400
So you practice staying calm 
regardless of what happens in 

4294
03:53:18,408 --> 03:53:21,000
the dream. 
You learn that logical thinking 

4295
03:53:21,000 --> 03:53:24,300
can end the lucidity. 
So you stay present and 

4296
03:53:24,300 --> 03:53:26,400
observational rather than 
analytical. 

4297
03:53:27,300 --> 03:53:29,900
You learn that the dream 
responds to expectation. 

4298
03:53:30,500 --> 03:53:33,300
If you expect something to be 
difficult to usually is. 

4299
03:53:34,100 --> 03:53:36,600
But if you approach dream 
control with easy confidence. 

4300
03:53:37,500 --> 03:53:42,500
changes happen more smoothly you
discover personal variations in 

4301
03:53:42,500 --> 03:53:46,000
how the techniques work for you?
Looking away and back with 

4302
03:53:46,000 --> 03:53:48,600
intention works. 
Well for small changes, but not 

4303
03:53:48,600 --> 03:53:51,700
large ones. 
Spinning in the dream seems to 

4304
03:53:51,708 --> 03:53:55,200
reset things sometimes deepening
the lucidity. 

4305
03:53:56,300 --> 03:54:00,200
Sometimes providing scene 
changes rubbing your dream hands

4306
03:54:00,200 --> 03:54:03,900
together help stabilize the 
dream when it starting to fade. 

4307
03:54:04,800 --> 03:54:07,900
These your own discoveries 
technique that work for your 

4308
03:54:07,908 --> 03:54:11,200
particular mind, even though 
they might not work the same way

4309
03:54:11,200 --> 03:54:14,900
for others most importantly you 
learn that lucid dreaming isn't 

4310
03:54:14,900 --> 03:54:17,700
really about control in the way.
You initially imagined. 

4311
03:54:17,700 --> 03:54:22,000
It's not about treating dreams 
as virtual reality playgrounds 

4312
03:54:22,000 --> 03:54:25,200
where you can do whatever you 
want without consequences. 

4313
03:54:26,100 --> 03:54:29,400
The most profound experiences 
come not from manipulating the 

4314
03:54:29,400 --> 03:54:33,800
dream, but from Simply being 
present in it fully conscious in

4315
03:54:33,800 --> 03:54:38,400
this altered state observing how
your mind creates entire worlds 

4316
03:54:38,400 --> 03:54:43,900
from memory and Imagination. 
You start using lucid dreams for

4317
03:54:43,900 --> 03:54:47,000
purposes Beyond just having 
interesting experiences. 

4318
03:54:48,000 --> 03:54:50,400
When you're worried about a 
difficult conversation you need 

4319
03:54:50,408 --> 03:54:54,000
to have you rehearse it in a 
lucid dream trying different 

4320
03:54:54,000 --> 03:54:56,700
approaches practicing staying 
calm. 

4321
03:54:57,600 --> 03:55:00,800
When you're stuck on a creative 
project you bring the problem 

4322
03:55:00,800 --> 03:55:04,500
into a lucid dream and let your 
sleeping mind approach it from 

4323
03:55:04,500 --> 03:55:07,300
unusual angles Making 
Connections. 

4324
03:55:07,300 --> 03:55:11,100
You wouldn't think of while away
you use lucid dreams to face 

4325
03:55:11,100 --> 03:55:14,900
fears and safe environments your
anxious about public speaking. 

4326
03:55:14,900 --> 03:55:18,500
So in dreams you practice giving
presentations to dream 

4327
03:55:18,500 --> 03:55:22,100
audience's learning to stay calm
when the old Panic starts to 

4328
03:55:22,100 --> 03:55:24,500
rise. 
The practice doesn't eliminate 

4329
03:55:24,500 --> 03:55:28,500
the waking anxiety, but it helps
giving you a space to work with 

4330
03:55:28,500 --> 03:55:32,100
the fear when the stakes aren't 
real and sometimes you use lucid

4331
03:55:32,100 --> 03:55:36,200
dreams for Pure exploration and 
wonder Flying through impossible

4332
03:55:36,200 --> 03:55:39,900
Landscapes visiting places, 
you've never been and 

4333
03:55:39,900 --> 03:55:42,900
experiencing Sensations that 
have no waking equivalent. 

4334
03:55:43,700 --> 03:55:47,700
You swim through the air like 
water walk on clouds that 

4335
03:55:47,700 --> 03:55:51,900
support your weight and visit 
Mars or Ancient Rome or entirely

4336
03:55:51,900 --> 03:55:56,100
imaginary locations, constructed
from your mind's own creativity.

4337
03:55:57,400 --> 03:56:00,600
But always underneath the 
specific content, there's that 

4338
03:56:00,600 --> 03:56:03,100
fundamental fascination with the
state itself. 

4339
03:56:04,000 --> 03:56:07,200
The fact that you can be aware 
while asleep, the strange 

4340
03:56:07,200 --> 03:56:10,400
divided Consciousness, where 
your simultaneously dreaming and

4341
03:56:10,400 --> 03:56:14,000
knowing your dreaming The way 
this reveals something essential

4342
03:56:14,000 --> 03:56:16,700
about the flexibility and 
layered nature of awareness 

4343
03:56:16,700 --> 03:56:21,200
about how Consciousness isn't a 
simple binary but a spectrum of 

4344
03:56:21,200 --> 03:56:23,000
different states and 
configurations. 

4345
03:56:23,900 --> 03:56:26,300
You're not among or a 
philosopher or a scientist, 

4346
03:56:26,300 --> 03:56:29,600
you're just a person who has 
learned to pay attention to an 

4347
03:56:29,600 --> 03:56:32,700
aspect of experience that most 
people ignore or dismiss. 

4348
03:56:33,700 --> 03:56:36,200
But in doing. 
So you've discovered a whole 

4349
03:56:36,200 --> 03:56:39,700
domain of Consciousness to 
explore a laboratory. 

4350
03:56:39,700 --> 03:56:42,600
Within your own mind where you 
can investigate awareness, 

4351
03:56:42,600 --> 03:56:47,200
memory perception and the nature
of self through direct 

4352
03:56:47,200 --> 03:56:50,800
experience. 
You'll in bed tonight, in 

4353
03:56:50,800 --> 03:56:54,000
whatever city or town, you call 
home, and your connected to 

4354
03:56:54,000 --> 03:56:57,300
something, ancient and strange 
that reaches back, tens of 

4355
03:56:57,300 --> 03:57:01,200
thousands of years. 
As you drift towards sleep, your

4356
03:57:01,200 --> 03:57:03,800
participating in a quiet 
revolution in human 

4357
03:57:03,800 --> 03:57:07,300
understanding. 
The gradual discovery of how to 

4358
03:57:07,300 --> 03:57:11,000
maintain Consciousness through 
the transition into dreams, how 

4359
03:57:11,000 --> 03:57:15,300
to become aware within sleep and
how to explore the Landscapes, 

4360
03:57:15,300 --> 03:57:19,500
your mind creates every night. 
Story of how humans learn to 

4361
03:57:19,500 --> 03:57:23,300
control their dreams is really 
the story of how humans learn to

4362
03:57:23,300 --> 03:57:29,000
understand Consciousness itself.
It's flexibility its layers and 

4363
03:57:29,000 --> 03:57:33,700
its capacity for awareness, even
in radically Altered States From

4364
03:57:33,700 --> 03:57:36,500
those first cave, dwellers, who 
sought no firm boundary between 

4365
03:57:36,500 --> 03:57:40,100
sleeping and waking who ran with
painted animals through 

4366
03:57:40,100 --> 03:57:43,900
impossible, grasslands through 
centuries of Egyptian, sleep 

4367
03:57:43,900 --> 03:57:46,900
temples and Greek, philosophers 
recording their Visions. 

4368
03:57:46,900 --> 03:57:50,000
Through Tibetan Monks, 
practicing recognition and 

4369
03:57:50,000 --> 03:57:54,400
medieval Mystics experiencing 
spontaneous lucidity Through 

4370
03:57:54,400 --> 03:57:57,500
Enlightenment, scientists 
systematically observing their 

4371
03:57:57,500 --> 03:57:59,900
own sleeping, mine's, and modern
researchers. 

4372
03:57:59,900 --> 03:58:03,100
Finally, proving the Phenomenon 
with objective measurements. 

4373
03:58:03,900 --> 03:58:06,900
People have been fascinated by 
this nightly transformational. 

4374
03:58:06,900 --> 03:58:10,400
We all undergo. 
The techniques of being refined 

4375
03:58:10,400 --> 03:58:14,900
and systematized over this vast 
sweep of time, ancient Egyptians

4376
03:58:14,900 --> 03:58:18,400
discovered that environment and 
intention could influence dreams

4377
03:58:18,400 --> 03:58:20,500
though. 
They interpreted this through 

4378
03:58:20,500 --> 03:58:24,700
theological Frameworks, Tibetan 
Monks develop sophisticated 

4379
03:58:24,700 --> 03:58:27,600
practices for maintaining 
awareness during sleep, 

4380
03:58:27,600 --> 03:58:31,400
understanding lucid dreaming as 
preparation for death. 

4381
03:58:31,400 --> 03:58:35,900
And as a demonstration, that all
experience is fundamentally mind

4382
03:58:35,900 --> 03:58:38,300
created. 
Greek and later European 

4383
03:58:38,300 --> 03:58:41,100
philosophers, recognize that 
paying attention to dreams, 

4384
03:58:41,100 --> 03:58:44,800
change the dreams themselves 
that the act of observation 

4385
03:58:44,800 --> 03:58:46,000
influence. 
What was observed? 

4386
03:58:47,000 --> 03:58:50,200
Modern sleep science has 
demystified lucid dreaming while

4387
03:58:50,200 --> 03:58:54,000
also confirming its reality. 
We know now that it occurs 

4388
03:58:54,000 --> 03:58:58,100
primarily during REM sleep, when
brain activity is similar to 

4389
03:58:58,108 --> 03:59:00,000
waking, but the body is 
paralyzed. 

4390
03:59:00,000 --> 03:59:03,300
We know that certain brain 
regions associated with 

4391
03:59:03,300 --> 03:59:06,500
self-awareness and working 
memory, become more active 

4392
03:59:06,500 --> 03:59:09,000
during lucid dreams than during 
ordinary dreams. 

4393
03:59:09,000 --> 03:59:13,100
We know that it can be trained. 
Systematically certain 

4394
03:59:13,100 --> 03:59:16,700
technique's, reliably increase 
the frequency of lucid dreams 

4395
03:59:16,700 --> 03:59:20,500
and that individual differences 
exist, but most people can learn

4396
03:59:20,500 --> 03:59:25,000
to some degree, but beneath all 
the scientific understanding the

4397
03:59:25,000 --> 03:59:30,100
fundamental experience remains 
what its always been that moment

4398
03:59:30,100 --> 03:59:34,900
of recognition within a dream 
that strange Jewel, awareness of

4399
03:59:34,900 --> 03:59:38,700
being a sleep and knowing it 
that sense of Consciousness 

4400
03:59:38,700 --> 03:59:41,700
operating in an altered mode, 
where the usual rules don't 

4401
03:59:41,700 --> 03:59:44,700
apply. 
What's changed dramatically as 

4402
03:59:44,700 --> 03:59:49,000
accessibility? 
For most of human history, lucid

4403
03:59:49,000 --> 03:59:52,300
dreaming was either accidental 
or required dedication to 

4404
03:59:52,300 --> 03:59:56,900
specialized practices months in 
monasteries apprenticeship. 

4405
03:59:56,900 --> 04:00:00,200
To experienced teachers, and 
elaborate rituals and 

4406
04:00:00,200 --> 04:00:04,200
preparations. 
The knowledge was limited often 

4407
04:00:04,200 --> 04:00:07,400
kept secret and sometimes 
considered dangerous or 

4408
04:00:07,400 --> 04:00:10,300
heretical. 
Only a relative handful of 

4409
04:00:10,300 --> 04:00:13,800
people ever learn these 
techniques or even knew they 

4410
04:00:13,800 --> 04:00:17,100
existed. now, the information is
available to anyone with 

4411
04:00:17,100 --> 04:00:21,700
internet access Techniques that 
Tibetan Monks once guarded as a 

4412
04:00:21,700 --> 04:00:25,500
advanced meditation, practices 
can be learned from websites and

4413
04:00:25,500 --> 04:00:29,200
YouTube videos. 
The systemic approaches that 

4414
04:00:29,200 --> 04:00:30,800
early scientists developed 
through. 

4415
04:00:30,800 --> 04:00:34,900
Painstaking self-observation 
have been refined and simplified

4416
04:00:34,900 --> 04:00:38,300
into methods that work for most 
people willing to put in the 

4417
04:00:38,300 --> 04:00:41,600
effort. 
The barrier to entry has dropped

4418
04:00:41,600 --> 04:00:45,800
from years of dedicated practice
under expert guidance to a few 

4419
04:00:45,800 --> 04:00:49,900
weeks of consistent effort. 
Following clear instructions You

4420
04:00:49,900 --> 04:00:52,300
don't need to be spiritually 
gifted or intellectually 

4421
04:00:52,300 --> 04:00:54,900
exceptional. 
You don't need expensive 

4422
04:00:54,900 --> 04:00:56,800
equipment or professional 
guidance. 

4423
04:00:56,800 --> 04:01:01,400
You just need patience 
consistently and genuine 

4424
04:01:01,400 --> 04:01:03,200
curiosity about your own 
consciousness. 

4425
04:01:04,400 --> 04:01:06,500
Keep a dream journal writing 
down. 

4426
04:01:06,500 --> 04:01:09,800
Whatever you remember every 
morning training your mind to 

4427
04:01:09,800 --> 04:01:12,700
maintain that bridge between 
sleeping and waking memory. 

4428
04:01:13,900 --> 04:01:17,200
Test reality during the day 
building the habit of 

4429
04:01:17,200 --> 04:01:20,600
questioning your State of 
Consciousness creating a pattern

4430
04:01:20,600 --> 04:01:23,100
that will eventually carry over 
into dreams. 

4431
04:01:24,200 --> 04:01:28,400
Set gentle intentions as you 
fall asleep not forcing or 

4432
04:01:28,400 --> 04:01:31,000
straining. 
But simply planting the seed of 

4433
04:01:31,000 --> 04:01:34,700
awareness in your mind as it 
transitions towards sleep. 

4434
04:01:35,800 --> 04:01:39,400
Notice the moments between 
waking and sleeping paying 

4435
04:01:39,400 --> 04:01:42,600
attention to what Consciousness 
feels like during that liminal 

4436
04:01:42,600 --> 04:01:45,700
transition. 
The results vary considerably 

4437
04:01:45,700 --> 04:01:49,300
between individuals and this 
variation is normal and 

4438
04:01:49,300 --> 04:01:52,500
perfectly fine. 
Some people have their first 

4439
04:01:52,500 --> 04:01:55,300
lucid dream within days of 
starting practice. 

4440
04:01:56,200 --> 04:02:00,600
The recognition comes easily 
almost naturally as if they'd 

4441
04:02:00,600 --> 04:02:03,400
always have the capacity but 
simply needed permission to 

4442
04:02:03,400 --> 04:02:06,600
notice it. 
Others practice diligently for 

4443
04:02:06,600 --> 04:02:08,600
months before achieving 
clearance. 

4444
04:02:09,800 --> 04:02:12,700
Some find that lucid dreams 
happen spontaneously and 

4445
04:02:12,700 --> 04:02:15,100
frequently once they start 
paying attention to their dream 

4446
04:02:15,100 --> 04:02:17,800
life. 
Others have occasional Lucid 

4447
04:02:17,800 --> 04:02:21,000
moments but never develop 
reliable control or sustained 

4448
04:02:21,000 --> 04:02:23,200
awareness. 
These differences, don't 

4449
04:02:23,200 --> 04:02:25,200
indicate failure or lack of 
ability. 

4450
04:02:26,100 --> 04:02:28,400
They reflect the natural 
variation in human 

4451
04:02:28,400 --> 04:02:31,200
consciousness. 
The fact that people's minds 

4452
04:02:31,200 --> 04:02:34,400
work differently respond to 
different techniques and have 

4453
04:02:34,400 --> 04:02:37,800
different Baseline Tendencies 
towards self-reflection during 

4454
04:02:37,800 --> 04:02:40,600
sleep. 
The goal isn't to become some 

4455
04:02:40,600 --> 04:02:44,500
kind of lucid dreaming expert 
logging hundreds of controlled 

4456
04:02:44,500 --> 04:02:46,700
dreams and mastering Advanced 
Techniques. 

4457
04:02:47,400 --> 04:02:51,600
The goal is simply to explore 
this aspect of Consciousness to 

4458
04:02:51,600 --> 04:02:53,400
learn what your particular mind 
does. 

4459
04:02:53,400 --> 04:02:56,700
While you sleep and to discover 
what is possible for you 

4460
04:02:56,700 --> 04:03:01,200
specifically. 
Tonight, as you approach sleep, 

4461
04:03:01,200 --> 04:03:03,300
you might hold a gentle question
in mind. 

4462
04:03:03,300 --> 04:03:08,400
What will I dream about or 
perhaps will I recognize when I 

4463
04:03:08,400 --> 04:03:11,500
am dreaming? 
The specific question matters, 

4464
04:03:11,500 --> 04:03:14,000
less than the attitude of 
curious attention. 

4465
04:03:14,000 --> 04:03:16,700
It represents you're not 
demanding anything. 

4466
04:03:16,700 --> 04:03:20,500
From your sleeping mind, not 
forcing awareness or control. 

4467
04:03:20,500 --> 04:03:24,400
You're simply leaving the door, 
open creating space for 

4468
04:03:24,400 --> 04:03:26,900
recognition to arise naturally, 
if it will. 

4469
04:03:27,800 --> 04:03:31,200
The question floats in your mind
as your breathing slows and 

4470
04:03:31,200 --> 04:03:35,800
deepens as your body releases, 
the tensions of the day, and as 

4471
04:03:35,800 --> 04:03:37,900
your thoughts begin to fragment 
and drift. 

4472
04:03:38,800 --> 04:03:42,300
Somewhere in that transition 
Consciousness shifts into a 

4473
04:03:42,300 --> 04:03:44,800
different mode. 
Your brain begins generating, 

4474
04:03:44,800 --> 04:03:49,200
the vivid imagery and narrative.
That we call dreams constructing

4475
04:03:49,200 --> 04:03:53,800
entire worlds from memories and 
Imagination creating experiences

4476
04:03:53,800 --> 04:03:57,900
that feel completely real even 
though their entirely mental 

4477
04:03:57,900 --> 04:04:01,400
constructions. 
Usually you'd experience these 

4478
04:04:01,400 --> 04:04:05,000
dreams without recognizing them 
for what they are immersed, in 

4479
04:04:05,000 --> 04:04:08,200
the narrative accepting 
impossibilities As Natural 

4480
04:04:08,200 --> 04:04:12,000
feeling emotions and making 
decisions within the dream 

4481
04:04:12,000 --> 04:04:13,500
logic. 
That seems reasonable at the 

4482
04:04:13,500 --> 04:04:16,200
time but would make no sense 
from waking perspective. 

4483
04:04:17,000 --> 04:04:20,900
This is the ordinary default 
mode of dreaming complete 

4484
04:04:20,900 --> 04:04:23,900
immersion without reflection 
Consciousness without 

4485
04:04:23,900 --> 04:04:28,200
self-awareness. but perhaps if 
you've been practicing the 

4486
04:04:28,200 --> 04:04:31,600
techniques, if you've built the 
habits of reality testing and 

4487
04:04:31,600 --> 04:04:35,100
dream journaling and gentle 
intention setting, Tonight might

4488
04:04:35,100 --> 04:04:39,000
be different perhaps, at some 
point in your dreams, something 

4489
04:04:39,000 --> 04:04:41,700
will trigger that question. 
Am I Dreaming? 

4490
04:04:42,700 --> 04:04:46,300
Perhaps you'll notice hands that
look wrong or text that changes 

4491
04:04:46,300 --> 04:04:49,700
when you look away and back or 
an impossibility that catches 

4492
04:04:49,700 --> 04:04:51,900
your attention despite the dream
fog. 

4493
04:04:52,500 --> 04:04:56,000
But you'll remember while asleep
to check whether you're sleeping

4494
04:04:56,000 --> 04:04:59,900
and if that recognition comes, 
if you have that moment of 

4495
04:04:59,900 --> 04:05:03,100
awareness where you understand, 
I'm Dreaming, you'll be joining 

4496
04:05:03,100 --> 04:05:05,900
a tradition as old as human 
consciousness itself. 

4497
04:05:05,900 --> 04:05:09,500
You'll be experiencing what 
shamans and Mystics and 

4498
04:05:09,508 --> 04:05:12,900
philosophers have experienced 
across cultures and centuries. 

4499
04:05:13,700 --> 04:05:16,800
You'll be touching the same 
mystery that ancient Egyptians 

4500
04:05:16,800 --> 04:05:20,900
explored in sleep temples. 
The Tibetan Monks cultivated 

4501
04:05:20,900 --> 04:05:24,400
through meditation and that 
modern scientists have finally 

4502
04:05:24,400 --> 04:05:29,400
proven and begun to understand 
The moment itself is simple and 

4503
04:05:29,400 --> 04:05:33,900
profound your simultaneously 
asleep and awake, unconscious 

4504
04:05:33,900 --> 04:05:37,900
and aware creating and observing
your own mental experience. 

4505
04:05:38,700 --> 04:05:43,300
Your Consciousness is examining 
itself mind watching mine and 

4506
04:05:43,300 --> 04:05:45,900
awareness turned back on its own
processes. 

4507
04:05:45,900 --> 04:05:49,400
It's a state that reveals 
something fundamental about the 

4508
04:05:49,400 --> 04:05:52,600
flexibility of human 
consciousness about how we're 

4509
04:05:52,600 --> 04:05:55,900
not locked into a single mode of
being but can shift and 

4510
04:05:55,900 --> 04:05:59,200
reconfigure can maintain 
awareness across different 

4511
04:05:59,200 --> 04:06:01,800
states and can be present and 
observant. 

4512
04:06:01,800 --> 04:06:05,600
Regardless of whether we are 
awake or asleep, The story of 

4513
04:06:05,600 --> 04:06:08,500
how humans learn to control 
their dreams isn't finished. 

4514
04:06:09,300 --> 04:06:12,000
It continues to night in 
bedrooms around the world. 

4515
04:06:12,000 --> 04:06:15,200
As people drift towards sleep 
with varying degrees of 

4516
04:06:15,208 --> 04:06:19,200
intention and awareness. 
Some approach sleepers. 

4517
04:06:19,200 --> 04:06:23,000
Always paying no attention to 
dreams letting Consciousness, 

4518
04:06:23,000 --> 04:06:26,000
shut down completely without 
reflection or observation. 

4519
04:06:26,900 --> 04:06:30,300
Others are practicing the 
techniques building the habits 

4520
04:06:30,300 --> 04:06:33,500
and gradually learning to 
maintain threads of awareness 

4521
04:06:33,500 --> 04:06:37,100
through the transition into 
sleep. your part of this ongoing

4522
04:06:37,100 --> 04:06:40,700
story now, Whether you have 
lucid dreams to night or next 

4523
04:06:40,700 --> 04:06:43,800
week, or next month, or never 
you've been introduced to the 

4524
04:06:43,800 --> 04:06:46,600
possibility. 
You know, now what previous 

4525
04:06:46,600 --> 04:06:50,500
generations, learned that 
Consciousness doesn't have to 

4526
04:06:50,500 --> 04:06:52,400
shut down completely during 
sleep. 

4527
04:06:52,400 --> 04:06:56,900
That awareness can persist in 
Altered forms that the boundary 

4528
04:06:56,900 --> 04:07:00,200
between waking and sleeping is 
more permeable than it appears. 

4529
04:07:01,300 --> 04:07:04,400
Lucid dreaming doesn't offer 
magic powers or access to 

4530
04:07:04,400 --> 04:07:08,200
Mystical Realms, despite what 
some enthusiastic Advocates 

4531
04:07:08,200 --> 04:07:11,500
might play, It doesn't let you 
predict the future or 

4532
04:07:11,500 --> 04:07:14,500
communicate with Spirits or 
access Cosmic knowledge hidden 

4533
04:07:14,500 --> 04:07:18,400
from waking consciousness. 
What it offers is, perhaps more 

4534
04:07:18,400 --> 04:07:22,300
valuable direct experience of 
how Consciousness Works. 

4535
04:07:22,300 --> 04:07:26,400
How awareness can persist and 
observe even while The Logical 

4536
04:07:26,400 --> 04:07:31,200
mind rests, How expectation and 
intention shape reality and 

4537
04:07:31,200 --> 04:07:34,800
profound ways how the boundary 
between self and experience is 

4538
04:07:34,800 --> 04:07:37,400
more fluid and constructed than 
we usually assume. 

4539
04:07:38,300 --> 04:07:40,900
When you become aware in a 
dream, you're not discovering 

4540
04:07:40,900 --> 04:07:43,000
some external truth about the 
universe. 

4541
04:07:43,000 --> 04:07:46,600
Your discovering, something 
about yourself, about how your 

4542
04:07:46,600 --> 04:07:50,000
own mind operates about the 
extraordinary capacity for 

4543
04:07:50,000 --> 04:07:54,500
Consciousness to fold, back on 
itself to watch itself to be 

4544
04:07:54,500 --> 04:07:57,300
simultaneously. 
The experience, and the Observer

4545
04:07:57,300 --> 04:08:01,600
of experience, this 
self-reflexive awareness, this 

4546
04:08:01,600 --> 04:08:04,900
consciousness of Consciousness 
is one of the most remarkable 

4547
04:08:04,900 --> 04:08:09,700
features of human cognition and 
lucid dreaming provides a unique

4548
04:08:09,700 --> 04:08:14,100
laboratory for exploring it. 
As you fall asleep, tonight, 

4549
04:08:14,100 --> 04:08:17,900
your participating in ancient 
investigation into the nature of

4550
04:08:17,900 --> 04:08:20,600
mind. 
Your sleeping brain will create 

4551
04:08:20,600 --> 04:08:24,300
worlds, process, memories work 
through problems. 

4552
04:08:24,300 --> 04:08:29,100
Rehearse scenarios and generate 
the Vivid experience as we call 

4553
04:08:29,100 --> 04:08:33,000
dreams. 
And perhaps with practice and 

4554
04:08:33,000 --> 04:08:36,500
patience, you'll find yourself 
aware within those worlds, 

4555
04:08:36,500 --> 04:08:41,700
conscious enough to observe to 
explore to Marvel at the 

4556
04:08:41,700 --> 04:08:44,300
extraordinary Machinery of your 
own Consciousness. 

4557
04:08:44,300 --> 04:08:49,500
The control part changing dreams
directing action creating 

4558
04:08:49,500 --> 04:08:52,500
specific scenarios. 
That's interesting but 

4559
04:08:52,500 --> 04:08:57,100
ultimately secondary The real 
gift of lucid dreaming is the 

4560
04:08:57,100 --> 04:09:00,400
awareness itself, the moment of 
recognition. 

4561
04:09:01,200 --> 04:09:03,800
The understanding that your 
dreaming, while the dream 

4562
04:09:03,800 --> 04:09:08,600
continues that strange peaceful 
state, where your simultaneously

4563
04:09:08,600 --> 04:09:13,800
asleep and awake creating and 
observing lost and found in the 

4564
04:09:13,800 --> 04:09:17,200
Landscapes of your own mind. 
Sweet dreams. 

4565
04:09:18,300 --> 04:09:20,700
And if you happen to find 
yourself, wondering whether your

4566
04:09:20,700 --> 04:09:24,300
dreaming while a dream unfolds 
around you, if you have that 

4567
04:09:24,300 --> 04:09:28,600
moment of questioning that brief
flicker of recognition, you'll 

4568
04:09:28,600 --> 04:09:31,300
be touching something profound. 
You'll be experiencing 

4569
04:09:31,300 --> 04:09:36,500
Consciousness examining itself, 
mind watching mind, when us 

4570
04:09:36,500 --> 04:09:38,300
turned back on its own 
processes. 

4571
04:09:38,300 --> 04:09:43,400
The answer to Am I Dreaming is 
no right now as you read this, 

4572
04:09:43,400 --> 04:09:48,100
you're awake engaged with text 
on a page or screen fully 

4573
04:09:48,100 --> 04:09:52,600
conscious in the ordinary waking
sense. but in a few hours, when 

4574
04:09:52,600 --> 04:09:55,800
sleep is claimed you and your 
mind is generating its nightly 

4575
04:09:55,800 --> 04:09:59,700
Visions, the answer might be 
different You might find 

4576
04:09:59,700 --> 04:10:02,300
yourself in an impossible 
landscape. 

4577
04:10:03,100 --> 04:10:06,600
Living through an impossible 
situation, and some part of your

4578
04:10:06,600 --> 04:10:08,900
mind, might remember to ask that
simple question. 

4579
04:10:09,800 --> 04:10:13,800
And in that moment of asking of 
genuinely questioning your State

4580
04:10:13,800 --> 04:10:17,400
of Consciousness, rather than 
automatically assuming you're 

4581
04:10:17,400 --> 04:10:19,600
awake, you might discover the 
answer is. 

4582
04:10:19,600 --> 04:10:23,100
Yes. 
Yes your dreaming and yes you're

4583
04:10:23,100 --> 04:10:26,800
aware of it and yes you can 
observe this strange State can 

4584
04:10:26,800 --> 04:10:31,000
explore it can learn from it. 
Can Marvel at the fact that 

4585
04:10:31,000 --> 04:10:35,300
Consciousness continues even 
when rationality sleeps your 

4586
04:10:35,300 --> 04:10:39,500
mind will create entire worlds 
to night. whether you're aware 

4587
04:10:39,500 --> 04:10:42,400
of the more lost in them, 
whether you recognize them as 

4588
04:10:42,400 --> 04:10:46,200
dreams or accept them as 
reality, whether you observe, or

4589
04:10:46,200 --> 04:10:50,100
simply experience, all of this 
happens, every time you sleep, 

4590
04:10:51,000 --> 04:10:53,600
The only question is, whether 
you'll remember, whether you'll 

4591
04:10:53,600 --> 04:10:57,200
know whether that spark of 
awareness will arise in the 

4592
04:10:57,200 --> 04:11:00,400
darkness and illuminate. 
The fact that your conscience 

4593
04:11:00,400 --> 04:11:03,600
even in sleep, The gift is 
available. 

4594
04:11:03,600 --> 04:11:08,100
The techniques work. 
The state is real and accessible

4595
04:11:08,100 --> 04:11:13,100
All That Remains is practice 
patience and that gentle 

4596
04:11:13,100 --> 04:11:16,500
curiosity about what lies behind
your closed eyes each night. 

4597
04:11:17,600 --> 04:11:21,000
Welcome to the dream. 
May you recognize it for what it

4598
04:11:21,000 --> 04:11:29,000
is. 
Welcome to a Time long before 

4599
04:11:29,000 --> 04:11:32,400
writing. 
Before cities before the named 

4600
04:11:32,400 --> 04:11:36,600
ages of History, you're stepping
into a world shaped by sunlight 

4601
04:11:36,600 --> 04:11:40,500
and Seasons where routines are 
older than memory and the land 

4602
04:11:40,500 --> 04:11:45,900
itself is your calendar here in 
these quiet Melania daily life 

4603
04:11:45,900 --> 04:11:48,700
unfolds in patterns. 
So familiar, they feel like 

4604
04:11:48,700 --> 04:11:51,800
breathing. 
You wake as light filters 

4605
04:11:51,800 --> 04:11:54,500
through the shelter opening the 
air is cool. 

4606
04:11:54,500 --> 04:11:59,200
But softening others are already
stirring adjusting covering and 

4607
04:11:59,200 --> 04:12:03,500
checking baskets from yesterday.
No one announces plans. 

4608
04:12:03,500 --> 04:12:07,700
Everyone already knows what the 
day requires you reach for your 

4609
04:12:07,700 --> 04:12:11,800
Gathering bag woven from plant 
fibers your hands know 

4610
04:12:11,800 --> 04:12:15,100
intimately. 
The weight of it across your 

4611
04:12:15,108 --> 04:12:18,800
shoulder feels, correct. 
Your feet understand the path 

4612
04:12:18,800 --> 04:12:21,900
before you choose it. 
This route has been walked for 

4613
04:12:21,900 --> 04:12:25,800
Generations worn Smooth by 
countless footsteps moving 

4614
04:12:25,800 --> 04:12:30,100
towards the same resources. 
The ground tells you what season

4615
04:12:30,100 --> 04:12:33,000
this is. 
Certain plants have vanished 

4616
04:12:33,000 --> 04:12:36,800
others are everywhere. 
You do not need to search for 

4617
04:12:36,800 --> 04:12:41,000
what grows where your memory 
holds Maps more detail than any 

4618
04:12:41,000 --> 04:12:45,000
drawing can capture that cluster
of roots near the flat stone. 

4619
04:12:45,000 --> 04:12:49,200
Those berry bushes pass the 
fallen tree the nut trees on the

4620
04:12:49,200 --> 04:12:51,400
slope where Morning Sun arrives 
first. 

4621
04:12:52,600 --> 04:12:56,500
You walk with two others 
sometimes three occasionally 

4622
04:12:56,500 --> 04:13:01,000
alone though rarely. 
Gathering is companionable work.

4623
04:13:01,800 --> 04:13:05,000
You move at the same Pace 
pausing when someone pauses 

4624
04:13:05,000 --> 04:13:09,200
bending when someone bends 
conversation happens in 

4625
04:13:09,200 --> 04:13:11,100
comfortable stretches and 
silences. 

4626
04:13:11,100 --> 04:13:14,700
No one feels obligated to fill 
every moment with words. 

4627
04:13:16,200 --> 04:13:19,400
First stop is a patch of greens.
You've harvested from since 

4628
04:13:19,400 --> 04:13:23,600
childhood your hands move 
through the leaves selecting 

4629
04:13:23,600 --> 04:13:29,400
without conscious thought to 
Young two tough to damage your 

4630
04:13:29,400 --> 04:13:31,200
fingers find the right ones 
automatically. 

4631
04:13:31,200 --> 04:13:35,300
You learned this by watching 
others by trying and by 

4632
04:13:35,300 --> 04:13:39,300
correcting yourself season after
season until it became instinct.

4633
04:13:40,700 --> 04:13:43,300
Everything you gather serves 
multiple purposes. 

4634
04:13:43,300 --> 04:13:47,000
These leaves can be eaten now or
dried for later. 

4635
04:13:47,000 --> 04:13:50,100
The stems can be twisted into 
cordage. 

4636
04:13:50,100 --> 04:13:54,700
Nothing is only one thing. 
Your basket fills slowly. 

4637
04:13:55,500 --> 04:13:59,100
steadily with a mixture 
determined by availability and 

4638
04:13:59,100 --> 04:14:02,900
familiarity rather than 
preference you cross a stream at

4639
04:14:02,900 --> 04:14:06,200
the shallow place the stones 
beneath the water are 

4640
04:14:06,200 --> 04:14:10,200
positioned, just so placed by 
hands or revealed by current 

4641
04:14:11,100 --> 04:14:14,100
Either way, they have been there
longer than you have been alive.

4642
04:14:14,100 --> 04:14:18,300
The Crossing is routine. 
Your feet know where to step 

4643
04:14:18,300 --> 04:14:22,000
without looking down. 
Past the stream, the landscape 

4644
04:14:22,000 --> 04:14:24,700
shifts. 
Different plants, grow here. 

4645
04:14:24,700 --> 04:14:28,400
Different materials can be found
you adjust your attention. 

4646
04:14:28,400 --> 04:14:31,400
Accordingly. 
This is birch bark territory. 

4647
04:14:31,400 --> 04:14:34,400
This is where clay deposits 
appear off to rain. 

4648
04:14:34,400 --> 04:14:37,900
This is where certain medicinal 
plants clustered near damp 

4649
04:14:37,900 --> 04:14:42,100
ground Time moves differently 
during Gathering, you do not 

4650
04:14:42,100 --> 04:14:45,700
count hours. 
You notice light in Stead the 

4651
04:14:45,700 --> 04:14:49,300
Sun reaches a certain angle 
Shadows Fall, a certain way, 

4652
04:14:49,300 --> 04:14:53,400
your body recognizes these 
markers without naming them when

4653
04:14:53,400 --> 04:14:56,400
your basket feels heavy enough, 
when the lights suggests midday 

4654
04:14:56,400 --> 04:15:00,000
approaching you turn back. 
The return Journey follows the 

4655
04:15:00,000 --> 04:15:03,500
same path your feet. 
Find the stream crossing without

4656
04:15:03,500 --> 04:15:08,900
hesitation you pause where you 
always pause at a spot where the

4657
04:15:08,900 --> 04:15:12,300
view opens and you can see the 
smoke from campfires rising in 

4658
04:15:12,300 --> 04:15:15,800
the distance. 
This pauses not necessary but it

4659
04:15:15,800 --> 04:15:18,800
is customary. 
A moment to shift the baskets 

4660
04:15:18,800 --> 04:15:22,500
weight to look toward home to 
let your mind settle into the 

4661
04:15:22,500 --> 04:15:25,200
transition from Gathering mode 
to returning mode. 

4662
04:15:25,900 --> 04:15:28,100
Others are arriving from 
different directions. 

4663
04:15:28,100 --> 04:15:31,700
Someone brings fish caught in, 
the shallows someone else, 

4664
04:15:31,700 --> 04:15:34,900
carries an arm load of Woody, 
stems for basket repairs. 

4665
04:15:36,000 --> 04:15:39,500
Few children trail behind their 
adults, holding smaller versions

4666
04:15:39,500 --> 04:15:42,200
of everything. 
They Gathering bags are lighter 

4667
04:15:42,200 --> 04:15:45,000
but they are learning the 
routes, the timing and the 

4668
04:15:45,000 --> 04:15:49,800
plants you set your basket down 
in the usual spot. the contents 

4669
04:15:49,800 --> 04:15:53,800
will be sorted, communally What 
you gathered is not solely yours

4670
04:15:53,800 --> 04:15:56,300
or others gathered is not solely
theirs. 

4671
04:15:56,300 --> 04:16:00,500
Everything becomes a shared 
resource distributed according 

4672
04:16:00,500 --> 04:16:03,400
to need and custom rather than 
individual claim. 

4673
04:16:04,300 --> 04:16:08,100
Some of the greens will be eaten
today, some will be on flat 

4674
04:16:08,100 --> 04:16:11,500
stones to dry in the Sun. 
The process requires no 

4675
04:16:11,500 --> 04:16:13,800
discussion. 
Everyone knows what happens 

4676
04:16:13,800 --> 04:16:15,600
next. 
Your hands. 

4677
04:16:15,600 --> 04:16:19,600
Join others in the Sorting the 
spraying and the gentle handling

4678
04:16:19,600 --> 04:16:23,100
of what the land is provided. 
Gathering happens. 

4679
04:16:23,100 --> 04:16:27,200
Every day that weather permits. 
Some days, yield abundance. 

4680
04:16:27,900 --> 04:16:31,300
Some days yield less neither 
causes alarm. 

4681
04:16:31,300 --> 04:16:34,400
The rhythms of availability are 
deeply understood. 

4682
04:16:35,300 --> 04:16:37,700
Scarcity. 
In one area means abundance in 

4683
04:16:37,700 --> 04:16:39,500
another. 
Its scarcity. 

4684
04:16:39,500 --> 04:16:41,500
This month means abundance next 
month. 

4685
04:16:42,200 --> 04:16:45,800
The land Cycles through its 
offerings and you cycle through 

4686
04:16:45,800 --> 04:16:49,200
the land. 
Your knowledge of plants 

4687
04:16:49,200 --> 04:16:53,000
extends, Beyond food. 
You recognize which leaves 

4688
04:16:53,000 --> 04:16:57,400
soothe skin irritation, which 
Roots settle stomach discomfort 

4689
04:16:57,400 --> 04:17:01,200
which bark can be chewed to 
ease, minor pain. 

4690
04:17:01,200 --> 04:17:04,600
This knowledge lives in your 
hands and memory rather than in 

4691
04:17:04,600 --> 04:17:08,000
words you learned it the same 
way you learned everything else 

4692
04:17:08,000 --> 04:17:11,900
through observation and 
repetition Gathering is not 

4693
04:17:11,900 --> 04:17:14,900
dramatic work. 
It does not provide stories of 

4694
04:17:14,900 --> 04:17:17,200
narrow escapes, or sudden, 
discoveries. 

4695
04:17:18,100 --> 04:17:21,400
It is quiet steady and deeply 
familiar. 

4696
04:17:22,400 --> 04:17:26,600
Your body moves through it with 
the ease of long practice your 

4697
04:17:26,600 --> 04:17:31,200
mind wanders, sometimes returns 
sometimes and needs no 

4698
04:17:31,200 --> 04:17:34,100
particular Focus to accomplish 
what needs accomplishing. 

4699
04:17:35,200 --> 04:17:37,800
The landscape you move through 
is not Wilderness to you. 

4700
04:17:37,800 --> 04:17:41,100
It is home with the specificity 
of long acquaintance. 

4701
04:17:41,100 --> 04:17:46,100
Every Landmark means something 
that Boulder marks the boundary 

4702
04:17:46,100 --> 04:17:50,000
between two types of terrain, 
That distinctive tree indicates 

4703
04:17:50,000 --> 04:17:53,100
the turn off to the clay 
deposits that rise. 

4704
04:17:53,100 --> 04:17:55,800
In the land means you're halfway
between camp and the far 

4705
04:17:55,800 --> 04:17:59,200
Gathering Grounds. 
You return to these places again

4706
04:17:59,200 --> 04:18:02,600
and again and across years. 
Seasons change, what grows? 

4707
04:18:02,600 --> 04:18:07,500
But the land itself remains 
steady the same rocks, the same 

4708
04:18:07,500 --> 04:18:11,800
water sources, the same routes 
worn, Smooth by footsteps. 

4709
04:18:12,600 --> 04:18:15,100
This repetition creates a deep 
sense of security. 

4710
04:18:16,200 --> 04:18:18,500
You are never lost because 
everywhere is known. 

4711
04:18:19,400 --> 04:18:23,000
Children, learn Gathering by 
being present, no one teaches in

4712
04:18:23,000 --> 04:18:26,800
the formal sense. 
Instead children watch imitate, 

4713
04:18:26,800 --> 04:18:30,300
try and adjust. 
They pick the wrong plant, 

4714
04:18:30,300 --> 04:18:34,500
sometimes their baskets remain 
light gradually over Year's 

4715
04:18:34,500 --> 04:18:37,600
their hands, learn what your 
hands know. the knowledge 

4716
04:18:37,600 --> 04:18:42,700
transfers, through proximity and
time rather than Construction As

4717
04:18:42,700 --> 04:18:47,800
the sun moves, past midday 
Gathering slows people drift 

4718
04:18:47,800 --> 04:18:51,800
back to camp in loose clusters. 
The work is not finished in the 

4719
04:18:51,808 --> 04:18:55,400
sense of completion. 
It simply pauses until tomorrow 

4720
04:18:55,400 --> 04:18:59,700
when it will resume exactly as 
it has today as it did yesterday

4721
04:18:59,700 --> 04:19:03,500
and as it will continue for as 
long as Seasons turn and plants 

4722
04:19:03,500 --> 04:19:08,500
grow and hands remember what to 
gather in the afternoon you 

4723
04:19:08,500 --> 04:19:12,000
settle into work that requires 
less movement and more patience.

4724
04:19:12,000 --> 04:19:15,100
Your hands are already reaching 
for the basket that needs 

4725
04:19:15,100 --> 04:19:18,100
attention. 
It's Rim has loosened the 

4726
04:19:18,100 --> 04:19:20,000
weaving has gaps where it should
be tight. 

4727
04:19:20,000 --> 04:19:21,700
This happens. 
Regularly. 

4728
04:19:21,700 --> 04:19:24,700
Everything made eventually needs
remaking. 

4729
04:19:25,500 --> 04:19:29,300
You sit on the ground in a spot 
where light falls well others 

4730
04:19:29,300 --> 04:19:31,900
sit nearby each focused on their
own repairs. 

4731
04:19:33,000 --> 04:19:36,200
Someone is smoothing a wooden 
digging tool someone else is 

4732
04:19:36,200 --> 04:19:38,400
reworking cordage. 
That is frayed. 

4733
04:19:39,100 --> 04:19:42,700
The atmosphere is quietly 
industrious people work steadily

4734
04:19:42,700 --> 04:19:46,800
without hurry repairing a basket
means understanding how it was 

4735
04:19:46,800 --> 04:19:49,300
made. 
Your fingers traced the weaving 

4736
04:19:49,300 --> 04:19:54,600
pattern reading it like language
over under around through. 

4737
04:19:55,800 --> 04:19:58,000
The pattern has been the same 
for longer than memory. 

4738
04:19:58,800 --> 04:20:01,900
You learned it by watching your 
Mother's Hands just as she 

4739
04:20:01,900 --> 04:20:04,800
learned by watching. 
Her mother's hands the knowledge

4740
04:20:04,800 --> 04:20:08,400
lives in muscle memory now. 
You separate the damaged fibers 

4741
04:20:08,400 --> 04:20:13,600
carefully noting is discarded 
that can be saved even worn 

4742
04:20:13,600 --> 04:20:17,300
pieces might be useful elsewhere
waste is not a concept that 

4743
04:20:17,300 --> 04:20:21,000
exists here everything serves 
until it truly cannot serve 

4744
04:20:21,000 --> 04:20:23,900
anymore and even then it's 
materials often become something

4745
04:20:23,900 --> 04:20:27,000
else. 
New fibers have been soaking in 

4746
04:20:27,000 --> 04:20:30,100
water since morning. 
They need to be pliable your 

4747
04:20:30,100 --> 04:20:33,600
hands test their flexibility 
knowing exactly how much give 

4748
04:20:33,600 --> 04:20:37,700
the material should have to dry 
and it will crack too wet and it

4749
04:20:37,700 --> 04:20:41,500
will stretch in correctly. 
The proper stage is something 

4750
04:20:41,500 --> 04:20:46,000
you recognize by feel. 
Relieved in requires completed 

4751
04:20:46,000 --> 04:20:48,300
tension, but not tense 
concentration. 

4752
04:20:48,300 --> 04:20:52,700
Your hands know what to do. 
They have done this many times 

4753
04:20:52,700 --> 04:21:00,000
the work becomes meditative over
under around through. the rhythm

4754
04:21:00,000 --> 04:21:03,700
is soothing your mind can wander
while your hands continue 

4755
04:21:03,700 --> 04:21:07,000
accurately. 
Nearby someone is working on a 

4756
04:21:07,008 --> 04:21:11,200
hide scraping it smooth with a 
stone tool the sound is steady 

4757
04:21:11,200 --> 04:21:14,300
and repetitive. 
Scraping hides takes hours. 

4758
04:21:14,300 --> 04:21:16,900
Sometimes days depending on size
and thickness. 

4759
04:21:18,000 --> 04:21:22,100
No one works on it continuously 
instead people work in shifts 

4760
04:21:22,100 --> 04:21:25,500
picking it up when their hands 
need a break from other tasks 

4761
04:21:25,500 --> 04:21:28,700
and setting it down when their 
arms Tire another person is 

4762
04:21:28,700 --> 04:21:33,700
repairing a garment. 
Seam has split the original sinu

4763
04:21:33,700 --> 04:21:36,800
stitching has worn through 
they're using an all made from 

4764
04:21:36,800 --> 04:21:40,100
bone creating new holes 
threading new sinew and pulling 

4765
04:21:40,100 --> 04:21:43,400
everything snug. 
The repair will be visible. 

4766
04:21:43,400 --> 04:21:45,700
If you look closely but 
visibility does not matter 

4767
04:21:45,700 --> 04:21:51,100
function matters clothes are not
replaced off often making new 

4768
04:21:51,100 --> 04:21:55,100
garments require substantial 
time and materials instead. 

4769
04:21:55,100 --> 04:22:00,400
Everything is repairs adjusted 
repaired again passed to someone

4770
04:22:00,400 --> 04:22:04,400
else and repair once more a 
single-high garment might be 

4771
04:22:04,400 --> 04:22:07,900
worn by three different people 
across many years accumulating 

4772
04:22:07,900 --> 04:22:10,100
patches and alterations that 
tell its history. 

4773
04:22:11,100 --> 04:22:14,000
You finish the basket rim, and 
begin tightening the body weave 

4774
04:22:14,000 --> 04:22:19,300
your fingers work systematically
section by section finding loose

4775
04:22:19,300 --> 04:22:22,900
spots and correcting them. 
This is satisfying work. 

4776
04:22:22,900 --> 04:22:25,300
You can see Improvement as you 
progress. 

4777
04:22:26,200 --> 04:22:30,200
The basket become sturdy again 
trustworthy again and ready for 

4778
04:22:30,200 --> 04:22:34,000
tomorrow's Gathering. 
Tools receive similar attention,

4779
04:22:34,000 --> 04:22:38,400
digging sticks, where down and 
must be resharpen or replaced 

4780
04:22:38,400 --> 04:22:41,900
grinding Stones. 
Develop grooves, from use and 

4781
04:22:41,900 --> 04:22:46,000
need resurfacing. 
Scrapers become dull and require

4782
04:22:46,000 --> 04:22:50,200
Ed renewal everything wears, 
everything needs maintenance. 

4783
04:22:51,200 --> 04:22:54,500
The maintenance is not viewed. 
As an interruption it is simply 

4784
04:22:54,500 --> 04:22:57,900
part of us. 
Making and repairing exist on 

4785
04:22:57,900 --> 04:23:00,200
the same. 
Continuum, you do not make 

4786
04:23:00,200 --> 04:23:02,800
something expecting it to last 
forever unchanged. 

4787
04:23:02,800 --> 04:23:05,700
You make something expecting to 
care for it? 

4788
04:23:05,700 --> 04:23:08,500
Adjust it and eventually remake 
it. 

4789
04:23:09,400 --> 04:23:12,900
Some repairs happen immediately.
When damage occurs others, 

4790
04:23:12,900 --> 04:23:16,300
accumulate until you have time 
there is always a pile of items 

4791
04:23:16,300 --> 04:23:19,600
awaiting attention. 
No one feels behind or anxious 

4792
04:23:19,600 --> 04:23:23,200
about this pile, it represents 
ongoing life rather than 

4793
04:23:23,200 --> 04:23:26,400
incomplete tasks. 
As long as people use objects 

4794
04:23:26,400 --> 04:23:30,200
objects will need repair 
Children, participate. 

4795
04:23:30,200 --> 04:23:33,400
According to Ability young ones,
hold material steady. 

4796
04:23:34,300 --> 04:23:36,700
Slightly older ones, practice 
simple weaving on their own 

4797
04:23:36,700 --> 04:23:39,500
small projects, they make 
mistakes frequently. 

4798
04:23:41,000 --> 04:23:43,600
The mistakes are gently 
corrected or left to be 

4799
04:23:43,600 --> 04:23:47,100
discovered through use. 
Learning Happens through doing 

4800
04:23:47,100 --> 04:23:49,800
rather than through extensive 
verbal instruction. 

4801
04:23:50,800 --> 04:23:54,200
You watch a child working on 
cordage twisting fibers 

4802
04:23:54,200 --> 04:23:57,000
together. 
The twist is inconsistent. 

4803
04:23:57,000 --> 04:24:00,300
Some sections are too loose. 
Some too tight. 

4804
04:24:00,300 --> 04:24:02,600
You do not point this out 
immediately. 

4805
04:24:02,600 --> 04:24:06,500
Instead you work on your own 
cordage nearby. 

4806
04:24:06,500 --> 04:24:10,000
Your hands, moving in the 
correct Rhythm where the child 

4807
04:24:10,000 --> 04:24:13,800
can observe. 
After a while the child's hands 

4808
04:24:13,800 --> 04:24:16,500
begin adjusting naturally? 
Finding better rhythm. 

4809
04:24:17,600 --> 04:24:20,100
Materials for making and 
repairing a gather to 

4810
04:24:20,108 --> 04:24:23,200
continuously. 
You cannot collect plant fibers.

4811
04:24:23,200 --> 04:24:27,000
Only when you need plant five 
fibers instead you collect them 

4812
04:24:27,000 --> 04:24:30,600
when they are available process.
Them, when there is time and 

4813
04:24:30,600 --> 04:24:34,300
store them for eventual, use 
this requires thinking ahead 

4814
04:24:34,300 --> 04:24:38,000
across Seasons, remembering what
will be needed when storage 

4815
04:24:38,000 --> 04:24:42,100
itself requires maintenance 
Drive, materials must stay dry, 

4816
04:24:42,100 --> 04:24:45,900
certain items need to be kept 
away from certain other items, 

4817
04:24:45,900 --> 04:24:50,700
stone tools, organized by use 
plant materials are organized by

4818
04:24:50,700 --> 04:24:53,700
type. 
Everything has a place not 

4819
04:24:53,700 --> 04:24:56,900
because of rigid rules but 
because efficiency emerges 

4820
04:24:56,900 --> 04:25:01,100
naturally from repetition As 
afternoon stretches toward 

4821
04:25:01,100 --> 04:25:03,600
evening. 
The pace of repair work does not

4822
04:25:03,600 --> 04:25:05,600
change. 
There is no hurry. 

4823
04:25:05,600 --> 04:25:09,100
These tasks will either be 
completed today or continue 

4824
04:25:09,100 --> 04:25:11,900
tomorrow. 
Stopping Midway through a repair

4825
04:25:11,900 --> 04:25:15,100
is perfectly normal. 
You set the basket aside when 

4826
04:25:15,100 --> 04:25:16,600
your hands tell you, they have 
worked enough. 

4827
04:25:16,600 --> 04:25:20,000
Someone else might pick it up 
later, or you might return to it

4828
04:25:20,000 --> 04:25:22,700
tomorrow. 
The work creates a rhythm that 

4829
04:25:22,700 --> 04:25:26,000
structures the day. 
Gathering happens in the morning

4830
04:25:26,000 --> 04:25:28,100
when energy is higher and light 
is better. 

4831
04:25:29,000 --> 04:25:31,700
Repair work happens in the 
afternoon when sitting feels 

4832
04:25:31,700 --> 04:25:34,300
natural and detail. 
Works suits the softer light. 

4833
04:25:34,300 --> 04:25:38,600
This pattern is not scheduled, 
it's simply emerges from the 

4834
04:25:38,600 --> 04:25:42,800
natural flow of energy and need 
People develop Specialties 

4835
04:25:42,800 --> 04:25:46,700
through preference and aptitude 
someone has particularly skilled

4836
04:25:46,700 --> 04:25:48,200
hands for fine. 
Weaving. 

4837
04:25:48,200 --> 04:25:52,900
Someone else has strengths will 
suited for hide scraping The 

4838
04:25:52,900 --> 04:25:54,800
specialization is never 
absolute. 

4839
04:25:54,800 --> 04:25:59,100
Everyone can do most things. 
Adequately specialization is 

4840
04:25:59,100 --> 04:26:01,500
about what you do. 
Most often, not what you do 

4841
04:26:01,500 --> 04:26:05,900
exclusively. 
Finish tightening the basket and

4842
04:26:05,900 --> 04:26:08,900
test its strength. 
Your hands pull at The Rim, 

4843
04:26:08,900 --> 04:26:11,800
checking for weak spots, finding
none. 

4844
04:26:11,800 --> 04:26:15,400
He set it with the other 
completed items tomorrow, it 

4845
04:26:15,400 --> 04:26:18,600
will return to Gathering Duty 
eventually, it will need repair 

4846
04:26:18,600 --> 04:26:22,300
again. 
This cycle is comforting in its 

4847
04:26:22,300 --> 04:26:26,000
predictability, making and 
repairing create continuity 

4848
04:26:26,000 --> 04:26:29,900
between past and future. 
The basket you repair today was 

4849
04:26:29,900 --> 04:26:33,100
made by hand using techniques 
passed down across Generations. 

4850
04:26:34,300 --> 04:26:36,200
The repairs. 
You make will extend its 

4851
04:26:36,200 --> 04:26:39,600
usefulness into future Seasons. 
You're a link in an unbroken 

4852
04:26:39,600 --> 04:26:44,000
chain of making maintaining, and
remaking Children are always 

4853
04:26:44,000 --> 04:26:46,200
nearby. 
Not watched in the sense of 

4854
04:26:46,200 --> 04:26:49,100
careful monitoring, but present 
in the sense of natural 

4855
04:26:49,100 --> 04:26:52,000
inclusion. 
A toddlers sits next to someone 

4856
04:26:52,000 --> 04:26:55,500
grinding seeds reaching 
occasionally to touch the smooth

4857
04:26:55,500 --> 04:26:58,900
Stone. 
An older child carries water in 

4858
04:26:58,900 --> 04:27:00,600
a small container practicing 
balance. 

4859
04:27:01,500 --> 04:27:06,000
No single person is designated 
as a child minder instead. 

4860
04:27:06,000 --> 04:27:10,600
Everyone participates whoever is
near East responds to needs. 

4861
04:27:10,600 --> 04:27:14,300
Whoever has free hands up a 
fussy infant. 

4862
04:27:15,100 --> 04:27:18,000
This distribution of care. 
Means children interact with 

4863
04:27:18,000 --> 04:27:21,700
many adults throughout each day,
learning different style of 

4864
04:27:21,700 --> 04:27:25,600
attention and comfort. 
An infant cries and his past to 

4865
04:27:25,600 --> 04:27:28,500
someone whose lap is available. 
That person. 

4866
04:27:28,500 --> 04:27:32,000
Settles the infant against their
chest rocking slightly while 

4867
04:27:32,000 --> 04:27:35,500
continuing to work on cordage, 
with one hand, the infant 

4868
04:27:35,500 --> 04:27:39,800
choirs, not necessarily because 
of anything specific but because

4869
04:27:39,800 --> 04:27:43,000
being held his familiar and 
holding while working is normal,

4870
04:27:44,000 --> 04:27:47,400
Young children move freely 
between adults, they lean 

4871
04:27:47,400 --> 04:27:50,400
against someone then move to 
someone else, then return to the

4872
04:27:50,400 --> 04:27:54,100
first person, no one shoos them 
away unless their hands are 

4873
04:27:54,100 --> 04:27:56,100
occupied with something 
genuinely dangerous. 

4874
04:27:57,100 --> 04:28:01,300
Otherwise children drape across 
or pressed against sides are 

4875
04:28:01,300 --> 04:28:04,500
simply part of the environment. 
Older children watch younger 

4876
04:28:04,500 --> 04:28:06,200
ones but not as a formal 
assignment. 

4877
04:28:06,200 --> 04:28:10,300
They play nearby and their play 
naturally includes the smaller 

4878
04:28:10,300 --> 04:28:12,700
children. 
When a toddler wanders toward 

4879
04:28:12,700 --> 04:28:15,200
the fire, an older child 
redirects them. 

4880
04:28:15,200 --> 04:28:19,000
Gently When a young one Falls, 
whoever is closest helps them 

4881
04:28:19,000 --> 04:28:21,500
up. 
Care happens through proximity, 

4882
04:28:21,500 --> 04:28:25,600
rather than designation, nursing
happens whenever an infant shows

4883
04:28:25,600 --> 04:28:28,300
hunger. 
The mother, pause his, whatever 

4884
04:28:28,300 --> 04:28:32,200
she's doing, settles, the infant
to breast and often continues 

4885
04:28:32,200 --> 04:28:34,600
her task one handed or simply 
rests. 

4886
04:28:35,300 --> 04:28:38,900
Other people work around her. 
No one comments feeding his 

4887
04:28:38,900 --> 04:28:42,800
ordinary as breathing Multiple 
infants might be nursing 

4888
04:28:42,800 --> 04:28:45,200
simultaneously as different 
mothers, sit near each other 

4889
04:28:45,200 --> 04:28:47,800
talking quietly, while their 
babies feed. 

4890
04:28:48,600 --> 04:28:51,300
Sometimes a mother nurse is 
someone else's infant if that 

4891
04:28:51,300 --> 04:28:54,000
child is fussy and their own 
mother is occupied. 

4892
04:28:54,000 --> 04:28:56,900
Milk is shared resource like 
everything else. 

4893
04:28:58,000 --> 04:29:01,600
Children learn by watching they 
observe hide scraping and 

4894
04:29:01,600 --> 04:29:04,900
eventually pick up a scraper. 
They watch basket weaving and 

4895
04:29:04,908 --> 04:29:08,800
begin playing with fibers. 
Their early attempts are clumsy 

4896
04:29:08,800 --> 04:29:12,000
and usually unsuccessful. 
No one corrects them unless 

4897
04:29:12,000 --> 04:29:14,700
they're about to hurt themselves
instead. 

4898
04:29:14,700 --> 04:29:18,300
They keep trying their hands 
slowly learning what they have 

4899
04:29:18,300 --> 04:29:22,000
observed. 
Small child Shadows you during 

4900
04:29:22,000 --> 04:29:24,300
Gathering carrying their own 
tiny basket. 

4901
04:29:24,300 --> 04:29:29,100
They pick random plants not yet 
discriminating between useful 

4902
04:29:29,100 --> 04:29:32,200
and useless. 
You let them pick occasionally 

4903
04:29:32,200 --> 04:29:35,200
you show them something specific
not through words, but by 

4904
04:29:35,200 --> 04:29:39,300
picking it yourself examining it
and placing it deliberately in 

4905
04:29:39,300 --> 04:29:42,600
your basket. 
They notice sometimes they 

4906
04:29:42,600 --> 04:29:46,000
imitate sometimes they do not 
either is acceptable. 

4907
04:29:47,300 --> 04:29:51,300
Children work gradually becomes 
real work a 6 year old carries 

4908
04:29:51,300 --> 04:29:55,300
water that adults actually use 
an 8 year old weaves cordage 

4909
04:29:55,300 --> 04:29:58,700
that actually holds things. 
Attend year old gathers plants 

4910
04:29:58,700 --> 04:30:02,400
that actually feed people there 
is no Serenity marking these 

4911
04:30:02,400 --> 04:30:07,200
transitions capability emerges 
through practice and practice is

4912
04:30:07,200 --> 04:30:09,300
simply what children do while 
being present. 

4913
04:30:10,600 --> 04:30:14,900
Discipline is gentle and 
infrequent most boundaries are 

4914
04:30:14,900 --> 04:30:17,400
maintained through redirection 
rather than scolding. 

4915
04:30:18,300 --> 04:30:21,000
The child reaching for something
sharp is handed something else 

4916
04:30:21,000 --> 04:30:23,900
to hold. 
A child running too close to the

4917
04:30:23,900 --> 04:30:27,200
fire is quietly moved farther 
away serious. 

4918
04:30:27,200 --> 04:30:30,800
Misbehavior is rare perhaps 
because children are so 

4919
04:30:30,800 --> 04:30:34,100
consistently included that they 
have little reason to seek 

4920
04:30:34,100 --> 04:30:38,600
attention through disruption. 
When correction is necessary, it

4921
04:30:38,600 --> 04:30:41,700
comes from whoever Witnesses the
behavior rather than waiting for

4922
04:30:41,700 --> 04:30:44,400
a parent. 
This means children learn their 

4923
04:30:44,400 --> 04:30:47,200
expectations are communal rather
than individual. 

4924
04:30:48,000 --> 04:30:51,600
Every adult has some Authority 
every adult also has some 

4925
04:30:51,600 --> 04:30:56,000
responsibility to guide. older 
children mind young ones during 

4926
04:30:56,000 --> 04:30:59,900
Camp moves 12 year old might 
carry a toddler on their hip 

4927
04:30:59,900 --> 04:31:05,100
while adults carry heavier loads
The older child is not burdened.

4928
04:31:05,100 --> 04:31:09,000
This is simply what older 
children do they remember being 

4929
04:31:09,000 --> 04:31:12,000
carried themselves and they will
eventually watch their own 

4930
04:31:12,000 --> 04:31:14,900
children be carried by the next 
generation of older children. 

4931
04:31:15,900 --> 04:31:19,400
Play happens constantly, but is 
rarely separate from work 

4932
04:31:19,400 --> 04:31:21,900
children. 
Play at grinding seeds while 

4933
04:31:21,900 --> 04:31:24,700
seated next to adults, who are 
actually grinding seeds. 

4934
04:31:24,700 --> 04:31:28,000
They play at hunting with small 
sticks, while adults, prepare 

4935
04:31:28,000 --> 04:31:32,800
real hunting tools players, 
practice and practice is play 

4936
04:31:32,800 --> 04:31:35,500
the boundary between the two is 
barely visible. 

4937
04:31:35,500 --> 04:31:39,000
Children are rarely bored. 
There is always something to 

4938
04:31:39,000 --> 04:31:42,000
watch something to try and 
someone to follow. 

4939
04:31:42,900 --> 04:31:46,100
The richness of daily life 
provides constant engagement. 

4940
04:31:47,100 --> 04:31:50,100
They do not need organized 
activities because unorganized 

4941
04:31:50,100 --> 04:31:53,600
life is already full. 
Crying children are comforted 

4942
04:31:53,600 --> 04:31:57,700
but not with urgency or alarm. 
Someone Picks Them Up, checks 

4943
04:31:57,700 --> 04:32:01,500
for obvious problems offers 
breast milk or water or simply 

4944
04:32:01,500 --> 04:32:04,700
holds them. 
If the crying continues, they 

4945
04:32:04,700 --> 04:32:08,300
are passed to someone else. 
Eventually the child Settles. 

4946
04:32:09,000 --> 04:32:12,500
Sometimes crying has a clear 
cause sometimes it does not. 

4947
04:32:13,400 --> 04:32:16,900
Either way the responses calm 
presence rather than anxious 

4948
04:32:16,900 --> 04:32:19,400
fixing. 
Children, sleep, when they are 

4949
04:32:19,400 --> 04:32:22,100
tired. 
Sometimes this happens at odd, 

4950
04:32:22,100 --> 04:32:25,900
time's, a child might curl up in
afternoon sunlight While others 

4951
04:32:25,900 --> 04:32:29,200
continue working around them. 
No one moves them to a specific 

4952
04:32:29,200 --> 04:32:31,300
sleeping area unless evening as 
arrived. 

4953
04:32:31,900 --> 04:32:34,200
Sleep is allowed to happen 
naturally, rather than being 

4954
04:32:34,200 --> 04:32:37,400
scheduled. 
Nighttime care is distributed 

4955
04:32:37,400 --> 04:32:40,500
just like daytime care. 
When an infant wakes. 

4956
04:32:40,500 --> 04:32:42,700
Whoever is sleeping nearest 
responds. 

4957
04:32:42,700 --> 04:32:46,800
Sometimes this is the mother, 
sometimes it is someone else. 

4958
04:32:46,800 --> 04:32:50,900
The infant is nursed or rocked 
or simply held until sleep 

4959
04:32:50,900 --> 04:32:53,900
returns. 
Then that person settles back 

4960
04:32:53,900 --> 04:32:56,300
into their own sleep as 
children. 

4961
04:32:56,300 --> 04:33:00,800
Grow older, they begin taking on
caregiving themselves, a 5 year 

4962
04:33:00,800 --> 04:33:02,800
old, might hand a toy to a fussy
toddler. 

4963
04:33:02,800 --> 04:33:05,900
A seven year old, might fetch 
water for a tired, younger 

4964
04:33:05,900 --> 04:33:08,500
child. 
These actions are not praised 

4965
04:33:08,500 --> 04:33:11,300
extensively. 
They are simply noticed and 

4966
04:33:11,300 --> 04:33:14,000
appreciated as part of what 
people do for each other. 

4967
04:33:15,099 --> 04:33:17,900
Children, learn emotional 
regulation through observation, 

4968
04:33:17,900 --> 04:33:21,599
they see a delts remain calm 
during small frustration. 

4969
04:33:21,599 --> 04:33:25,300
They watch people share limited 
resources, without conflict, 

4970
04:33:25,300 --> 04:33:28,599
they noticed how disagreements 
are resolved through, quiet 

4971
04:33:28,599 --> 04:33:32,800
discussion, rather than raise 
voices, These patterns become 

4972
04:33:32,800 --> 04:33:36,300
their own patterns. 
The result is children, who are 

4973
04:33:36,300 --> 04:33:40,200
deeply integrated into daily 
life rather than separated into 

4974
04:33:40,200 --> 04:33:43,300
a child world. 
They know what adults do because

4975
04:33:43,300 --> 04:33:47,000
they watch adults doing it. 
They learn what adults know 

4976
04:33:47,000 --> 04:33:49,500
because they absorb it through 
constant proximity. 

4977
04:33:50,900 --> 04:33:54,300
Teaching happens continuously 
without being called teaching. 

4978
04:33:55,200 --> 04:33:59,000
Rest is not earned. 
It is not a reward for work 

4979
04:33:59,000 --> 04:34:02,900
completed, it's simply arrives 
throughout the day and natural 

4980
04:34:02,900 --> 04:34:05,900
punctuation between activities. 
You sit. 

4981
04:34:05,900 --> 04:34:10,099
When sitting feels right? 
You stand when standing becomes 

4982
04:34:10,099 --> 04:34:15,000
more comfortable than sitting, 
Midday often brings a collective

4983
04:34:15,000 --> 04:34:18,300
pause, the sun is high and hot 
energy. 

4984
04:34:18,300 --> 04:34:21,099
Naturally. 
Dips people drift toward shade 

4985
04:34:21,099 --> 04:34:25,200
and settle there some clothes 
their eyes, some simply stare at

4986
04:34:25,200 --> 04:34:28,700
nothing in particular, no one 
apologizes for resting or 

4987
04:34:28,700 --> 04:34:32,099
explains why they need it. 
You lower yourself to the ground

4988
04:34:32,099 --> 04:34:36,099
and lean against a convenient, 
rock your body, relaxes section 

4989
04:34:36,099 --> 04:34:41,800
by section, shoulders, drop jaw,
loosens hands unfold from 

4990
04:34:41,800 --> 04:34:43,400
whatever shape work had 
required. 

4991
04:34:43,400 --> 04:34:46,599
This unwinding happens 
automatically when you stop 

4992
04:34:46,599 --> 04:34:51,300
moving others, rest nearby. 
Someone is lying flat on their 

4993
04:34:51,300 --> 04:34:53,700
back. 
Eyes closed breathing deeply. 

4994
04:34:54,500 --> 04:34:58,300
Someone else sits with knees 
drawn up chin resting on folded 

4995
04:34:58,300 --> 04:35:01,099
arms. 
A few people talk quietly. 

4996
04:35:01,099 --> 04:35:04,800
Their voice is soft and 
unhurried the content of 

4997
04:35:04,800 --> 04:35:06,400
conversation does not matter 
much. 

4998
04:35:06,400 --> 04:35:09,800
The companionship is what 
matters children. 

4999
04:35:09,800 --> 04:35:11,000
Rest too. 
Though. 

5000
04:35:11,000 --> 04:35:14,400
Their rest looks different. 
They sprawling heaps. 

5001
04:35:14,800 --> 04:35:18,599
Limbs Tangled together, still 
touching even in sleep. 

5002
04:35:20,000 --> 04:35:22,800
Occasionally. 
One wakes, blinks shifts 

5003
04:35:22,800 --> 04:35:27,400
position and returns to dozing. 
They seem to drop into sleep and

5004
04:35:27,400 --> 04:35:31,500
emerge from it with equal ease. 
Rest during the day, feels 

5005
04:35:31,500 --> 04:35:36,099
different from sleep at night. 
It is lighter briefer, and less 

5006
04:35:36,099 --> 04:35:39,599
complete, you remain partly 
aware of your surroundings. 

5007
04:35:39,599 --> 04:35:43,400
If something required your 
attention, you would notice, but

5008
04:35:43,400 --> 04:35:46,700
nothing requires your attention.
So you float in the pleasant 

5009
04:35:46,700 --> 04:35:48,800
space between waking and 
sleeping. 

5010
04:35:49,900 --> 04:35:52,099
Time passes. 
Unmeasured. 

5011
04:35:52,900 --> 04:35:55,599
You do not know if you've been 
resting for moments or much 

5012
04:35:55,599 --> 04:35:59,800
longer, it does not matter when 
your body feels ready to resume 

5013
04:35:59,800 --> 04:36:04,000
activity, you will move until 
then you remain still. 

5014
04:36:05,200 --> 04:36:08,400
The shade you sit in shifts 
gradually as the sun moves. 

5015
04:36:08,400 --> 04:36:11,099
Eventually the warmth finds you 
again. 

5016
04:36:11,099 --> 04:36:14,500
That warmth is part of what 
prompts you back into motion. 

5017
04:36:15,500 --> 04:36:19,099
Not uncomfortably hot, but warm 
enough to make sitting less 

5018
04:36:19,099 --> 04:36:24,700
appealing than standing you rise
slowly no sudden movements your 

5019
04:36:24,700 --> 04:36:27,800
body needs time to transition 
from rest to activity. 

5020
04:36:27,800 --> 04:36:32,400
Others are all so, stirring 
stretching and looking around, 

5021
04:36:32,400 --> 04:36:36,700
as if remembering where they 
are, No one rushes this process.

5022
04:36:37,800 --> 04:36:42,400
evening brings another rest 
rhythm after the main meal after

5023
04:36:42,400 --> 04:36:45,800
food preparation is complete 
people settle around the fire. 

5024
04:36:45,800 --> 04:36:49,300
This is not sleeping. 
But a quieter version of waking 

5025
04:36:49,300 --> 04:36:54,400
postures soften movements become
minimal conversation continues, 

5026
04:36:54,400 --> 04:36:57,800
but grows simpler and more 
repetitive you sit with your 

5027
04:36:57,800 --> 04:37:01,000
back against someone else. 
This is comfortable for both of 

5028
04:37:01,000 --> 04:37:02,800
you. 
They're breathing is steady 

5029
04:37:02,800 --> 04:37:05,300
behind you. 
You're breathing matches theirs 

5030
04:37:05,300 --> 04:37:08,300
without conscious effort. 
Paired breathing happens 

5031
04:37:08,300 --> 04:37:12,700
automatically when people rest 
together, the fire is Hypnotic 

5032
04:37:12,700 --> 04:37:16,500
Flames moving patterns that your
eyes follow without purpose. 

5033
04:37:17,300 --> 04:37:20,300
You're not thinking about the 
fire or analyzing Its Behavior 

5034
04:37:20,300 --> 04:37:23,300
You're simply watching because 
watching is restful. 

5035
04:37:23,300 --> 04:37:28,500
Someone is working on a small 
repair nearby, but slowly with 

5036
04:37:28,500 --> 04:37:35,200
long pauses between actions the 
hands move then stop move then 

5037
04:37:35,200 --> 04:37:38,099
stop. 
The work provides something to 

5038
04:37:38,099 --> 04:37:40,900
do with hands that want gentle 
activity without providing 

5039
04:37:40,900 --> 04:37:43,099
enough challenge to interrupt 
the restful mood. 

5040
04:37:43,900 --> 04:37:46,700
Children acquire to now but not 
necessarily asleep. 

5041
04:37:46,700 --> 04:37:50,800
They sit close to adults leaning
heavily their eyes half closed 

5042
04:37:50,800 --> 04:37:54,900
some are still playing but their
play has slowed to a drowsy 

5043
04:37:54,900 --> 04:37:59,300
version of daytime energy. push 
small objects around building 

5044
04:37:59,300 --> 04:38:04,400
and unbuild Tiny Arrangements 
rest is permitted to last as 

5045
04:38:04,400 --> 04:38:07,500
long as it lasts. 
There is no pressure to resume 

5046
04:38:07,500 --> 04:38:11,700
activity work that remains 
undone will still be there 

5047
04:38:11,700 --> 04:38:14,900
tomorrow. 
This moment is for sitting for 

5048
04:38:14,900 --> 04:38:19,400
warm proximity. thoughts that 
drift rather than Focus 

5049
04:38:20,300 --> 04:38:23,599
sometimes rest includes drowsing
while sitting upright. 

5050
04:38:24,300 --> 04:38:28,200
Your eyes closed your head might
not forward and then jerk back. 

5051
04:38:29,000 --> 04:38:30,900
This after sleep is perfectly 
acceptable. 

5052
04:38:30,900 --> 04:38:35,900
No one Minds no one wakes you 
unless something genuinely needs

5053
04:38:35,900 --> 04:38:39,700
your attention. 
The transition from evening rest

5054
04:38:39,700 --> 04:38:43,000
to nighttime sleep is gradual 
and blurry. 

5055
04:38:43,800 --> 04:38:47,200
At some point you realize you're
more asleep than awake. 

5056
04:38:48,000 --> 04:38:50,900
You shift into a lying position 
without fully waking. 

5057
04:38:51,800 --> 04:38:55,000
Someone pulls a hide over you or
perhaps you do it yourself. 

5058
04:38:56,000 --> 04:38:59,700
Either way. 
The action is automatic rest 

5059
04:38:59,700 --> 04:39:03,500
happens in layers throughout 
each day brief pauses during 

5060
04:39:03,500 --> 04:39:08,900
work longer midday settling 
extended evening unwinding These

5061
04:39:08,900 --> 04:39:11,400
layers create a rhythm that 
prevents exhaustion. 

5062
04:39:12,099 --> 04:39:15,300
You never push Beyond tired 
because rest arrives before you 

5063
04:39:15,300 --> 04:39:20,099
reach that point. physical 
comfort during rest is simple 

5064
04:39:20,099 --> 04:39:23,099
and sufficient. 
The ground is familiar beneath 

5065
04:39:23,099 --> 04:39:25,200
you the air temperature is 
manageable. 

5066
04:39:25,200 --> 04:39:27,800
You have something to lean 
against and something to cover 

5067
04:39:27,800 --> 04:39:30,500
yourself with. 
These Basics are enough. 

5068
04:39:31,300 --> 04:39:35,200
No one rests in isolation unless
they choose to even when resting

5069
04:39:35,200 --> 04:39:38,500
apart from the main group you 
remain within Sight and Sound 

5070
04:39:38,500 --> 04:39:41,200
Solitude is possible, but not 
the default. 

5071
04:39:42,100 --> 04:39:45,500
Proximity Is comforting the 
presence of others create 

5072
04:39:45,500 --> 04:39:47,800
security that allows deeper 
rest. 

5073
04:39:49,000 --> 04:39:53,600
When you wake from rest, whether
brief or extended you wait 

5074
04:39:53,600 --> 04:39:56,800
without a gender. 
There is no list of tasks 

5075
04:39:56,800 --> 04:39:59,000
waiting. 
There are simply the next thing 

5076
04:39:59,000 --> 04:40:03,000
whatever that might be. 
Perhaps Gathering perhaps repair

5077
04:40:03,000 --> 04:40:07,400
work, perhaps more rest the day 
unfolds according to need an 

5078
04:40:07,400 --> 04:40:11,600
energy rather than plan. food 
preparation begins with sorting 

5079
04:40:11,600 --> 04:40:15,000
what has been gathered Plant 
material spread across a flat 

5080
04:40:15,000 --> 04:40:19,100
area hands move through the 
grouping by tight leaves here 

5081
04:40:19,100 --> 04:40:24,000
Roots their seeds and a separate
pile the Sorting requires no 

5082
04:40:24,000 --> 04:40:26,700
discussion. 
Everyone knows what goes where 

5083
04:40:27,800 --> 04:40:30,900
You sit near the Sorting area 
and begin processing greens. 

5084
04:40:30,900 --> 04:40:34,900
Some leaves need stems removed, 
some need washing in the Stream.

5085
04:40:34,900 --> 04:40:39,300
Your hands work, steadily 
accumulating, a pile of prepared

5086
04:40:39,300 --> 04:40:41,400
leaves that someone else will 
eventually collect. 

5087
04:40:42,600 --> 04:40:44,500
Nearby. 
Someone is grinding seeds 

5088
04:40:44,500 --> 04:40:47,900
between two stones. 
The grinding creates a rhythmic 

5089
04:40:47,900 --> 04:40:51,400
sound sliding against Stone in 
repeated Strokes. 

5090
04:40:52,300 --> 04:40:55,100
The motion looks simple, but 
requires specific pressure and 

5091
04:40:55,100 --> 04:40:59,300
angle too much force cracks. 
The stones two little leaves 

5092
04:40:59,300 --> 04:41:03,800
seeds, only partially ground. 
And another person is digging a 

5093
04:41:03,800 --> 04:41:07,100
pit in the earth near the fire. 
This pit will hold food for slow

5094
04:41:07,100 --> 04:41:10,400
cooking packed with hot stones 
and covered with leaves and 

5095
04:41:10,400 --> 04:41:13,000
dirt. 
The method is ancient and 

5096
04:41:13,000 --> 04:41:15,700
reliable. 
Food cook, This Way becomes 

5097
04:41:15,700 --> 04:41:18,500
tender. 
Without constant attention, you 

5098
04:41:18,500 --> 04:41:20,500
move from greens to root 
vegetables. 

5099
04:41:20,500 --> 04:41:25,100
These need scraping rather than 
washing, your scraping tool is a

5100
04:41:25,100 --> 04:41:29,900
flat stone with a sharp edge. 
One smooth from use, the motion 

5101
04:41:29,900 --> 04:41:33,400
is repetitive, and soothing 
scrape turn. 

5102
04:41:33,400 --> 04:41:39,400
Scrape turn, The pile of cleaned
Roots, grow slowly children. 

5103
04:41:39,400 --> 04:41:43,400
Help according to their ability,
a young one carries cleaned out 

5104
04:41:43,400 --> 04:41:45,100
items from your pile to the 
cooking area. 

5105
04:41:45,100 --> 04:41:48,500
Their trips are frequent because
they can only carry a small 

5106
04:41:48,500 --> 04:41:51,900
amount each time. 
This does not frustrate anyone. 

5107
04:41:51,900 --> 04:41:56,300
The help is useful. 
Even if inefficient, Food 

5108
04:41:56,300 --> 04:41:58,800
preparation is communal but not 
coordinated. 

5109
04:41:58,800 --> 04:42:02,000
Everyone works on. 
Whichever task needs doing. 

5110
04:42:02,600 --> 04:42:05,300
When something is finished, you 
move to something else. 

5111
04:42:05,300 --> 04:42:09,000
When you grow tired of one 
motion, you switch to a 

5112
04:42:09,000 --> 04:42:10,900
different task that uses 
different muscles. 

5113
04:42:11,900 --> 04:42:14,800
Someone is tending, the fire 
adding wood to maintain steady 

5114
04:42:14,800 --> 04:42:17,800
Heat. 
Fire tending is continuous work 

5115
04:42:17,800 --> 04:42:20,800
during food. 
Preparation too hot and food 

5116
04:42:20,800 --> 04:42:24,100
Burns too. 
Cool and food remains Raw. 

5117
04:42:25,800 --> 04:42:27,200
The person tending has done 
this. 

5118
04:42:27,200 --> 04:42:29,600
Countless times and reads the 
fire automatically. 

5119
04:42:30,700 --> 04:42:33,700
Water is carried from the stream
in multiple trips. 

5120
04:42:34,400 --> 04:42:38,100
Some water is for drinking some 
for washing, some for cooking. 

5121
04:42:39,500 --> 04:42:41,600
The carrying happens throughout 
the afternoon. 

5122
04:42:41,600 --> 04:42:44,700
Whenever someone is walking 
toward the stream anyway. 

5123
04:42:44,700 --> 04:42:48,000
No single person makes all the 
trips. 

5124
04:42:48,000 --> 04:42:52,900
Instead everyone brings water. 
When they pass by you begin, 

5125
04:42:52,900 --> 04:42:54,900
wrapping certain items in leaves
for cooking. 

5126
04:42:56,100 --> 04:42:59,400
The wrapping technique protects 
delicate food from direct heat, 

5127
04:42:59,400 --> 04:43:01,300
while allowing steam to cook. 
It thoroughly. 

5128
04:43:01,300 --> 04:43:06,400
Your hands know exactly how much
Leaf to use how tightly to wrap 

5129
04:43:06,400 --> 04:43:09,300
and how to secure the bundle 
with plant fiber. 

5130
04:43:10,100 --> 04:43:12,000
Fish brought back earlier are 
being cleaned. 

5131
04:43:12,000 --> 04:43:15,200
This happens away from the main 
preparation area. 

5132
04:43:16,100 --> 04:43:19,600
The person cleaning Works 
efficiently separating edible 

5133
04:43:19,600 --> 04:43:22,800
parts from waste. 
The waste will be carried away 

5134
04:43:22,800 --> 04:43:25,700
from Camp later. 
Nothing is left to attract 

5135
04:43:25,700 --> 04:43:29,800
unwanted tension. 
Herbs and flavoring plants are 

5136
04:43:29,808 --> 04:43:32,900
added to some preparations. 
Not everything receives. 

5137
04:43:32,900 --> 04:43:35,000
This treatment some food is 
eaten. 

5138
04:43:35,000 --> 04:43:39,500
Plain The additions are subtle 
enhancing rather than dominating

5139
04:43:39,500 --> 04:43:42,800
you have learned which plants 
pale well with which foods 

5140
04:43:42,800 --> 04:43:44,500
through years of tasting and 
adjusting. 

5141
04:43:45,500 --> 04:43:48,800
As pieces are prepared, they 
begin collecting near the fire. 

5142
04:43:49,600 --> 04:43:51,800
Someone is organizing them into 
rough groups. 

5143
04:43:51,800 --> 04:43:54,500
Food that cooks quickly goes in 
one spot. 

5144
04:43:55,600 --> 04:43:56,900
Food. 
Required longer cooking. 

5145
04:43:56,900 --> 04:43:59,700
Goes elsewhere. 
This organization happens 

5146
04:43:59,700 --> 04:44:02,900
naturally through experience 
rather than explicit planning. 

5147
04:44:04,000 --> 04:44:06,200
The pit is ready and line with 
hot stones. 

5148
04:44:07,100 --> 04:44:10,100
Food is layered in carefully. 
Denser items. 

5149
04:44:10,100 --> 04:44:14,100
Go on the bottom lighter items 
on top leaves cover everything. 

5150
04:44:14,100 --> 04:44:18,600
Dirt seals the pit The food will
cook slowly for several hours 

5151
04:44:18,600 --> 04:44:22,100
while everyone continues other 
activities, other items, cook 

5152
04:44:22,100 --> 04:44:25,900
more directly. 
Flat Stones heated in the fire 

5153
04:44:25,900 --> 04:44:29,200
become cooking. 
Surfaces you place thin slices 

5154
04:44:29,200 --> 04:44:31,900
of root vegetables on a hot 
stone and watch them cook 

5155
04:44:31,900 --> 04:44:34,600
rapidly. 
Slices need turning. 

5156
04:44:34,600 --> 04:44:38,400
Once timing is judged by 
appearance and smell rather than

5157
04:44:38,400 --> 04:44:41,200
measurement. 
Some food is eaten without 

5158
04:44:41,200 --> 04:44:43,900
cooking. 
Fresh greens are divided and 

5159
04:44:43,900 --> 04:44:47,100
passed around. 
People eat while continuing to 

5160
04:44:47,100 --> 04:44:50,300
work, the greens, provide 
immediate energy, without 

5161
04:44:50,300 --> 04:44:51,800
waiting for cooked food to be 
ready. 

5162
04:44:51,800 --> 04:44:56,000
The main meal will happen later 
when the pit is opened and Until

5163
04:44:56,000 --> 04:44:59,400
then people nibble on, whatever 
is available, a handful of nuts.

5164
04:44:59,400 --> 04:45:04,500
Some dried fruit left over items
from yesterday eating happened, 

5165
04:45:04,500 --> 04:45:07,300
gradually throughout the 
afternoon, he moved to help with

5166
04:45:07,300 --> 04:45:10,400
liquid preparation. 
Certainly leaves steeped in hot 

5167
04:45:10,400 --> 04:45:14,300
water, create a warm during the 
drink is not sweet or strongly 

5168
04:45:14,300 --> 04:45:16,900
flavored. 
It is simply warm and slightly 

5169
04:45:16,900 --> 04:45:20,400
bitter Pleasant on the throat. 
Someone is carefully dropping 

5170
04:45:20,400 --> 04:45:23,900
heated stones into a bark 
container of water, bringing it 

5171
04:45:23,900 --> 04:45:26,100
to a simmer. 
The leaves go in. 

5172
04:45:26,100 --> 04:45:29,500
Once the water is hot enough, 
they need time to release their 

5173
04:45:29,500 --> 04:45:31,900
essence. 
You watch the water change color

5174
04:45:31,900 --> 04:45:36,700
slightly from clear to faintly 
Brown, the smell is subtle and 

5175
04:45:36,700 --> 04:45:39,300
earthy. 
When the drink is ready, it will

5176
04:45:39,300 --> 04:45:40,900
be shared among everyone 
present. 

5177
04:45:42,100 --> 04:45:44,000
Food. 
Preparation creates a different 

5178
04:45:44,000 --> 04:45:47,900
atmosphere than other work. 
There is anticipation built into

5179
04:45:47,900 --> 04:45:49,900
it. 
You're making something that 

5180
04:45:49,900 --> 04:45:53,300
will soon be consumed. 
The work leads to immediate 

5181
04:45:53,300 --> 04:45:56,600
satisfaction rather than 
creating objects that will be 

5182
04:45:56,600 --> 04:46:00,300
used repeatedly over time. 
Children are particularly 

5183
04:46:00,300 --> 04:46:04,700
interested in food preparation. 
They watch closely sometimes 

5184
04:46:04,700 --> 04:46:06,700
reaching to touch what you are 
working on. 

5185
04:46:06,700 --> 04:46:10,900
You let them handle safe items. 
They copy your motions, with 

5186
04:46:10,900 --> 04:46:14,300
their own small pieces of food, 
their preparations are clumsy, 

5187
04:46:14,300 --> 04:46:17,700
but genuine as the afternoon 
length and the pace of 

5188
04:46:17,700 --> 04:46:22,100
preparation slows, most workers 
complete now is mainly, a matter

5189
04:46:22,100 --> 04:46:23,500
of waiting for cooking to 
finish. 

5190
04:46:24,500 --> 04:46:27,600
People remain near the fire 
tending, it occasionally but 

5191
04:46:27,600 --> 04:46:30,500
mostly just present while the 
food transforms from raw to 

5192
04:46:30,500 --> 04:46:32,800
ready. 
The opening of The Cooking. 

5193
04:46:32,800 --> 04:46:36,600
Pit is a collective moment. 
Someone pulls back the dirt and 

5194
04:46:36,600 --> 04:46:39,600
leaves releasing Steam and a 
rich smell. 

5195
04:46:40,700 --> 04:46:43,100
Food inside is tender and 
thoroughly cooked. 

5196
04:46:43,100 --> 04:46:47,200
People gather closer drawn by 
the center and the promise of 

5197
04:46:47,208 --> 04:46:50,900
shared eating food is removed, 
from the pit carefully to avoid 

5198
04:46:50,900 --> 04:46:53,800
Burns. 
It is divided onto flat surfaces

5199
04:46:53,800 --> 04:46:56,700
for distribution. 
The division is not 

5200
04:46:56,700 --> 04:46:59,700
mathematical. 
Some people receive more because

5201
04:46:59,700 --> 04:47:03,300
they are larger or hungrier. 
Some receive less because they 

5202
04:47:03,300 --> 04:47:06,100
are smaller or already Satisfied
by early. 

5203
04:47:06,100 --> 04:47:09,400
Nibbling. 
The distribution feels Fair 

5204
04:47:09,400 --> 04:47:12,800
through custom, rather than 
measurement. you eat sitting 

5205
04:47:12,800 --> 04:47:16,500
down using your fingers and 
occasionally a flat piece of 

5206
04:47:16,508 --> 04:47:21,700
wood as a scoop, Eating is not 
rushed you chew thoroughly and 

5207
04:47:21,700 --> 04:47:25,600
rest between bites conversation 
happens around eating rather 

5208
04:47:25,600 --> 04:47:28,300
than during it. 
People's attention is on the 

5209
04:47:28,308 --> 04:47:31,300
food and the warmth and the 
satisfaction of hunger becoming 

5210
04:47:31,300 --> 04:47:34,100
fullness. 
Clean up begins while some 

5211
04:47:34,100 --> 04:47:37,300
people are still eating someone 
carries scraps away from the 

5212
04:47:37,300 --> 04:47:40,000
immediate area. 
Someone else rinse, his sticky 

5213
04:47:40,000 --> 04:47:42,900
items in the Stream. 
The cleanup is minimal because 

5214
04:47:42,900 --> 04:47:46,200
the preparation was simple. 
There are no complex dishes or 

5215
04:47:46,200 --> 04:47:50,400
elaborate tools to wash. 
As eating wins down, people, 

5216
04:47:50,400 --> 04:47:54,900
dispersed gradually some return 
to repair work, some settle into

5217
04:47:54,900 --> 04:47:57,700
evening rest. 
Some tend to children who have 

5218
04:47:57,708 --> 04:48:01,900
grown drowsy after their meal, 
The transition from eating to 

5219
04:48:01,900 --> 04:48:04,700
other activities is smooth and 
unhurried. 

5220
04:48:05,500 --> 04:48:08,300
Food, preparation and eating 
have structured, this portion of

5221
04:48:08,300 --> 04:48:12,000
the day. 
The work provided Focus the meal

5222
04:48:12,000 --> 04:48:16,800
provided satisfaction. 
Now with both complete the 

5223
04:48:16,800 --> 04:48:21,900
evening can unfold into quieter 
rhythms as light Fades the fire 

5224
04:48:21,900 --> 04:48:25,300
becomes Central. 
Not for want the loan. 

5225
04:48:25,300 --> 04:48:29,300
They want matters. 
The fire is a focal point a 

5226
04:48:29,300 --> 04:48:32,300
reason for people to gather and 
a source of gentle activity. 

5227
04:48:32,300 --> 04:48:36,200
That is not demand much energy 
you settle near the fire, but 

5228
04:48:36,200 --> 04:48:39,500
not too close. 
The heat is Pleasant at this 

5229
04:48:39,500 --> 04:48:43,200
distance closer would be 
uncomfortable father would lose 

5230
04:48:43,200 --> 04:48:47,000
the benefit everyone finds their
preferred distance naturally 

5231
04:48:47,000 --> 04:48:50,200
through small adjustments. 
The fire has been burning since 

5232
04:48:50,200 --> 04:48:54,800
morning tended continuously. 
But without fuss now in the 

5233
04:48:54,800 --> 04:48:56,500
evening, it receives more 
attention. 

5234
04:48:56,500 --> 04:49:00,600
Someone adds would deliberately 
placing pieces to create steady 

5235
04:49:00,600 --> 04:49:03,200
heat rather than dramatic 
Flames. 

5236
04:49:03,200 --> 04:49:07,700
The goal is duration rather than
spectacle others arrange 

5237
04:49:07,700 --> 04:49:11,100
themselves around the fire in a 
looser Circle some sit directly 

5238
04:49:11,100 --> 04:49:15,000
on the ground some use hides or 
woven mats for slight cushioning

5239
04:49:15,000 --> 04:49:18,300
a few lean against rocks or logs
that have become familiar 

5240
04:49:18,300 --> 04:49:21,700
seating over time. 
The arrangement is casual but 

5241
04:49:21,700 --> 04:49:25,600
stable people return to the same
spots evening after evening 

5242
04:49:25,600 --> 04:49:29,700
children are still awake but 
moving slow this day close to 

5243
04:49:29,700 --> 04:49:31,800
adults. 
Sometimes sitting between knees 

5244
04:49:31,800 --> 04:49:33,700
sometimes sprawling across 
lapse. 

5245
04:49:34,400 --> 04:49:36,800
They're play continues but has 
become quieter. 

5246
04:49:36,800 --> 04:49:40,600
They push small objects around 
in the dirt creating temporary 

5247
04:49:40,600 --> 04:49:42,500
patterns. 
They will abandon before sleep. 

5248
04:49:43,400 --> 04:49:46,400
You hold your hands toward the 
fire feeling the heat on your 

5249
04:49:46,400 --> 04:49:49,100
palms. 
The sensation is pleasant and 

5250
04:49:49,100 --> 04:49:52,500
slightly hypnotic. 
Your eyes follow the Flames 

5251
04:49:52,500 --> 04:49:55,400
Without Really seeing them. 
This is the kind of watching 

5252
04:49:55,400 --> 04:49:56,700
that requires. 
No thought. 

5253
04:49:57,600 --> 04:50:01,400
Someone is working on a small 
task something that can be done 

5254
04:50:01,400 --> 04:50:04,100
with minimal light. 
They are not hurrying. 

5255
04:50:05,000 --> 04:50:08,100
Their hands move occasionally 
then pauses while they stare 

5256
04:50:08,100 --> 04:50:11,100
into the fire. 
The pause is grow longer as 

5257
04:50:11,100 --> 04:50:14,300
evening deepens. 
Eventually the work will be set 

5258
04:50:14,300 --> 04:50:19,000
aside entirely. the smoke Rises 
steadily creating a column that 

5259
04:50:19,000 --> 04:50:24,800
disperses Into Darkness of Smell
is Woody and familiar the smoke 

5260
04:50:24,800 --> 04:50:27,900
smell is so constant that you 
barely notice it anymore. 

5261
04:50:28,700 --> 04:50:30,900
It is simply what are smells 
like here? 

5262
04:50:31,900 --> 04:50:35,800
Sounds from Beyond the fire and 
muted the darkness holds the day

5263
04:50:35,800 --> 04:50:39,200
sound at a distance. 
You can hear small rustlings 

5264
04:50:39,200 --> 04:50:43,000
occasional bird calls settling 
into night and The Whisper Of 

5265
04:50:43,000 --> 04:50:46,300
Wind Through grasses. 
These sounds are a backdrop 

5266
04:50:46,300 --> 04:50:50,600
rather than an interruption. 
Conversation around the fire is 

5267
04:50:50,600 --> 04:50:53,700
sporadic someone comments on 
tomorrow's weather. 

5268
04:50:54,300 --> 04:50:56,600
Someone else mentions a tool 
that needs repair. 

5269
04:50:57,500 --> 04:51:00,300
The comments do not build into 
extended discussion. 

5270
04:51:00,300 --> 04:51:04,800
They are simply thought spoken 
aloud acknowledged with nods or 

5271
04:51:04,800 --> 04:51:08,600
brief responses. 
Child asks a question about 

5272
04:51:08,600 --> 04:51:12,900
something they saw during the 
day and adult answers simply the

5273
04:51:12,900 --> 04:51:15,000
explanation is brief and 
factual. 

5274
04:51:15,000 --> 04:51:18,300
There is no elaboration beyond 
what the child actually asked. 

5275
04:51:19,300 --> 04:51:23,200
Explanations here are direct 
rather than expanded someone 

5276
04:51:23,200 --> 04:51:27,000
begins a quiet song. 
Not performance singing But the 

5277
04:51:27,000 --> 04:51:29,600
kind of singing that happens 
without self-consciousness. 

5278
04:51:30,700 --> 04:51:34,200
others join gradually their 
voices blending without effort 

5279
04:51:35,100 --> 04:51:39,300
the song has no clear beginning 
or end it continues until it 

5280
04:51:39,300 --> 04:51:41,200
stops whenever that happens to 
be. 

5281
04:51:42,200 --> 04:51:44,000
You're not singing But you 
listen. 

5282
04:51:44,900 --> 04:51:48,600
The melody is ancient and simple
everyone knows it. 

5283
04:51:49,300 --> 04:51:53,100
The words if there are words are
more sound than meaning. 

5284
04:51:54,000 --> 04:51:57,800
The song is another form of file
watching something to do that 

5285
04:51:57,800 --> 04:51:59,400
requires. 
No particular Focus. 

5286
04:52:00,400 --> 04:52:02,800
A baby fusses and is lifted to a
shoulder. 

5287
04:52:03,500 --> 04:52:06,500
The person holding them sway 
slightly while remaining seated.

5288
04:52:06,500 --> 04:52:11,200
The motion is minimal, but 
effective, the baby quiet and 

5289
04:52:11,200 --> 04:52:14,500
returns to dozing head heavier, 
against the holder's chest. 

5290
04:52:15,400 --> 04:52:18,100
Fire Burns. 
Lower someone adds more, would 

5291
04:52:18,100 --> 04:52:23,300
the action is automatic noticed 
but unremarkable Fire will 

5292
04:52:23,300 --> 04:52:26,900
continue through most of the 
night, kept alive, with periodic

5293
04:52:26,900 --> 04:52:30,300
additions, but allowed to 
diminish to coals by morning. 

5294
04:52:31,300 --> 04:52:34,500
As Darkness deepens, people 
begin shifting into sleeping 

5295
04:52:34,500 --> 04:52:38,400
positions, some move away from 
the fire to their usual sleeping

5296
04:52:38,400 --> 04:52:42,700
spots. others remain where they 
are, simply lying down and 

5297
04:52:42,700 --> 04:52:46,100
pulling hides over themselves, 
the transition from waking to 

5298
04:52:46,100 --> 04:52:50,400
sleeping as gradual, Children 
are already mostly asleep, they 

5299
04:52:50,400 --> 04:52:53,200
are moved. 
Gently carried or guided to 

5300
04:52:53,200 --> 04:52:57,100
sleeping areas, Some protests 
mildly but settle quickly. 

5301
04:52:57,100 --> 04:53:01,200
Their resistance is minimal more
reflects than genuine of 

5302
04:53:01,208 --> 04:53:04,500
objection. 
You remain by the fire a while 

5303
04:53:04,500 --> 04:53:07,100
longer. 
Your body is not quite ready for

5304
04:53:07,100 --> 04:53:09,600
sleep. 
Your comfortable in this in 

5305
04:53:09,600 --> 04:53:13,700
between state two relaxed for 
activity but not yet drowsy 

5306
04:53:13,700 --> 04:53:17,800
enough for lying down. 
Fire makes small sounds as it 

5307
04:53:17,800 --> 04:53:24,500
burns wood pops occasionally. 
Flames whisper these sounds are 

5308
04:53:24,500 --> 04:53:28,600
comforting in their regularity. 
The fire is almost alive in its 

5309
04:53:28,600 --> 04:53:33,300
constancy always present always 
requiring some attention but 

5310
04:53:33,300 --> 04:53:37,000
never demanding. 
Around the fire people are 

5311
04:53:37,000 --> 04:53:41,200
mostly still now breathing has 
slowed and deepened someone 

5312
04:53:41,200 --> 04:53:45,000
shifts position pulling their 
covering more securely someone 

5313
04:53:45,000 --> 04:53:47,900
else is still sitting upright, 
but with eyes closed heading 

5314
04:53:47,900 --> 04:53:50,800
forward then jerking back in the
rhythm of near sleep. 

5315
04:53:50,800 --> 04:53:55,200
You finally lie down adjusting 
your position until Comfort 

5316
04:53:55,200 --> 04:53:59,600
finds you The ground beneath his
familiar your body knows how to 

5317
04:53:59,608 --> 04:54:03,900
arrange itself on this surface a
hide covers you heavy enough to 

5318
04:54:03,900 --> 04:54:06,400
feel secure but not so heavy as 
to be oppressive. 

5319
04:54:06,400 --> 04:54:10,700
The fire is still visible from 
where you lie, you watch the 

5320
04:54:10,700 --> 04:54:14,300
Flames through half closed eyes.
They move in patterns that are 

5321
04:54:14,300 --> 04:54:17,800
never quite the same but always 
similar your mind follows the 

5322
04:54:17,800 --> 04:54:22,100
patterns without analyzing them 
sleep begins to arrive in wave's

5323
04:54:22,100 --> 04:54:26,100
notice yourself drifting then 
pulling back slightly then 

5324
04:54:26,100 --> 04:54:29,600
drifting again. 
This gentle oscillation 

5325
04:54:29,600 --> 04:54:33,400
continues for some time. 
There is no moment when you can 

5326
04:54:33,400 --> 04:54:37,300
say you are definitively asleep 
instead you gradually become 

5327
04:54:37,300 --> 04:54:40,700
more asleep than awake. 
The last thing you are aware of 

5328
04:54:40,700 --> 04:54:44,900
is warmth. 
Warmth from the fire warmth from

5329
04:54:44,900 --> 04:54:48,300
the hide warmth from bodies 
sleeping nearby. 

5330
04:54:48,300 --> 04:54:51,700
The warmth is complete and 
encompassing. 

5331
04:54:52,500 --> 04:54:56,300
It is the feeling of security of
being exactly where you belong 

5332
04:54:56,300 --> 04:54:59,300
of another day reaching its 
natural conclusion. 

5333
04:55:00,600 --> 04:55:04,600
Knight does not mean complete 
sleep you wake periodically 

5334
04:55:04,600 --> 04:55:08,400
briefly aware of darkness and 
the continued presence of the 

5335
04:55:08,400 --> 04:55:10,900
fire now reduced to glowing 
coals. 

5336
04:55:10,900 --> 04:55:15,300
Someone is tending it quietly 
adding small piece of wood. 

5337
04:55:16,100 --> 04:55:19,500
The motion is practiced and 
nearly silent you drift back 

5338
04:55:19,500 --> 04:55:21,300
towards sleep without fully 
waking. 

5339
04:55:22,100 --> 04:55:26,000
This shallow waking is normal. 
No one sleeps continuously 

5340
04:55:26,000 --> 04:55:30,700
through the entire night instead
sleep comes in layers deep 

5341
04:55:30,700 --> 04:55:34,900
stretches broken by brief 
surface sings an infant cries 

5342
04:55:34,900 --> 04:55:38,700
somewhere in the Darkness. 
The sound is not alarming just 

5343
04:55:38,700 --> 04:55:43,200
to Signal of need you hear 
someone moving the soft Russell 

5344
04:55:43,200 --> 04:55:47,400
of hides being pushed aside. 
Quiet murmuring as the infant is

5345
04:55:47,408 --> 04:55:52,400
lifted and settled to breast. 
The crying stops the night 

5346
04:55:52,400 --> 04:55:56,200
resumes its quiet you're aware 
of other wakings around you. 

5347
04:55:57,000 --> 04:56:00,100
Someone Rises to urinate outside
the immediately sleeping area 

5348
04:56:00,100 --> 04:56:03,700
their movements are careful and 
quiet trying not to disturb 

5349
04:56:03,700 --> 04:56:06,000
others. 
They returned shortly and 

5350
04:56:06,000 --> 04:56:09,000
resettle themselves a child. 
Whimper Softly. 

5351
04:56:09,800 --> 04:56:12,800
You're not the closest person. 
So you remain still? 

5352
04:56:13,600 --> 04:56:16,400
Someone near a reaches out 
placing a hand on the child's 

5353
04:56:16,400 --> 04:56:21,100
back the whimpering subsides the
child shifts closer to the 

5354
04:56:21,100 --> 04:56:23,300
comforting hand and returns to 
deeper sleep. 

5355
04:56:24,300 --> 04:56:29,600
The night is not silent small 
sounds continue wind moving 

5356
04:56:29,600 --> 04:56:33,300
through nearby vegetation the 
occasional crack of a burning 

5357
04:56:33,300 --> 04:56:37,300
log settling in the fire. 
Breathing all around you a 

5358
04:56:37,300 --> 04:56:39,100
collective rhythm of people 
sleeping. 

5359
04:56:40,000 --> 04:56:43,400
You become aware of cold on your
shoulder where your Hyde is 

5360
04:56:43,400 --> 04:56:46,900
shifted still mostly asleep. 
You adjust the covering without 

5361
04:56:46,900 --> 04:56:50,500
opening your eyes your hands 
nowhere the hide is and how to 

5362
04:56:50,500 --> 04:56:54,400
put it back into place the cold 
recedes and you sink back in to 

5363
04:56:54,400 --> 04:56:57,800
sleep time during the night is 
unmeasured and elastic. 

5364
04:56:57,800 --> 04:57:01,000
You have no idea. 
If you have been asleep for a 

5365
04:57:01,000 --> 04:57:05,000
short while or many hours the 
darkness gives no indication. 

5366
04:57:05,000 --> 04:57:09,500
You wait notice the darkness and
return to sleep. 

5367
04:57:10,400 --> 04:57:14,300
This cycle repeats several times
at some point you wake more 

5368
04:57:14,300 --> 04:57:18,200
fully needing to move. 
Your body is stiff from lying in

5369
04:57:18,200 --> 04:57:21,100
one position. 
You shift carefully trying not 

5370
04:57:21,100 --> 04:57:23,800
to disturb the person sleeping 
pressed against your back. 

5371
04:57:23,800 --> 04:57:28,600
They murmur but do not wake you 
find a new position and Wait for

5372
04:57:28,600 --> 04:57:31,600
Sleep to return the fire needs 
tending again. 

5373
04:57:31,600 --> 04:57:33,700
You're awake enough to notice 
this. 

5374
04:57:34,500 --> 04:57:37,200
Someone else notices too and 
Rises to add wood. 

5375
04:57:38,000 --> 04:57:41,700
Flames increase slightly sending
flickering light across sleeping

5376
04:57:41,700 --> 04:57:46,800
forms faces a peaceful and slack
in sleep unguarded and soft. 

5377
04:57:47,700 --> 04:57:51,000
A child Waits and calls out 
quietly not distressed but 

5378
04:57:51,000 --> 04:57:54,500
seeking reassurance. someone 
responds with a low voice 

5379
04:57:55,400 --> 04:57:59,600
confirming presents the child 
settles with without needing to 

5380
04:57:59,600 --> 04:58:03,000
be held simply knowing someone 
is awake and aware as 

5381
04:58:03,000 --> 04:58:06,100
sufficient. 
You notice the stars of visible 

5382
04:58:06,100 --> 04:58:07,900
through gaps in the shelter 
structure. 

5383
04:58:08,700 --> 04:58:12,100
They are bright and numerous 
scattered across the darkness of

5384
04:58:12,100 --> 04:58:15,600
you watch them briefly not 
thinking about what they are or 

5385
04:58:15,600 --> 04:58:18,600
what they mean. 
They are simply their constant 

5386
04:58:18,600 --> 04:58:20,400
points of light in the moving 
Darkness. 

5387
04:58:21,800 --> 04:58:26,700
Another infant wakes and needs 
feeding this time it is you who 

5388
04:58:26,700 --> 04:58:30,500
is nearest you reach for the 
infant in the darkness Guided by

5389
04:58:30,500 --> 04:58:34,700
sound rather than sight your 
hands know the shape and weight 

5390
04:58:34,700 --> 04:58:38,000
of an infant you settle them 
against you and they latch 

5391
04:58:38,000 --> 04:58:40,600
quickly nursing with quiet 
urgency. 

5392
04:58:40,600 --> 04:58:44,900
The nursing is peaceful you 
remain in a half dozing State 

5393
04:58:44,900 --> 04:58:48,600
while the infant feeds your body
knows how to sustain this 

5394
04:58:48,600 --> 04:58:52,500
activity while your mind rests. 
When the infant finishes and 

5395
04:58:52,500 --> 04:58:55,800
becomes heavy with sleep you 
shift them gently back to where 

5396
04:58:55,800 --> 04:58:59,700
they were sleeping. 
Night care is never urgent or 

5397
04:58:59,700 --> 04:59:04,200
frantic needs a meaty calmly 
crying is comforted without 

5398
04:59:04,200 --> 04:59:07,200
alarm. 
Everyone understands that night 

5399
04:59:07,200 --> 04:59:11,200
waking is a part of the Rhythm. 
No one expects unbroken sleep. 

5400
04:59:11,200 --> 04:59:14,600
The expectation is simply that 
needs will be noticed and 

5401
04:59:14,600 --> 04:59:18,200
answered as the night progresses
the intervals of Deep Sleep grow

5402
04:59:18,200 --> 04:59:20,700
longer. 
The Briefing become less 

5403
04:59:20,700 --> 04:59:24,900
frequent your body has adjusted 
to a more restful State the 

5404
04:59:24,900 --> 04:59:27,600
initial frequent position 
changes settle into longer 

5405
04:59:27,600 --> 04:59:30,900
periods of Stillness. 
Eventually, you notice the 

5406
04:59:30,900 --> 04:59:35,700
darkness changing not lighter 
yet, but less complete. quality 

5407
04:59:35,700 --> 04:59:38,900
of Blackness shifts towards 
something that will become Dawn,

5408
04:59:38,900 --> 04:59:43,900
this changes subtle, and gradual
You notice it more through a 

5409
04:59:43,900 --> 04:59:45,400
feeling than through anything 
visible. 

5410
04:59:46,100 --> 04:59:50,200
Birds begin calling before True 
Light arrives, their song starts

5411
04:59:50,208 --> 04:59:54,900
singly One Voice. 
Then another answering the calls

5412
04:59:54,900 --> 04:59:59,300
over lap, and multiply this bird
chorus is as reliable as any 

5413
04:59:59,300 --> 05:00:02,700
timekeeper when it begins Dawn 
is approaching. 

5414
05:00:02,700 --> 05:00:06,600
You do not rise immediately. 
When you wake to Birdsong, you 

5415
05:00:06,600 --> 05:00:10,400
lice still listening letting 
your body complete its 

5416
05:00:10,400 --> 05:00:13,900
transition from sleep to waking.
Around you. 

5417
05:00:13,900 --> 05:00:17,300
Others are doing the same. 
Some are still deeply asleep, 

5418
05:00:17,300 --> 05:00:19,400
summer awake, but resting 
quietly. 

5419
05:00:20,600 --> 05:00:22,600
Some are beginning to stir and 
stretch. 

5420
05:00:23,800 --> 05:00:25,900
Child Waits and immediately 
starts talking. 

5421
05:00:26,900 --> 05:00:28,700
Their voice loud in the quiet 
morning. 

5422
05:00:29,600 --> 05:00:33,600
Someone shushes them, gently not
scolding but simply indicating 

5423
05:00:33,600 --> 05:00:38,600
that quiet is still preferred. 
The child complies their voice 

5424
05:00:38,600 --> 05:00:40,400
dropping to a whisper as they 
continue. 

5425
05:00:40,400 --> 05:00:42,100
Whatever thought they were 
expressing. 

5426
05:00:43,100 --> 05:00:46,000
The fire is very low. 
Now, mostly Kohl's. 

5427
05:00:46,000 --> 05:00:49,600
Someone is building it up for 
the day adding kindling. 

5428
05:00:49,600 --> 05:00:54,000
First then larger pieces as the 
flame catchers, the fires 

5429
05:00:54,000 --> 05:00:56,400
Revival signals, the true 
beginning of the day. 

5430
05:00:57,300 --> 05:00:59,900
Once it is burning. 
Well people will rise and begin 

5431
05:00:59,900 --> 05:01:03,000
their routines. 
You push your hide aside and sit

5432
05:01:03,000 --> 05:01:05,900
up slowly. 
Your body is stiff from sleeping

5433
05:01:05,900 --> 05:01:09,200
on the ground you stretch 
carefully working out the 

5434
05:01:09,208 --> 05:01:12,500
tightness in your back and 
shoulders others are doing the 

5435
05:01:12,500 --> 05:01:15,700
same moving through their 
personal waking rituals. 

5436
05:01:17,800 --> 05:01:21,600
The night has passed in its 
usual way broken, but restful 

5437
05:01:21,600 --> 05:01:26,700
punctuated by small needs met 
with calm responses now as light

5438
05:01:26,700 --> 05:01:29,700
begins to filter into the world.
The day is ready to begin again 

5439
05:01:29,700 --> 05:01:34,700
the sun rises again as it always
does the patterns begin a new 

5440
05:01:34,700 --> 05:01:40,500
Gathering making caring resting 
eating tending sleeping? 

5441
05:01:41,400 --> 05:01:45,000
These rhythms have no origin you
could name they existed before 

5442
05:01:45,000 --> 05:01:48,900
you and will exist after you. 
You were taught these patterns 

5443
05:01:48,900 --> 05:01:52,900
by watching the people who came 
before your teaching them now to

5444
05:01:52,900 --> 05:01:56,300
the people who come off after 
the teaching is not formal. 

5445
05:01:56,300 --> 05:02:00,600
It is simply present simply the 
living of days and established 

5446
05:02:00,600 --> 05:02:03,200
ways. 
Nothing is written down. 

5447
05:02:04,200 --> 05:02:07,300
There are no records or 
instructions knowledge lives in 

5448
05:02:07,300 --> 05:02:10,500
hands and bodies and the shared 
memory of the group. 

5449
05:02:11,700 --> 05:02:16,100
What needs to be known is known 
through doing through repetition

5450
05:02:16,100 --> 05:02:19,900
and through the accumulated 
experience of countless days. 

5451
05:02:21,700 --> 05:02:25,000
The tools you use were shaped 
using techniques older than 

5452
05:02:25,000 --> 05:02:27,700
language. 
The foods you prepare have been 

5453
05:02:27,700 --> 05:02:31,400
prepared this same way for 
longer than counting allows The 

5454
05:02:31,400 --> 05:02:34,500
Roots You Walk were established 
by people whose names are 

5455
05:02:34,500 --> 05:02:37,900
completely forgotten. 
This deep history is invisible 

5456
05:02:37,900 --> 05:02:40,900
in daily life. 
You do not think about the age 

5457
05:02:40,900 --> 05:02:43,700
of your practices you simply 
practice them. 

5458
05:02:45,200 --> 05:02:49,100
The continuity is unconscious 
maintained through habit rather 

5459
05:02:49,100 --> 05:02:52,300
than intention. 
Children growing up here will 

5460
05:02:52,300 --> 05:02:55,000
know what you know. 
Not because you will sit them 

5461
05:02:55,000 --> 05:02:58,400
down and explain but because 
they will live alongside you 

5462
05:02:58,400 --> 05:03:01,800
watching and trying and 
gradually becoming capable. 

5463
05:03:02,700 --> 05:03:04,300
The children will learn the same
way. 

5464
05:03:05,200 --> 05:03:09,000
The chain remains unbroken 
through proximity and time the 

5465
05:03:09,000 --> 05:03:12,800
landscape itself holds memory. 
This Gathering ground has been 

5466
05:03:12,800 --> 05:03:16,300
used for Generations. 
The paths are worn deep not by 

5467
05:03:16,300 --> 05:03:20,300
any individual footfall, but by 
the accumulation of all foot 

5468
05:03:20,300 --> 05:03:23,900
falls across time. 
You walk where countless others 

5469
05:03:23,900 --> 05:03:25,800
walked before though. 
You never knew them. 

5470
05:03:26,700 --> 05:03:29,000
Certain places have stories 
though. 

5471
05:03:29,000 --> 05:03:31,900
The stories are simple. 
This is where the fish are 

5472
05:03:31,900 --> 05:03:34,600
always plentiful. 
This is where good clay can be 

5473
05:03:34,608 --> 05:03:37,000
found. 
This is where storms are easier 

5474
05:03:37,000 --> 05:03:39,600
to Shelter From. 
The stories are practical 

5475
05:03:39,600 --> 05:03:41,400
knowledge disguised as 
narrative. 

5476
05:03:42,300 --> 05:03:43,800
You do not wonder about the 
future. 

5477
05:03:43,800 --> 05:03:46,100
The future will be similar to 
now. 

5478
05:03:46,900 --> 05:03:51,100
Seasons will cycle plants will 
grow and be gathered children 

5479
05:03:51,100 --> 05:03:55,400
will be born and raised people 
will work and rest and care for 

5480
05:03:55,400 --> 05:03:58,400
each other. 
This continuity is so reliable. 

5481
05:03:58,400 --> 05:04:03,600
It requires no contemplation 
change happens, but slowly so 

5482
05:04:03,600 --> 05:04:07,600
slowly as to be nearly invisible
a slightly different technique 

5483
05:04:07,600 --> 05:04:11,000
for basket weaving. 
A new food source was discovered

5484
05:04:11,000 --> 05:04:14,600
and Incorporated small 
adjustments accumulate across 

5485
05:04:14,600 --> 05:04:17,800
Generations, but never disrupt 
the fundamental patterns. 

5486
05:04:18,800 --> 05:04:21,800
You are simultaneously 
insignificant and essential 

5487
05:04:21,800 --> 05:04:26,100
insignificant because you are 
one person in an endless chain 

5488
05:04:26,100 --> 05:04:29,600
your individual life a brief 
moment in a much longer story. 

5489
05:04:30,700 --> 05:04:35,200
Sensual because the chain 
depends on each link without you

5490
05:04:35,200 --> 05:04:38,800
the knowledge you carry would 
not pass forward the work you do

5491
05:04:38,800 --> 05:04:40,700
today will need doing again 
tomorrow. 

5492
05:04:40,700 --> 05:04:43,100
This could feel futile but does 
not. 

5493
05:04:44,000 --> 05:04:47,500
The repetition is the point. 
Each day's Gathering feeds. 

5494
05:04:47,500 --> 05:04:50,600
Today's people. 
Each day's repairs, maintain 

5495
05:04:50,600 --> 05:04:55,100
today's tools, the work is 
complete in itself not building 

5496
05:04:55,100 --> 05:04:59,200
towards some distant goal. 
You experience satisfaction in 

5497
05:04:59,200 --> 05:05:03,300
the immediate and the tangible, 
a basket successfully repairs. 

5498
05:05:03,300 --> 05:05:09,300
A child soothe to sleep a meal. 
Shared the small completions are

5499
05:05:09,300 --> 05:05:12,800
what life is made of there is no
larger narrative required. 

5500
05:05:13,700 --> 05:05:16,800
Evening arrives. 
Again, you return to the fire. 

5501
05:05:18,500 --> 05:05:22,600
The Flames are as hypnotic as 
always people settle around you,

5502
05:05:22,600 --> 05:05:26,800
in familiar positions, children 
lean heavily their eyes, already

5503
05:05:26,800 --> 05:05:31,100
closing. 
The day ends as Days End quietly

5504
05:05:31,100 --> 05:05:34,400
and without ceremony. 
You lie down in your usual 

5505
05:05:34,400 --> 05:05:38,700
place, the hide covers. 
You the ground beneath his known

5506
05:05:38,700 --> 05:05:41,800
and comfortable your body 
arranges itself automatically 

5507
05:05:43,200 --> 05:05:46,500
Sleep begins, its gentle 
approach to tomorrow will bring 

5508
05:05:46,500 --> 05:05:49,600
Gathering again. 
The same plants in the same 

5509
05:05:49,600 --> 05:05:53,500
place as changed. 
Only by season, your hands will 

5510
05:05:53,500 --> 05:05:57,400
move through familiar emotions. 
Your feet will walk familiar 

5511
05:05:57,400 --> 05:06:00,700
paths. 
This repetition is not a burden.

5512
05:06:00,700 --> 05:06:04,900
It is structure. 
It is security it is the Deep 

5513
05:06:04,900 --> 05:06:08,900
continuity that connects you to 
all who came before and all who 

5514
05:06:08,900 --> 05:06:12,600
will come after. 
The story has no ending. 

5515
05:06:13,300 --> 05:06:15,700
Because it is not a story in the
traditional sense. 

5516
05:06:16,400 --> 05:06:20,700
It is simply life continuing as 
it has continued one day 

5517
05:06:20,700 --> 05:06:24,000
following another in patterns 
worn Smooth by time. 

5518
05:06:25,200 --> 05:06:31,000
Fire Burns low breathing around 
you deepens into sleep the night

5519
05:06:31,000 --> 05:06:34,600
settles over everything warm and
dark and safe. 

5520
05:06:34,600 --> 05:06:38,900
You're exactly where you have 
always been you're doing exactly

5521
05:06:38,900 --> 05:06:42,300
what is always been done in this
deep seamless. 

5522
05:06:42,300 --> 05:06:46,600
There is profound. 
Peace your eyes closed your 

5523
05:06:46,600 --> 05:06:51,700
breathing slows the day releases
you into sleep tomorrow when 

5524
05:06:51,700 --> 05:06:54,300
light returns you will wake and 
begin again. 

5525
05:06:55,900 --> 05:07:00,100
The Cycles will continue the 
pattern will hold the quiet 

5526
05:07:00,100 --> 05:07:03,900
continuity will remain unbroken 
carrying forward into a future 

5527
05:07:03,900 --> 05:07:07,900
that looks remarkably like the 
past which looks remarkably like

5528
05:07:07,900 --> 05:07:12,800
now and in that endless gentle 
repetition Humanity as always 

5529
05:07:12,800 --> 05:07:16,000
found its Rhythm its meaning and
its rest. 

5530
05:07:22,200 --> 05:07:26,500
You stand in mud that never 
quite freezes solid despite the 

5531
05:07:26,500 --> 05:07:29,900
bitter December cold seeping 
through every layer of your 

5532
05:07:29,900 --> 05:07:33,200
uniform. 
The trench stretches before you 

5533
05:07:33,200 --> 05:07:37,500
in a zigzag pattern carved into 
Belgian, Farmland, that five 

5534
05:07:37,500 --> 05:07:39,300
months ago, grew sugar beets and
wheat. 

5535
05:07:40,000 --> 05:07:42,100
Now it grows nothing but more 
trenches. 

5536
05:07:42,100 --> 05:07:46,400
More wire more reasons for men 
to crouch below the Earth's 

5537
05:07:46,400 --> 05:07:50,000
surface, like reluctant miners 
the walls around You Weep with 

5538
05:07:50,000 --> 05:07:54,100
moisture sandbags sag under 
their own weight and wooden 

5539
05:07:54,100 --> 05:07:55,800
boards laid across the trench 
floor. 

5540
05:07:55,800 --> 05:07:59,000
Float slightly when you step on 
them, releasing Brown water, 

5541
05:07:59,000 --> 05:08:01,800
that smells of clay and 
something organic. 

5542
05:08:01,800 --> 05:08:05,200
You've learned not to think 
about too carefully, your boots,

5543
05:08:05,200 --> 05:08:08,300
good British leather. 
That your mother saved up for a 

5544
05:08:08,300 --> 05:08:11,400
permanently damp. 
You've forgotten what dry socks 

5545
05:08:11,400 --> 05:08:15,500
feel like above the trench. 
The winter Sky hangs low and 

5546
05:08:15,500 --> 05:08:21,900
gray the color of old pewter. 
It's the 23rd of December 1914 

5547
05:08:21,900 --> 05:08:25,000
and you've been in the 
particular stretch of hell for 

5548
05:08:25,000 --> 05:08:27,500
11 days. 
The landscape beyond the 

5549
05:08:27,508 --> 05:08:30,700
sandbags offers no Comfort bare 
trees. 

5550
05:08:30,700 --> 05:08:35,100
Reduced to splintered stumps 
Fields churned into moonscapes 

5551
05:08:35,100 --> 05:08:39,400
of craters and wire Farm houses 
that are now just collections of

5552
05:08:39,400 --> 05:08:42,000
broken brick gradually sinking 
into the mud. 

5553
05:08:42,000 --> 05:08:45,800
The cold Works its way into your
bones with patient persistence. 

5554
05:08:45,800 --> 05:08:50,000
It's not the dramatic knife. 
Sharp cold of mountain Winters 

5555
05:08:50,000 --> 05:08:54,500
that something more Insidious. 
A damp chill that settles into 

5556
05:08:54,500 --> 05:08:56,700
your joints and makes everything
ache. 

5557
05:08:57,400 --> 05:09:00,700
Your fingers are always slightly
numb, even inside your gloves. 

5558
05:09:01,600 --> 05:09:03,800
Tip of your nose. 
Feels like it belongs to someone

5559
05:09:03,800 --> 05:09:06,200
else other men. 
Share this trench with you 

5560
05:09:06,200 --> 05:09:10,200
Shake's bundled in khaki wool. 
Faces redundant by wind and 

5561
05:09:10,200 --> 05:09:12,300
sprouting. 
Beards that never quite look 

5562
05:09:12,300 --> 05:09:15,500
intentional. 
Young Thompson from Sheffield 

5563
05:09:15,500 --> 05:09:19,500
works on a brassiere coaxing 
reluctant Flames from scraps of 

5564
05:09:19,508 --> 05:09:22,500
wood. 
The smoke rises in a thin column

5565
05:09:22,500 --> 05:09:24,000
before the wind snatches it 
away. 

5566
05:09:24,900 --> 05:09:28,200
Sergeant Davies sits on a firing
step, methodically cleaning his 

5567
05:09:28,200 --> 05:09:31,000
rifle with movements that have 
become automatic. 

5568
05:09:31,000 --> 05:09:34,300
After months of repetition, 
you've learned the rhythm of 

5569
05:09:34,308 --> 05:09:39,700
trench life Stan to Adorn when 
attacks most likely. the long 

5570
05:09:39,700 --> 05:09:43,300
stretches of waiting brief 
periods of activity when 

5571
05:09:43,300 --> 05:09:47,600
supplies arrive orders come down
the line, Constant noring 

5572
05:09:47,600 --> 05:09:49,700
awareness that a few hundred 
yards away. 

5573
05:09:49,700 --> 05:09:53,900
Other men in different uniforms 
are doing exactly the same thing

5574
05:09:53,900 --> 05:09:58,200
in trenches, that mirror your 
own, the war itself has become 

5575
05:09:58,200 --> 05:10:02,300
something strange and static. 
In August everyone moved quickly

5576
05:10:02,300 --> 05:10:07,400
armies marching battles fought 
across Open Fields Cavalry 

5577
05:10:07,400 --> 05:10:09,500
Charges that belong to earlier 
centuries. 

5578
05:10:10,500 --> 05:10:12,900
By September the movement 
slowed. 

5579
05:10:13,400 --> 05:10:18,000
By October, it stopped entirely.
Now both sides face each other 

5580
05:10:18,008 --> 05:10:21,700
across a strip of Devastation 
called No Man's Land neither 

5581
05:10:21,700 --> 05:10:25,900
able to advance neither willing 
to retreat your trench connects 

5582
05:10:25,900 --> 05:10:29,400
to others in a vast Network that
runs from the English Channel to

5583
05:10:29,400 --> 05:10:33,300
the Swiss border. 
Hundreds of miles of ditches all

5584
05:10:33,300 --> 05:10:35,300
filled with men who'd rather be 
somewhere else. 

5585
05:10:36,200 --> 05:10:38,600
You think about this? 
Sometimes during the quiet hours

5586
05:10:38,600 --> 05:10:43,000
how many trenchers how many 
soldiers standing in cold mud? 

5587
05:10:43,000 --> 05:10:45,100
How many families waiting at 
home? 

5588
05:10:45,100 --> 05:10:49,400
The Germans occupy similar 
trenches across the way you 

5589
05:10:49,400 --> 05:10:52,900
can't see them directly, but you
know they're there. sometimes 

5590
05:10:52,900 --> 05:10:56,900
you hear them voices calling 
back and forth the Clank of 

5591
05:10:56,900 --> 05:11:01,700
equipment the same sound you 
make At night if the artillery 

5592
05:11:01,700 --> 05:11:05,200
Falls silent you can hear their 
work parties reinforcing 

5593
05:11:05,200 --> 05:11:08,700
positions the scrape of shovels 
against Frozen Earth. 

5594
05:11:08,700 --> 05:11:11,600
Someone started calling them 
Fritz though. 

5595
05:11:11,600 --> 05:11:13,700
You've never met a German 
soldier named Fritz. 

5596
05:11:14,500 --> 05:11:18,400
They probably call you something
equally generic. the propaganda 

5597
05:11:18,400 --> 05:11:22,400
posters show monstrous Huns, but
you've seen German prisoners 

5598
05:11:22,400 --> 05:11:25,700
being marched to the rear young 
man who looked tired and cold 

5599
05:11:25,700 --> 05:11:29,100
and remarkably like the fellows 
in your own trench the front 

5600
05:11:29,100 --> 05:11:32,700
line here runs through what was 
once farmland Before the armies 

5601
05:11:32,700 --> 05:11:36,800
came Belgian Farmers worked 
these fields grew crops raised 

5602
05:11:36,800 --> 05:11:39,700
families. 
You found a child's toy soldier 

5603
05:11:39,700 --> 05:11:42,900
in the mud last week a little 
painted figure wearing a uniform

5604
05:11:42,900 --> 05:11:45,700
from some early War. 
You kept it in your pocket 

5605
05:11:45,700 --> 05:11:48,400
though. 
You're not sure why your trench 

5606
05:11:48,400 --> 05:11:52,200
has a name Piccadilly because 
some offers so with a sense of 

5607
05:11:52,208 --> 05:11:54,900
humor thought the trenches 
should sound like London streets

5608
05:11:54,900 --> 05:11:59,300
other sections are called Regent
Street Bond Street, Leicester 

5609
05:11:59,300 --> 05:12:02,200
Square. 
As if giving them familiar names

5610
05:12:02,200 --> 05:12:04,500
might make them less foreign 
less terrible. 

5611
05:12:04,500 --> 05:12:08,300
It doesn't work. 
But the name stuck any way the 

5612
05:12:08,300 --> 05:12:11,900
daily routine provides structure
morning Stan to win. 

5613
05:12:11,900 --> 05:12:14,900
The grey light creeps across no 
man's land and everyone man's 

5614
05:12:14,900 --> 05:12:18,400
the firing step rifles ready 
waiting for an attack. 

5615
05:12:18,408 --> 05:12:22,200
That usually doesn't come. 
Breakfast afterward tea that 

5616
05:12:22,200 --> 05:12:26,000
tastes of the iron Dixie its 
brood in bread that soften stale

5617
05:12:26,000 --> 05:12:30,300
sometimes Jam the bread arrives 
and sandbags which strikes he 

5618
05:12:30,300 --> 05:12:34,000
was funny and a grim sort of way
everything arrives in sandbags 

5619
05:12:34,000 --> 05:12:37,500
during the day. 
There are tasks repairs to the 

5620
05:12:37,500 --> 05:12:39,300
trench walls. 
Where rain is collapsed the 

5621
05:12:39,308 --> 05:12:42,000
Earth. 
Filling new sandbags cleaning 

5622
05:12:42,000 --> 05:12:44,500
weapons writing letters home 
though. 

5623
05:12:44,500 --> 05:12:46,600
You've run out of things to say 
that won't worry your mother. 

5624
05:12:47,400 --> 05:12:49,400
The letters all sound the same 
after a while. 

5625
05:12:50,200 --> 05:12:52,700
I'm well the food's adequate. 
Don't worry about me. 

5626
05:12:53,400 --> 05:12:57,200
You don't mention the mud the 
cold the rats the body you saw 

5627
05:12:57,208 --> 05:13:00,900
last week still hanging on the 
German wire the rats deserve 

5628
05:13:00,900 --> 05:13:04,400
their own paragraph. 
There are everywhere bold and 

5629
05:13:04,400 --> 05:13:07,800
fat unafraid of men. 
They Scurry along the trench at 

5630
05:13:07,800 --> 05:13:09,800
night and you've stopped trying 
to chase them away. 

5631
05:13:10,700 --> 05:13:13,600
They were here before you and 
they'll be here after you leave 

5632
05:13:13,600 --> 05:13:17,200
one way or another. 
At least they're warm blooded 

5633
05:13:17,200 --> 05:13:21,900
company winter darkness comes 
early this far north by four in 

5634
05:13:21,908 --> 05:13:23,800
the afternoon the light starts 
failing. 

5635
05:13:24,600 --> 05:13:27,300
By five you need lanterns for 
any details work. 

5636
05:13:28,600 --> 05:13:32,900
The long night stretcher head 
cold and damp filled with the 

5637
05:13:32,900 --> 05:13:35,700
small sounds of men trying to 
stay comfortable in 

5638
05:13:35,700 --> 05:13:39,100
uncomfortable places, but 
tonight feels different somehow.

5639
05:13:39,100 --> 05:13:42,100
Maybe it's because tomorrow is 
Christmas Eve. 

5640
05:13:43,100 --> 05:13:45,700
Maybe it's the rumor that's been
passing up and down the line 

5641
05:13:45,700 --> 05:13:47,300
about packages arriving from 
home. 

5642
05:13:48,200 --> 05:13:50,800
Maybe it's just the human need 
to believe that something 

5643
05:13:50,800 --> 05:13:55,200
somewhere like be different from
the grinding sameness of trench 

5644
05:13:55,200 --> 05:13:57,600
warfare. 
You pull your coat Tighter and 

5645
05:13:57,600 --> 05:14:00,400
stamp your feet try to restore 
circulation. 

5646
05:14:02,300 --> 05:14:05,700
Somewhere in the distance 
artillery rumbles, but far away 

5647
05:14:05,700 --> 05:14:09,800
someone else's problem. 
Here in your section of 

5648
05:14:09,800 --> 05:14:13,000
Piccadilly the evening settles 
into something approaching 

5649
05:14:13,000 --> 05:14:15,500
quiet. 
First stars appear in the 

5650
05:14:15,500 --> 05:14:19,900
darkening Sky faint at first 
then brighter as night deepens. 

5651
05:14:20,600 --> 05:14:23,700
You've always liked Stars. 
They look the same whether 

5652
05:14:23,700 --> 05:14:27,200
you're in a trench and Belgium 
or standing in your backyard in 

5653
05:14:27,200 --> 05:14:30,300
England. 
The war hasn't changed them the 

5654
05:14:30,300 --> 05:14:33,700
packages arrive on the afternoon
of Christmas Eve carried up the 

5655
05:14:33,700 --> 05:14:37,100
communication trenches by men 
who curse the weight and the mud

5656
05:14:37,100 --> 05:14:40,200
in equal measure. 
Word spreads quickly down the 

5657
05:14:40,200 --> 05:14:45,200
line males here Parcels from 
home you watch as the bundles 

5658
05:14:45,200 --> 05:14:48,900
get distributed each man's name 
called out. the careful exchange

5659
05:14:48,900 --> 05:14:53,200
of sake cardboard boxes wrapped 
in string Some packages have 

5660
05:14:53,200 --> 05:14:57,600
clearly had difficult Journeys 
dented stained retired multiple 

5661
05:14:57,600 --> 05:15:01,900
times others look remarkably 
intact as if they've stepped 

5662
05:15:01,900 --> 05:15:04,900
through a portal from the normal
World directly into this strange

5663
05:15:04,900 --> 05:15:08,600
one your own package Bears your 
mother's handwriting and you 

5664
05:15:08,600 --> 05:15:11,000
recognize the paper. 
She saved from last year's 

5665
05:15:11,000 --> 05:15:14,800
holiday the pattern of Holly and
bells now strangely out of place

5666
05:15:14,800 --> 05:15:17,900
in a trench. 
Your hands shakes slightly as 

5667
05:15:17,900 --> 05:15:21,400
you untie the string not from 
cold this time, but from 

5668
05:15:21,400 --> 05:15:24,200
something else. 
This box traveled from your 

5669
05:15:24,200 --> 05:15:27,000
kitchen table to your hands 
crossing the distance between 

5670
05:15:27,000 --> 05:15:32,200
peace and War inside a knitted 
scarf in blue wool still 

5671
05:15:32,200 --> 05:15:36,000
smelling faintly of home that 
particular combination of soap 

5672
05:15:36,000 --> 05:15:39,700
and cooking and the lavender 
your mother keeps in drawers a 

5673
05:15:39,700 --> 05:15:42,700
tin of her shortbread. 
Somehow unbroken despite the 

5674
05:15:42,700 --> 05:15:47,800
journey a letter in her careful 
script. small Christmas pudding 

5675
05:15:47,800 --> 05:15:53,600
wrapped in cloth a packet of 
real tobacco the good kind socks

5676
05:15:53,600 --> 05:15:57,900
three pairs thick and warm a bar
of chocolate. 

5677
05:15:57,900 --> 05:16:01,300
You're not embarrassed by the 
tears that blur your vision 

5678
05:16:01,300 --> 05:16:05,100
around you other men open their 
own packages with similar 

5679
05:16:05,100 --> 05:16:09,000
Expressions Thompson unwraps 
something knitted by his sweet 

5680
05:16:09,000 --> 05:16:13,700
heart a scarf in regimental 
Colours slightly uneven in the 

5681
05:16:13,700 --> 05:16:17,800
way that proves it was made by 
hand with love Davies receives a

5682
05:16:17,800 --> 05:16:20,900
fruitcake from his sister hard 
as brick, but precious 

5683
05:16:20,900 --> 05:16:23,900
nonetheless a package is 
transformed the trench 

5684
05:16:23,900 --> 05:16:28,200
temporarily for a brief period 
the war received and you're 

5685
05:16:28,200 --> 05:16:31,600
connected again to kitchens and 
parlors and people who remember 

5686
05:16:31,600 --> 05:16:33,300
you as something other than a 
soldier. 

5687
05:16:34,300 --> 05:16:37,000
The trench fills with the smell 
of cake and chocolate and 

5688
05:16:37,000 --> 05:16:40,600
tobacco sense that belonged to 
peacetime some men receive 

5689
05:16:40,600 --> 05:16:44,100
packages from strangers. 
The tobacco fund organized by 

5690
05:16:44,100 --> 05:16:48,100
ladies in London charitable 
organizations that send gifts to

5691
05:16:48,100 --> 05:16:53,000
boys at the front. these contain
practical items cigarettes socks

5692
05:16:53,000 --> 05:16:57,300
small tins of meat They also 
contain handwritten notes from a

5693
05:16:57,308 --> 05:16:59,100
Grateful Nation. 
God bless you. 

5694
05:16:59,100 --> 05:17:02,200
Come home safe. 
The notes are signed by people. 

5695
05:17:02,200 --> 05:17:04,700
You'll never meet. 
Somehow that makes them more 

5696
05:17:04,700 --> 05:17:08,700
touching not less the officers 
receive packages too, though. 

5697
05:17:08,700 --> 05:17:10,700
They open them with more 
restraint conscious of 

5698
05:17:10,700 --> 05:17:14,800
maintaining dignity. 
Still you see Lieutenant Kerry's

5699
05:17:14,800 --> 05:17:17,500
face soften the unwrapped 
something from his wife. 

5700
05:17:18,300 --> 05:17:21,800
A photograph you think though he
tucks it away quickly the 

5701
05:17:21,800 --> 05:17:25,300
Christmas pudding your mother 
sent his small but Rich studded 

5702
05:17:25,300 --> 05:17:28,900
with raisins and candied peel 
you decide to save it for 

5703
05:17:28,900 --> 05:17:32,100
tomorrow for the actual day. 
The shortbread. 

5704
05:17:32,100 --> 05:17:34,200
However, you share with the men 
nearby. 

5705
05:17:34,200 --> 05:17:38,600
It breaks into crumbs easily and
you only eat it slowly making it

5706
05:17:38,600 --> 05:17:42,200
last letting the butter and 
sugar dissolve on your tongues. 

5707
05:17:42,200 --> 05:17:46,100
Your mum's a good Baker Thompson
says shortbread crumbs in his 

5708
05:17:46,100 --> 05:17:48,200
mustache. 
She'd be pleased to hear you 

5709
05:17:48,200 --> 05:17:51,700
say, so you reply the chocolate 
goes into your pocket for later.

5710
05:17:51,700 --> 05:17:55,800
You've learned to ration treats 
to spread them out over days 

5711
05:17:55,800 --> 05:17:57,900
rather than consuming everything
at once. 

5712
05:17:58,900 --> 05:18:00,600
The future is uncertain enough 
without all. 

5713
05:18:00,600 --> 05:18:04,000
So running out of chocolate as 
evening approaches, the packages

5714
05:18:04,000 --> 05:18:07,500
are mostly opened their contents
distributed or stored away. 

5715
05:18:08,500 --> 05:18:10,900
Trench settles back into its 
usual rhythms. 

5716
05:18:10,900 --> 05:18:14,600
But something has shifted the 
presence of these objects. 

5717
05:18:14,600 --> 05:18:17,200
From home. 
These tangible, connections to 

5718
05:18:17,200 --> 05:18:20,600
another world has reminded 
everyone of what exists beyond 

5719
05:18:20,600 --> 05:18:25,700
the wire and mud this Sky clears
as Darkness Falls unusual for 

5720
05:18:25,700 --> 05:18:29,800
December in Belgium. 
Stars appear bright and sharp in

5721
05:18:29,800 --> 05:18:32,800
the cold are no. 
Clouds means the temperature 

5722
05:18:32,800 --> 05:18:37,400
will drop further tonight. 
But ins visibility You can see 

5723
05:18:37,400 --> 05:18:40,400
all the way across no man's land
to where the German trenches are

5724
05:18:40,400 --> 05:18:44,200
marked by similar lines of 
sandbags in someone notices, the

5725
05:18:44,200 --> 05:18:47,600
trees small evergreen trees 
appearing along the German 

5726
05:18:47,600 --> 05:18:51,100
parapet at first. 
You're not sure what you're 

5727
05:18:51,100 --> 05:18:53,600
seeing. 
Are they camouflage some new 

5728
05:18:53,600 --> 05:18:58,400
defensive Arrangement but no 
their Christmas trees small 

5729
05:18:58,400 --> 05:19:01,900
Pines and Furs set up along the 
German trench line. 

5730
05:19:01,900 --> 05:19:06,100
And as Darkness deepens, they 
begin to Glow with candles, the 

5731
05:19:06,100 --> 05:19:10,600
site stops conversation in your 
Trench, Men's stare across no 

5732
05:19:10,600 --> 05:19:13,000
man's land at the tiny Points of
Light flickering in the 

5733
05:19:13,008 --> 05:19:16,900
Darkness. 
It seems impossible absurd even 

5734
05:19:16,900 --> 05:19:21,400
decorating trenches as if they 
were parlors Yet, there they 

5735
05:19:21,400 --> 05:19:23,700
are. 
Little trees glowing in the 

5736
05:19:23,700 --> 05:19:27,300
winter night. 
Each candle a small Defiance of 

5737
05:19:27,308 --> 05:19:30,600
the war's Darkness. 
Well, I'll be damned Davies 

5738
05:19:30,600 --> 05:19:33,000
mutters. 
The candles, multiply is more 

5739
05:19:33,008 --> 05:19:34,600
trees appear along the German 
line. 

5740
05:19:35,300 --> 05:19:40,000
Dozens of small lights, warp and
gold, and utterly incongruous 

5741
05:19:40,000 --> 05:19:44,000
with the landscape of War. 
Someone has carried those trees 

5742
05:19:44,000 --> 05:19:47,200
to the front. 
Lines has set them up as lick 

5743
05:19:47,200 --> 05:19:49,000
candles, despite the cold and 
wind. 

5744
05:19:49,000 --> 05:19:51,600
Someone decided that Christmas 
mattered. 

5745
05:19:51,600 --> 05:19:54,500
Even here you think about the 
effort involved. 

5746
05:19:55,500 --> 05:19:57,900
The trees would have come from 
supply lines carried through 

5747
05:19:57,900 --> 05:20:01,600
communication, trenches placed 
carefully on fire steps or 

5748
05:20:01,600 --> 05:20:05,800
sandbags. 
The candles precious scarce 

5749
05:20:05,800 --> 05:20:09,500
scandals used not for reading 
Maps or writing letters, but for

5750
05:20:09,500 --> 05:20:13,800
decoration for beauty for 
Christmas, the German trenches 

5751
05:20:13,800 --> 05:20:17,300
are perhaps 200 yards away, 
close enough to see the candles 

5752
05:20:17,300 --> 05:20:20,300
clearly too far to make out 
individual faces. 

5753
05:20:21,200 --> 05:20:23,900
But you know men are standing 
over there looking at their 

5754
05:20:23,900 --> 05:20:27,300
Christmas trees perhaps thinking
the same thoughts you're 

5755
05:20:27,300 --> 05:20:29,600
thinking now. 
They've got the right idea 

5756
05:20:29,600 --> 05:20:32,100
Thompson says quietly. 
It's Christmas Eve. 

5757
05:20:32,100 --> 05:20:35,400
Isn't it ought to have a tree 
nobody responds, but the 

5758
05:20:35,408 --> 05:20:38,500
sentiment hangs in the air. 
It is Christmas Eve. 

5759
05:20:38,500 --> 05:20:42,400
The calendar doesn't stop for 
war somewhere in England 

5760
05:20:42,400 --> 05:20:46,700
families are gathering churches 
are being decorated children are

5761
05:20:46,700 --> 05:20:49,400
being tucked into bed with 
promises about Father Christmas 

5762
05:20:49,400 --> 05:20:52,000
the world continues his old 
rhythms. 

5763
05:20:52,000 --> 05:20:56,000
Even when part of it is frozen 
in Belgian mud, the temperature 

5764
05:20:56,000 --> 05:20:59,400
continues to drop your breath 
makes clouds in the air. 

5765
05:21:00,400 --> 05:21:03,800
The frost begins to Sparkle on 
the sandbags on the rim of the 

5766
05:21:03,800 --> 05:21:08,700
trench on The Wire stretched 
across no man's land in the cold

5767
05:21:08,700 --> 05:21:11,500
clear are sounds carried 
differently. 

5768
05:21:11,500 --> 05:21:15,400
You can hear the Germans moving 
about in their trenches hear 

5769
05:21:15,400 --> 05:21:18,400
their voices then across the 
Frozen distance. 

5770
05:21:18,400 --> 05:21:22,200
Someone begins to sing The Voice
carries across No Man's Land 

5771
05:21:22,200 --> 05:21:24,100
clearance strong in the cold 
air. 

5772
05:21:24,800 --> 05:21:27,500
German words, but the melody is 
unmistakable. 

5773
05:21:28,500 --> 05:21:32,800
Dylan knocked highly ganache 
Silent Night. 

5774
05:21:33,900 --> 05:21:37,600
The singer has a good voice 
trained, perhaps and the notes 

5775
05:21:37,600 --> 05:21:39,700
rise, pure and true into the 
winter Darkness. 

5776
05:21:39,700 --> 05:21:44,500
Other German voices join in 
creating Harmony the song flows,

5777
05:21:44,500 --> 05:21:48,200
over The Frozen Ground over the 
wire and the shell holes over 

5778
05:21:48,200 --> 05:21:51,600
all the Machinery of War. 
You've heard this carol since 

5779
05:21:51,600 --> 05:21:55,600
childhood, sung it in church on 
Christmas Eve but never like 

5780
05:21:55,600 --> 05:21:58,100
this. 
Never with such weight behind 

5781
05:21:58,100 --> 05:22:00,000
it. 
When the Germans finished their 

5782
05:22:00,000 --> 05:22:04,000
verse silence Falls, then from 
somewhere down your own trench 

5783
05:22:04,000 --> 05:22:07,800
line, a British voice takes up 
the melody in English silent 

5784
05:22:07,800 --> 05:22:11,700
night, holy night. 
More voice is join. 

5785
05:22:11,700 --> 05:22:13,600
Hesitant at first, then 
stronger. 

5786
05:22:14,400 --> 05:22:17,500
You find yourself singing to the
words coming automatically from 

5787
05:22:17,500 --> 05:22:21,000
years of Christmas services. 
The two sides trade verses 

5788
05:22:21,000 --> 05:22:24,500
German and English. 
Same prayer in different 

5789
05:22:24,500 --> 05:22:27,100
languages floating up toward the
cold Stars. 

5790
05:22:27,100 --> 05:22:32,100
It feels dreamlike impossible, 
men who spent the day preparing 

5791
05:22:32,100 --> 05:22:34,300
to kill each other. 
Now, sharing A Christmas, Carol 

5792
05:22:34,300 --> 05:22:37,000
of the space between their 
trenches other songs. 

5793
05:22:37,000 --> 05:22:41,100
Follow the German sing Odeon 
bomb and some of your comrades 

5794
05:22:41,100 --> 05:22:42,900
know it is. 
Oh, Christmas tree and sing 

5795
05:22:42,900 --> 05:22:46,900
along someone with a mouth, 
organ plays, The First Noel, and

5796
05:22:46,900 --> 05:22:49,400
the reading notes carry 
surprisingly, well, in the still

5797
05:22:49,400 --> 05:22:53,000
air. 
German voice clear and young 

5798
05:22:53,000 --> 05:22:54,600
sing something you don't 
recognize. 

5799
05:22:55,700 --> 05:23:00,000
Carol in German beautiful 
despite the language barrier you

5800
05:23:00,000 --> 05:23:03,600
realize you're smiling around 
you are the men are smiling too 

5801
05:23:03,600 --> 05:23:06,000
Davies has his eyes closed 
listening. 

5802
05:23:06,800 --> 05:23:10,500
Thompson sways slightly keeping 
time with the music even the 

5803
05:23:10,500 --> 05:23:13,200
officers of stopped their rounds
to listen to this strange 

5804
05:23:13,200 --> 05:23:16,900
spontaneous concert the singing 
continues for over an hour. 

5805
05:23:17,600 --> 05:23:19,500
Carols, you know and carols you 
don't. 

5806
05:23:20,400 --> 05:23:24,600
German voices and British voices
sometimes separate sometimes 

5807
05:23:24,600 --> 05:23:26,900
blending together when The 
Melodies match. 

5808
05:23:27,800 --> 05:23:31,900
No one seems to be organizing it
the songs Just flow from one to 

5809
05:23:31,900 --> 05:23:34,600
the next as if the trenches 
themselves are having a 

5810
05:23:34,608 --> 05:23:38,100
conversation between songs. 
You hear cheering and Applause 

5811
05:23:38,100 --> 05:23:40,900
from both sides when a 
particularly good singer 

5812
05:23:40,900 --> 05:23:44,300
finishes are so low both British
and German voices shout 

5813
05:23:44,300 --> 05:23:47,700
appreciation. 
It's absurd and wonderful and 

5814
05:23:47,700 --> 05:23:52,000
deeply strange applauding the 
enemies Christmas carols the 

5815
05:23:52,000 --> 05:23:54,500
cold deepens, but nobody 
suggests going below to the 

5816
05:23:54,500 --> 05:23:58,600
dugouts this moment feels too 
precious to fragile. 

5817
05:23:59,400 --> 05:24:02,300
Everyone seems to sense that 
moving might break the spell 

5818
05:24:02,300 --> 05:24:06,100
like remind the universe that 
this shouldn't be happening a 

5819
05:24:06,100 --> 05:24:08,700
German voice calls out in 
English thickly accented but 

5820
05:24:08,700 --> 05:24:11,100
clear. 
Happy Christmas Tommy. 

5821
05:24:11,100 --> 05:24:13,900
Happy Christmas Fritz someone 
from your trench calls back 

5822
05:24:13,900 --> 05:24:17,700
laughter ripples along both 
lines the tension that's been 

5823
05:24:17,708 --> 05:24:21,400
constant for months seems to 
ease slightly like a held breath

5824
05:24:21,400 --> 05:24:24,200
being released more shouts are 
exchanged. 

5825
05:24:24,200 --> 05:24:32,100
How is your Christmas? 
cold here all so cold This gets 

5826
05:24:32,100 --> 05:24:35,800
more laughter the shared misery 
of winter Warfare becomes 

5827
05:24:35,800 --> 05:24:39,100
briefly a joke. 
Both sides understand someone 

5828
05:24:39,100 --> 05:24:40,500
from the German side. 
Shouts. 

5829
05:24:40,500 --> 05:24:45,000
We have beer you have beer only 
rum a British voice response rum

5830
05:24:45,000 --> 05:24:47,800
is good. 
Also this exchange somehow seems

5831
05:24:47,800 --> 05:24:52,200
hilarious and laughter Echoes 
across No Man's Land the idea 

5832
05:24:52,200 --> 05:24:54,600
that you're comparing beverages 
with men you might be shooting 

5833
05:24:54,600 --> 05:24:58,600
at tomorrow should be disturbing
but instead it just feels human 

5834
05:24:58,600 --> 05:25:03,000
The Moon Rises nearly full 
turning the frost covered ground

5835
05:25:03,000 --> 05:25:05,500
between the trenches into 
something almost beautiful. 

5836
05:25:06,300 --> 05:25:10,200
In the Moonlight, you can see no
man's land more clearly the wire

5837
05:25:10,200 --> 05:25:13,800
the shell holes the scattered 
debris of War but also the 

5838
05:25:13,800 --> 05:25:17,400
untouched patches of Earth the 
stubble of loss Summers crops 

5839
05:25:17,400 --> 05:25:20,500
poking through the snow a German
soldier appears on their 

5840
05:25:20,500 --> 05:25:23,100
parapets silhouetted against the
candle at trees. 

5841
05:25:23,900 --> 05:25:26,200
He's waving something a bottle, 
Maybe. 

5842
05:25:27,000 --> 05:25:29,900
For a moment, everyone tenses is
this a trick? 

5843
05:25:29,900 --> 05:25:32,700
But no, he's clearly just 
showing off their Christmas 

5844
05:25:32,700 --> 05:25:34,800
beer, proving they really have 
it. 

5845
05:25:34,800 --> 05:25:38,000
A British soldier from further 
down, your trench lines, stands 

5846
05:25:38,000 --> 05:25:41,600
up on a firing step visible 
above the parapet, your heart 

5847
05:25:41,600 --> 05:25:44,800
stops. 
This is how men die, exposing 

5848
05:25:44,800 --> 05:25:47,600
themselves like that. 
But nobody shoots. 

5849
05:25:48,500 --> 05:25:52,500
The German Soldier waves, the 
British soldier waves back then,

5850
05:25:52,500 --> 05:25:54,800
both dropped back into their 
respective trenches. 

5851
05:25:54,800 --> 05:25:58,200
And you realize, you've been 
holding your breath left tenant,

5852
05:25:58,200 --> 05:26:00,200
carry appears, moving along the 
trench. 

5853
05:26:00,200 --> 05:26:03,100
He's been to the command post 
and he carries news. 

5854
05:26:04,000 --> 05:26:05,900
Stand Down from alert. 
He says quietly. 

5855
05:26:05,900 --> 05:26:10,300
Normal, watch only tonight 
command says, the German seem to

5856
05:26:10,308 --> 05:26:14,200
be observing an informal truce 
He pauses then adds its 

5857
05:26:14,200 --> 05:26:15,700
Christmas Eve. 
Try to get some rest. 

5858
05:26:15,700 --> 05:26:18,500
I too rest. 
Seems unlikely with all the 

5859
05:26:18,500 --> 05:26:21,800
singing and shouting but the 
order to stand down from full 

5860
05:26:21,800 --> 05:26:25,200
alert means something. 
It means the officers recognize 

5861
05:26:25,200 --> 05:26:28,300
that tonight is different. 
It means perhaps that they 

5862
05:26:28,300 --> 05:26:30,400
trust. 
The strange piece that settled 

5863
05:26:30,400 --> 05:26:33,900
over the front line, more carols
drift The Frozen Ground. 

5864
05:26:34,700 --> 05:26:37,000
He recognized as death of 
Fidelis. 

5865
05:26:37,000 --> 05:26:40,600
Oh Come All Ye Faithful sung in 
Latin the old traditional 

5866
05:26:40,600 --> 05:26:43,800
version The Latin Works across 
language barriers. 

5867
05:26:43,800 --> 05:26:48,300
Both sides can sing it together.
The combined voices creates 

5868
05:26:48,300 --> 05:26:51,000
something powerful. 
Hundreds of men singing. 

5869
05:26:51,000 --> 05:26:55,400
The same words to the same God 
under the same Stars Thompson. 

5870
05:26:55,400 --> 05:26:58,700
Produces a harmonica from 
somewhere and plays along with 

5871
05:26:58,700 --> 05:27:01,500
the singing. 
He's not particularly skilled 

5872
05:27:01,500 --> 05:27:05,500
but the effort is genuine and 
the simple notes, add to the 

5873
05:27:05,500 --> 05:27:10,400
strange beauty of the moment. 
A German voice calls out Bravo 

5874
05:27:10,400 --> 05:27:14,900
harmonica and Thompson. 
Laughs delighted the singing 

5875
05:27:14,900 --> 05:27:18,900
gradually winds down as the 
night deepens voices, grow 

5876
05:27:18,900 --> 05:27:21,000
tired. 
The cold becomes harder to 

5877
05:27:21,000 --> 05:27:23,400
ignore. 
And Men begin to remember that 

5878
05:27:23,400 --> 05:27:25,700
tomorrow. 
Still exists with all its 

5879
05:27:25,700 --> 05:27:29,400
uncertainties. 
But the candles on the German 

5880
05:27:29,400 --> 05:27:32,900
Christmas trees. 
Continue to burn small Flames 

5881
05:27:32,900 --> 05:27:36,000
steady in the still. 
Are you settle onto a firing 

5882
05:27:36,000 --> 05:27:38,400
stepped in your coat and the new
scarf? 

5883
05:27:38,400 --> 05:27:42,900
Your mother sent The scarf still
smells like home and you pull it

5884
05:27:42,900 --> 05:27:45,400
up around your nose and mouth 
breathing in that scent. 

5885
05:27:46,300 --> 05:27:50,500
Around you, the trench grows 
quieter men finding places to 

5886
05:27:50,500 --> 05:27:54,200
rest or wrapping themselves in 
blankets for watch duty, but 

5887
05:27:54,200 --> 05:27:57,300
sleep doesn't come easily. 
You keep thinking about the 

5888
05:27:57,300 --> 05:28:01,200
singing about the German voices,
blending with British ones about

5889
05:28:01,200 --> 05:28:05,000
the man who stood up on the 
German parapet and waved About 

5890
05:28:05,000 --> 05:28:08,300
how easy it would be to imagine 
him as a friend, rather than an 

5891
05:28:08,300 --> 05:28:10,900
enemy. 
The Stars wheel overhead in 

5892
05:28:10,900 --> 05:28:15,500
their ancient patterns Somewhere
far away in another world that 

5893
05:28:15,500 --> 05:28:18,100
still exists, despite the war 
church. 

5894
05:28:18,100 --> 05:28:20,800
Bells are probably ringing for 
midnight services. 

5895
05:28:21,600 --> 05:28:24,000
Here, the bells are replaced by 
silence. 

5896
05:28:24,000 --> 05:28:29,200
A profound unusual silence as if
the Earth itself is holding its 

5897
05:28:29,200 --> 05:28:33,200
breath tomorrow's Christmas Day.
What that will bring you don't 

5898
05:28:33,200 --> 05:28:36,500
know. 
But tonight there was music and 

5899
05:28:36,500 --> 05:28:39,500
light and something that felt 
remarkably like piece. 

5900
05:28:39,500 --> 05:28:42,800
Christmas morning arrives with 
frost thick on everything. 

5901
05:28:42,800 --> 05:28:46,000
Turning the world into a study 
and white and gray. 

5902
05:28:46,800 --> 05:28:50,500
You wake stiff and cold your 
breath, making clouds in the 

5903
05:28:50,500 --> 05:28:54,400
dugouts, dim interior. 
Above, you can hear movement, 

5904
05:28:54,400 --> 05:28:58,600
the usual sounds of mourning 
Stan 2 men taking their 

5905
05:28:58,600 --> 05:29:02,200
positions, along the firing, 
step you climb the Dugout steps,

5906
05:29:02,200 --> 05:29:05,500
your joints, protesting, and 
emerge into surprising sunlight.

5907
05:29:06,400 --> 05:29:10,100
The sky is cleared completely 
bright blue and cloudless. 

5908
05:29:10,800 --> 05:29:13,500
Kind of winter morning that 
makes everything sharp and 

5909
05:29:13,500 --> 05:29:16,400
clear. 
Ice crystals Sparkle on the 

5910
05:29:16,400 --> 05:29:18,900
sandbags. 
No man's land looks almost 

5911
05:29:18,900 --> 05:29:21,800
peaceful in the Morning. 
Light the horrors of War 

5912
05:29:21,800 --> 05:29:24,100
temporally softened by Frost and
sunshine. 

5913
05:29:24,100 --> 05:29:28,600
The German trenches acquired, 
but visibly occupied, you can 

5914
05:29:28,600 --> 05:29:31,400
see Men Moving about on their 
side going through their own 

5915
05:29:31,400 --> 05:29:34,300
morning routines. 
The Christmas trees from last 

5916
05:29:34,300 --> 05:29:37,300
night are still there. 
Candles unlit now, but the 

5917
05:29:37,300 --> 05:29:39,900
Evergreen branch is still green 
against the brown Earth. 

5918
05:29:39,900 --> 05:29:42,300
Then something extraordinary 
happens. 

5919
05:29:42,300 --> 05:29:45,000
A figure appears above the 
German parapet. 

5920
05:29:45,800 --> 05:29:50,000
A man standing fully exposed. 
His hands raised above his head 

5921
05:29:50,000 --> 05:29:52,200
in Clearview. 
He's not armed. 

5922
05:29:52,200 --> 05:29:55,800
You can see that clearly. 
He stands there waiting. 

5923
05:29:55,800 --> 05:29:59,400
As if testing, whether the piece
of last night, will survive the 

5924
05:29:59,400 --> 05:30:01,300
daylight? 
Nobody shoots. 

5925
05:30:01,300 --> 05:30:05,300
The German Soldier begins 
walking forward across No Man's 

5926
05:30:05,300 --> 05:30:08,000
Land. 
Stepping carefully between shell

5927
05:30:08,000 --> 05:30:10,500
holes. 
He's young, he can see that now,

5928
05:30:10,500 --> 05:30:14,700
probably about your age. 
He's wearing a gray uniform that

5929
05:30:14,700 --> 05:30:17,300
looks as mud stained and worn as
your own car. 

5930
05:30:17,300 --> 05:30:21,100
Key Lieutenant carry appears 
beside you hold your fire. 

5931
05:30:21,100 --> 05:30:24,100
He says quietly. 
Nobody seems inclined to shoot 

5932
05:30:24,100 --> 05:30:27,800
anyway. 
The entire trench watches as the

5933
05:30:27,800 --> 05:30:31,000
German Soldier, walks, closer, 
hands, still visible. 

5934
05:30:31,000 --> 05:30:34,800
Clearly unarmed soldiers stops 
about halfway across No Man's 

5935
05:30:34,800 --> 05:30:36,800
Land. 
Perhaps 100 yards from each 

5936
05:30:36,800 --> 05:30:39,300
trench. 
He stands there waiting. 

5937
05:30:39,300 --> 05:30:43,300
It's an invitation, you realize.
A question being asked Across 

5938
05:30:43,300 --> 05:30:46,400
The Frozen Ground permission to 
go out there, sir, you hear 

5939
05:30:46,400 --> 05:30:49,700
yourself asking carry looks at 
you, then out at the waiting 

5940
05:30:49,700 --> 05:30:53,700
German, then back at you. 
Something passes across his face

5941
05:30:53,700 --> 05:30:58,300
concern, calculation, and then a
kind of resignation. 

5942
05:30:59,500 --> 05:31:01,300
If you're going you're not going
alone. 

5943
05:31:01,300 --> 05:31:04,000
He says I'll come with you 
others. 

5944
05:31:04,000 --> 05:31:06,700
Volunteer immediately Thompson 
Davies. 

5945
05:31:06,700 --> 05:31:10,300
Half a dozen more. 
Carry nods right there. 

5946
05:31:10,300 --> 05:31:13,500
No weapons hands visible, slow 
and steady. 

5947
05:31:13,500 --> 05:31:16,800
You climb up the side of the 
trench, your heart hammering. 

5948
05:31:16,800 --> 05:31:21,600
This is how men die standing in 
the open exposed to enemy fire. 

5949
05:31:21,600 --> 05:31:26,500
Every Instinct screams at you to
get back down to find cover. 

5950
05:31:27,400 --> 05:31:31,000
But you think of the singing 
last night of the candles on the

5951
05:31:31,000 --> 05:31:35,300
Christmas trees and you keep 
climbing the ground of No Man's 

5952
05:31:35,300 --> 05:31:40,300
Land is rough under your feet. 
Frozen mud shell holes, Tangles 

5953
05:31:40,300 --> 05:31:42,900
of wire. 
You've only seen this landscape 

5954
05:31:42,900 --> 05:31:45,700
through periscopes or in brief 
terrifying, moments during 

5955
05:31:45,700 --> 05:31:48,600
raids. 
Walking across it in daylight. 

5956
05:31:48,600 --> 05:31:52,300
Feels surreal like breaking a 
fundamental rule of the universe

5957
05:31:52,300 --> 05:31:54,800
the German Soldier waits as you 
approach. 

5958
05:31:54,800 --> 05:32:00,100
You can see his face now young. 
Yes, with light hair and a thin 

5959
05:32:00,100 --> 05:32:04,600
mustache. he looks nervous, but 
determined When you're close 

5960
05:32:04,600 --> 05:32:06,100
enough to speak. 
He smiles. 

5961
05:32:06,100 --> 05:32:09,600
Uncertainly a good morgan. 
He says, good morning. 

5962
05:32:09,600 --> 05:32:13,400
Merry Christmas, Merry 
Christmas, you reply his smile 

5963
05:32:13,400 --> 05:32:15,700
strengthens. 
He reaches into his coat and 

5964
05:32:15,700 --> 05:32:19,900
produces a small flask Schnapps 
he offers for Christmas. 

5965
05:32:20,900 --> 05:32:24,100
Of tenant career, accepts the 
floss takes a small Sip and 

5966
05:32:24,100 --> 05:32:28,200
passes it around. the alcohol 
burns going down, but warms you 

5967
05:32:28,200 --> 05:32:31,900
from within when it comes to 
your turn, you drink and pass 

5968
05:32:31,900 --> 05:32:33,700
it. 
Back to the German Soldier, who 

5969
05:32:33,700 --> 05:32:36,000
takes a sip himself before 
offering it again. 

5970
05:32:36,000 --> 05:32:40,200
More soldiers are emerging from 
both trenches now tentatively at

5971
05:32:40,200 --> 05:32:42,400
first, then with more 
confidence. 

5972
05:32:43,200 --> 05:32:47,300
Germans and British walking out 
into No Man's Land meeting in 

5973
05:32:47,300 --> 05:32:49,800
the middle like delegates at 
some bizarre conference. 

5974
05:32:50,800 --> 05:32:54,100
The Space Between The Trenches 
which is been a killing ground 

5975
05:32:54,100 --> 05:32:57,800
for months becomes a meeting 
place you find yourself shaking 

5976
05:32:57,800 --> 05:33:00,300
hands with the German Soldier 
who offered the schnapps. 

5977
05:33:00,300 --> 05:33:03,100
His name is hands. 
He tells you from Bavaria. 

5978
05:33:03,100 --> 05:33:08,200
He shows you a photograph of his
family parents a sister a 

5979
05:33:08,200 --> 05:33:10,900
sweetheart. 
You show him the photograph you 

5980
05:33:10,900 --> 05:33:14,500
carry of your mother and father.
Neither of you speaks the others

5981
05:33:14,500 --> 05:33:18,400
language well, but photographs 
need no translation around you 

5982
05:33:18,400 --> 05:33:21,500
are the meetings are happening 
soldiers trading cigarettes 

5983
05:33:21,500 --> 05:33:24,700
showing photographs attempting 
conversation in broken English 

5984
05:33:24,700 --> 05:33:26,300
and German and lots of 
gesturing. 

5985
05:33:27,200 --> 05:33:29,300
Someone has produced a soccer 
ball from somewhere. 

5986
05:33:29,300 --> 05:33:32,800
You're not sure which side and 
men are kicking it around 

5987
05:33:32,800 --> 05:33:36,900
playing an impromptu game in the
frozen mud Thompson is engaged 

5988
05:33:36,900 --> 05:33:39,800
in an animated exchange with the
young German who speak 

5989
05:33:39,800 --> 05:33:43,100
surprisingly good English. 
They're comparing rations 

5990
05:33:43,100 --> 05:33:45,400
apparently with Thompson 
offering a tin of bully beef 

5991
05:33:45,400 --> 05:33:48,200
while the German contributes 
some kind of sausage. 

5992
05:33:48,200 --> 05:33:52,200
The trade is made with all the 
solemnity of a diplomatic treaty

5993
05:33:52,200 --> 05:33:55,400
Davies is tempting to 
communicate with an older German

5994
05:33:55,400 --> 05:33:58,000
Soldier a sergeant by his 
Insignia. 

5995
05:33:58,000 --> 05:34:02,300
They have no common language, 
but they're both Sergeant's and 

5996
05:34:02,300 --> 05:34:04,600
apparently that transcends 
language barriers. 

5997
05:34:05,500 --> 05:34:09,600
They stand together nodding at 
each other sharing the universal

5998
05:34:09,600 --> 05:34:12,500
knowledge of men responsible for
keeping younger men alive. 

5999
05:34:12,500 --> 05:34:14,900
The soccer game grows more 
organized. 

6000
05:34:14,900 --> 05:34:18,000
Someone has set up goals using 
coats and helmets. 

6001
05:34:18,000 --> 05:34:21,700
The teams are mixed Germans and 
British playing together 

6002
05:34:21,700 --> 05:34:25,400
nationality forgotten in the 
simple joy of kicking a ball 

6003
05:34:25,400 --> 05:34:27,500
around. 
You haven't played football 

6004
05:34:27,500 --> 05:34:31,100
since before the war and your 
legs are stiff from trench life.

6005
05:34:31,800 --> 05:34:34,800
But you join in any way laughing
as you slip on The Frozen 

6006
05:34:34,800 --> 05:34:39,100
Ground, the ball is leather old 
and scuffed and it skips 

6007
05:34:39,100 --> 05:34:40,800
unpredictably on the rough 
Terrain. 

6008
05:34:41,700 --> 05:34:45,200
Someone kicks it into a shell 
hole and three men to British 

6009
05:34:45,200 --> 05:34:49,300
one German climb down together 
to retrieve it helping each 

6010
05:34:49,300 --> 05:34:53,300
other up the muddy sides the 
absurdity of it makes you laugh.

6011
05:34:53,300 --> 05:34:56,800
Yes today that shell hole was 
something to be avoided part of 

6012
05:34:56,800 --> 05:35:00,700
the landscape of death today. 
It's just an obstacle in a 

6013
05:35:00,700 --> 05:35:05,100
football match the sun climbs 
higher and despite the cold the 

6014
05:35:05,100 --> 05:35:09,400
exercise warms you your 
breathing hard your face flushed

6015
05:35:09,400 --> 05:35:13,400
and for a brief span You Forget 
Where You Are You could be back 

6016
05:35:13,400 --> 05:35:17,300
home playing football on the 
Village Green instead of in no 

6017
05:35:17,300 --> 05:35:21,000
man's land between armies the 
game ends when someone kicks the

6018
05:35:21,000 --> 05:35:24,200
ball into a particularly deep 
crater filled with water and 

6019
05:35:24,200 --> 05:35:26,400
everyone agrees its too cold to 
fish it out. 

6020
05:35:27,200 --> 05:35:31,300
Men stand around panting and 
grinning British and German 

6021
05:35:31,300 --> 05:35:34,400
soldiers together looking 
remarkably similar in their 

6022
05:35:34,400 --> 05:35:38,800
mud-stained uniforms and genuine
Smiles hands find you again. 

6023
05:35:38,800 --> 05:35:41,300
He's been talking with 
Lieutenant carrier currently 

6024
05:35:41,300 --> 05:35:45,100
showing him something. 
When you approach Carrie has a 

6025
05:35:45,100 --> 05:35:48,900
strange expression on his face 
sad and amused at the same time 

6026
05:35:48,900 --> 05:35:53,400
hands here is a school teacher. 
Carey says before the war in 

6027
05:35:53,400 --> 05:35:57,100
Bavaria taught English to 
Children hands and nods 

6028
05:35:57,100 --> 05:35:59,000
enthusiastically. 
Yes. 

6029
05:35:59,000 --> 05:36:02,200
Yes English literature. 
I teach Shakespeare to students 

6030
05:36:02,200 --> 05:36:06,300
very difficult Shakespeare. 
He laughs Hamlet is German, I 

6031
05:36:06,300 --> 05:36:10,500
think All the worrying this gets
a laugh from the British 

6032
05:36:10,500 --> 05:36:14,000
soldiers Within earshot. 
The idea of a German school 

6033
05:36:14,000 --> 05:36:17,900
teacher teaching Shakespeare to 
Bavarian children now standing 

6034
05:36:17,900 --> 05:36:22,300
in a frozen Belgian field where 
a Soldiers uniform it highlights

6035
05:36:22,300 --> 05:36:26,600
the strangeness of everything. 
I have brothers hands says his 

6036
05:36:26,600 --> 05:36:29,800
English careful, but clear one 
brother all so in the Army 

6037
05:36:29,800 --> 05:36:32,100
different place, I worry for 
him. 

6038
05:36:32,900 --> 05:36:36,100
He looks at you. 
You have brothers sister. 

6039
05:36:36,100 --> 05:36:39,600
You reply she's nursing in 
London hands nod seriously 

6040
05:36:39,600 --> 05:36:43,100
nursing is important work. 
Very bravest nurses. 

6041
05:36:43,100 --> 05:36:47,100
You realize he's right. 
Your sister faces her own 

6042
05:36:47,100 --> 05:36:51,200
dangers caring for wounded man 
in overcrowded hospitals. 

6043
05:36:52,000 --> 05:36:55,400
The war has scattered families 
across Europe everyone in their 

6044
05:36:55,400 --> 05:36:59,600
own kind of service their own 
kind of danger more items are 

6045
05:36:59,600 --> 05:37:03,800
being traded around you a German
soldier offers cigars real 

6046
05:37:03,800 --> 05:37:07,700
cigars better than anything. 
You've seen in months British 

6047
05:37:07,700 --> 05:37:11,000
soldiers share tins of tobacco 
chocolate from their Christmas 

6048
05:37:11,000 --> 05:37:14,000
Parcels, whatever small luxuries
they can spare. 

6049
05:37:14,000 --> 05:37:18,900
The trading has a ritual quality
each exchange a small Act of 

6050
05:37:18,908 --> 05:37:21,700
trust and Goodwill. 
Someone has found a camera. 

6051
05:37:22,600 --> 05:37:26,100
A British soldier who works in 
the Battalion signal section as 

6052
05:37:26,100 --> 05:37:29,200
brought his personal cameras to 
the front and now he's taking 

6053
05:37:29,200 --> 05:37:32,300
photographs. 
Groups of soldiers posed 

6054
05:37:32,300 --> 05:37:36,100
together Germans and British 
arms around each other's 

6055
05:37:36,100 --> 05:37:37,900
shoulders grinning at the 
camera. 

6056
05:37:37,900 --> 05:37:41,100
You wonder what these 
photographs will look like later

6057
05:37:41,100 --> 05:37:44,900
whether anyone will believe them
you pose with hands and Thompson

6058
05:37:44,900 --> 05:37:47,700
and a young German soldier named
Carl who speaks? 

6059
05:37:47,700 --> 05:37:49,600
No English but smiles 
constantly. 

6060
05:37:50,600 --> 05:37:54,000
The camera clicks capturing this
impossible moment enemies 

6061
05:37:54,000 --> 05:37:57,900
standing together treating each 
other like friends the morning 

6062
05:37:57,900 --> 05:38:02,400
wears on surreal and peaceful 
men sit in small groups sharing 

6063
05:38:02,400 --> 05:38:06,200
food and cigarettes attempting 
conversation despite language 

6064
05:38:06,200 --> 05:38:08,800
barriers. 
Someone has produced a mouth 

6065
05:38:08,800 --> 05:38:10,700
organ and is playing Christmas 
carols. 

6066
05:38:11,500 --> 05:38:14,100
Few men, sing along the same 
songs from last night but 

6067
05:38:14,100 --> 05:38:17,800
Stranger in daylight sung by 
mixed groups of soldiers who 

6068
05:38:17,800 --> 05:38:19,500
theoretically should be killing 
each other. 

6069
05:38:19,500 --> 05:38:21,700
You notice something else 
happening. 

6070
05:38:21,700 --> 05:38:25,500
The recovery of bodies, no man's
land has held. 

6071
05:38:25,500 --> 05:38:29,500
Casualties from both sides, men 
who died in previous raids and 

6072
05:38:29,500 --> 05:38:33,100
skirmishes lying, where they 
fell because retrieving bodies 

6073
05:38:33,100 --> 05:38:37,200
Under Fire was impossible. 
Now, British soldiers are 

6074
05:38:37,200 --> 05:38:40,200
collecting their dead while 
Germans collect theirs working 

6075
05:38:40,200 --> 05:38:44,100
separately, but in parallel, 
each side respectfully, ignoring

6076
05:38:44,100 --> 05:38:46,800
the others. 
Grim, task, you helped carry one

6077
05:38:46,800 --> 05:38:50,200
body back towards your trench. 
A British soldier, you didn't 

6078
05:38:50,200 --> 05:38:54,000
know dead for perhaps a week. 
Frozen in the December cold. 

6079
05:38:54,900 --> 05:38:58,900
It feels right to recover him to
bring him back, to let him have 

6080
05:38:58,900 --> 05:39:02,100
a proper burial in the frozen 
mud forever. 

6081
05:39:02,900 --> 05:39:06,100
The Germans are doing the same 
with their casualties, treating 

6082
05:39:06,100 --> 05:39:07,600
their dead with the same 
respect. 

6083
05:39:07,600 --> 05:39:11,800
The work is hard and sad but 
there's a strange comfort in it.

6084
05:39:11,800 --> 05:39:16,400
These men will be buried prayers
will be said their families will

6085
05:39:16,400 --> 05:39:20,500
eventually be notified. 
It's a small dignity in an 

6086
05:39:20,500 --> 05:39:23,900
undignified War by midday. 
The recovery work is mostly 

6087
05:39:23,900 --> 05:39:26,800
complete. 
The dead lion rows behind each 

6088
05:39:26,800 --> 05:39:31,100
trench line are waiting burial. 
It's sobering a reminder of what

6089
05:39:31,100 --> 05:39:33,900
this place usually is what it 
will be again. 

6090
05:39:35,400 --> 05:39:39,300
But for now the living remain in
no man's land still talking 

6091
05:39:39,300 --> 05:39:42,400
still Trading still refusing to 
acknowledge that this can't last

6092
05:39:42,400 --> 05:39:46,600
the afternoon sun pale and 
winter weak hangs low in the sky

6093
05:39:46,600 --> 05:39:50,100
you sit on the edge of a shell 
crater with hands and two other 

6094
05:39:50,100 --> 05:39:53,400
German soldiers sharing the 
remains of your mother's 

6095
05:39:53,400 --> 05:39:57,300
shortbread and a tin of German 
cheese that tastes sharp and 

6096
05:39:57,300 --> 05:40:00,600
strange. 
The conversation flows in broken

6097
05:40:00,600 --> 05:40:04,200
English and even more broken 
German supplemented with 

6098
05:40:04,200 --> 05:40:07,800
gestures and drawings in the 
frost one of the German soldiers

6099
05:40:07,800 --> 05:40:11,100
older than the others with gray 
threading through his dark hair 

6100
05:40:11,100 --> 05:40:14,700
sketches a house in the ice 
crystals coating a flat piece of

6101
05:40:14,700 --> 05:40:17,900
shrapnel. 
Points to it then to himself. 

6102
05:40:18,900 --> 05:40:21,700
Mine house. 
He says my house. 

6103
05:40:22,500 --> 05:40:26,900
He adds figures a woman three 
children his family. 

6104
05:40:26,900 --> 05:40:29,600
You understand without needing 
more words. 

6105
05:40:29,600 --> 05:40:33,400
He's showing you what he's 
fighting for what Waits at home 

6106
05:40:33,400 --> 05:40:37,100
or perhaps he's just reminding 
himself that such things still 

6107
05:40:37,100 --> 05:40:40,600
exist that somewhere beyond the 
trenches and the wire normal 

6108
05:40:40,600 --> 05:40:44,700
life continues Thompson has 
found another English speaker a 

6109
05:40:44,700 --> 05:40:47,300
German soldier who spent two 
years working in Manchester 

6110
05:40:47,300 --> 05:40:50,200
before the war. 
They're engaged in an animated 

6111
05:40:50,200 --> 05:40:52,500
discussion about football proper
football. 

6112
05:40:52,500 --> 05:40:54,600
Not the impromptu game from this
morning. 

6113
05:40:55,900 --> 05:40:59,500
Thompson supports Sheffield 
United the German fellow 

6114
05:40:59,500 --> 05:41:03,000
supported Manchester City There 
are arguing about a match from 

6115
05:41:03,000 --> 05:41:06,400
1912 with the passion of men who
have something normal to talk 

6116
05:41:06,400 --> 05:41:09,200
about something that has nothing
to do with war. 

6117
05:41:09,200 --> 05:41:12,000
The ref was blind tops and 
insists. 

6118
05:41:12,000 --> 05:41:13,700
No. 
No the call was correct. 

6119
05:41:13,700 --> 05:41:16,700
The German responds grinning 
your Defender was offside. 

6120
05:41:16,700 --> 05:41:21,400
It's absurd and wonderful two 
men who might be trying to kill 

6121
05:41:21,400 --> 05:41:24,300
each other tomorrow arguing 
about a football match from 

6122
05:41:24,300 --> 05:41:27,400
before the war as if refereeing 
decisions matter more than 

6123
05:41:27,408 --> 05:41:30,900
artillery barrages you notice 
Lieutenant career standing at 

6124
05:41:30,908 --> 05:41:33,600
the edge of the gathered 
soldiers talking with a German 

6125
05:41:33,600 --> 05:41:37,400
officer both men look serious, 
but not hostile. 

6126
05:41:38,300 --> 05:41:41,000
They're discussing something 
gesturing back toward their 

6127
05:41:41,000 --> 05:41:44,200
respective lines. 
You wonder what officers talked 

6128
05:41:44,200 --> 05:41:46,000
about during a spontaneous 
truce? 

6129
05:41:46,600 --> 05:41:50,100
Probably Logistics boundaries, 
how long this can reasonably 

6130
05:41:50,100 --> 05:41:52,900
continue before someone higher 
up, notices, and orders? 

6131
05:41:52,900 --> 05:41:56,400
It stopped, the sun continues, 
its descent, and the temperature

6132
05:41:56,400 --> 05:41:59,100
drops. 
Noticeably Men, begin to shift 

6133
05:41:59,100 --> 05:42:01,200
pulling coats tighter stamping 
feet. 

6134
05:42:02,000 --> 05:42:05,600
The day has been extraordinary 
but cold eventually reasserts 

6135
05:42:05,600 --> 05:42:08,200
itself. 
Reminding everyone that standing

6136
05:42:08,200 --> 05:42:12,100
in a frozen field in December 
has its limits even during a 

6137
05:42:12,100 --> 05:42:14,900
truce hands. 
Pulls out, a small package 

6138
05:42:14,900 --> 05:42:19,000
wrapped in brown paper. 
He opens it carefully pressure 

6139
05:42:19,000 --> 05:42:22,100
things are always opened 
carefully and reveals a 

6140
05:42:22,100 --> 05:42:24,100
photograph and some kind of 
sweet bread. 

6141
05:42:25,100 --> 05:42:27,200
He breaks the bread in half and 
offers you a piece. 

6142
05:42:27,200 --> 05:42:31,900
It's dense and Rich studied with
dried fruit still fresh enough 

6143
05:42:31,900 --> 05:42:33,900
to be soft. 
My mother makes this. 

6144
05:42:33,900 --> 05:42:37,600
He says for Christmas, she sends
it to me, she smiles. 

6145
05:42:38,400 --> 05:42:39,700
Like your mother send you 
things. 

6146
05:42:39,700 --> 05:42:44,100
Yes, you nod accepting the 
bread, it tastes of Cinema and 

6147
05:42:44,100 --> 05:42:47,800
raisins and something else you 
can't identify It tastes like 

6148
05:42:47,808 --> 05:42:51,400
someone's kitchen like care and 
attention and normalcy. 

6149
05:42:51,400 --> 05:42:54,600
You put out the photograph of 
your own mother and show it to 

6150
05:42:54,600 --> 05:42:57,200
humans. 
She's pretty she says politely 

6151
05:42:57,200 --> 05:42:59,600
though, your mother would laugh 
at being called pretty. 

6152
05:43:00,300 --> 05:43:03,900
She's practical and sturdy and 
kind but not what anyone would 

6153
05:43:03,900 --> 05:43:07,300
call pretty. 
Still you appreciate hans's. 

6154
05:43:07,300 --> 05:43:10,300
Kindness the photograph had 
showed you is of a young woman 

6155
05:43:10,300 --> 05:43:12,300
with Fair hair and a serious 
expression. 

6156
05:43:13,200 --> 05:43:18,100
Mean of a lobster. 
He says my engaged, the woman. 

6157
05:43:18,100 --> 05:43:20,800
I will marry your fiance. 
You offer? 

6158
05:43:20,800 --> 05:43:22,400
Yes, fiance. 
Thank you. 

6159
05:43:22,400 --> 05:43:25,400
I forget the word. 
He looks at the photograph with 

6160
05:43:25,400 --> 05:43:28,500
obvious affection after the war 
we marry. 

6161
05:43:28,500 --> 05:43:31,000
She waits for me. 
You think about all the people 

6162
05:43:31,000 --> 05:43:36,700
waiting mothers fathers sisters 
fiance's wives, On both sides, 

6163
05:43:36,700 --> 05:43:39,500
people waiting for men to come 
home people. 

6164
05:43:39,500 --> 05:43:43,000
Checking casualty lists with 
Dread people trying to maintain 

6165
05:43:43,000 --> 05:43:46,800
normal life while part of their 
family is absent, maybe forever.

6166
05:43:46,800 --> 05:43:51,200
The war says quietly looking 
across no man's land is stupid. 

6167
05:43:51,200 --> 05:43:53,600
You're not sure how to respond 
to that. 

6168
05:43:54,400 --> 05:43:57,200
It feels like dangerous 
territory, criticizing the war. 

6169
05:43:58,100 --> 05:44:00,500
But hands isn't wrong sitting 
here. 

6170
05:44:00,500 --> 05:44:03,800
Sharing bread with a German 
soldier, who, teaches, English 

6171
05:44:03,800 --> 05:44:07,500
literature to children, who has 
a mother who bakes for him and a

6172
05:44:07,500 --> 05:44:12,100
fiance a waiting. 
The war does seem stupid and 

6173
05:44:12,100 --> 05:44:15,800
vast and Beyond the control of 
any individual Soldier to stop 

6174
05:44:15,800 --> 05:44:19,300
or change. 
Stupid you agree quietly hands 

6175
05:44:19,300 --> 05:44:21,100
nods satisfied that you 
understand. 

6176
05:44:21,100 --> 05:44:25,300
The light is fading now the 
brief winter day drawing to a 

6177
05:44:25,300 --> 05:44:28,500
close men are beginning to drift
back towards their respective 

6178
05:44:28,500 --> 05:44:31,900
trenches. 
The day's strange piece winding 

6179
05:44:31,900 --> 05:44:34,400
down. 
There's a reluctance in the 

6180
05:44:34,408 --> 05:44:38,900
movement a slowness as if nobody
really wants to go back to being

6181
05:44:38,900 --> 05:44:42,100
enemies. 
You stand your joints stiff from

6182
05:44:42,100 --> 05:44:46,000
sitting on cold ground 
handstands too and you shake 

6183
05:44:46,000 --> 05:44:49,900
hands formerly like businessmen 
concluding a transaction Merry 

6184
05:44:49,900 --> 05:44:53,400
Christmas Han says Merry 
Christmas, you reply he 

6185
05:44:53,400 --> 05:44:57,700
hesitates then adds. 
Maybe maybe after the war you 

6186
05:44:57,700 --> 05:45:00,900
visit Bavaria. 
I show you the mountains very 

6187
05:45:00,900 --> 05:45:04,500
beautiful the mountains the idea
of visiting Bavaria after the 

6188
05:45:04,500 --> 05:45:06,500
war seems almost impossible to 
imagine. 

6189
05:45:07,400 --> 05:45:10,500
The War ending life returning to
something resembling normal 

6190
05:45:10,500 --> 05:45:13,400
travel for pleasure in stead of 
military orders. 

6191
05:45:14,500 --> 05:45:17,100
But you nod. 
Anyway, I'd like that you say 

6192
05:45:17,100 --> 05:45:20,300
and you mean it you watch hands 
walk back toward the German 

6193
05:45:20,300 --> 05:45:23,600
lines joining other Grey Cloud 
figures heading home to their 

6194
05:45:23,600 --> 05:45:28,500
trenches Thompson appears beside
you his breath making clouds in 

6195
05:45:28,500 --> 05:45:31,300
the cold air Strange Day 
Thompson observes. 

6196
05:45:31,300 --> 05:45:35,200
Very strange you agree you both 
start walking back towards your 

6197
05:45:35,208 --> 05:45:38,300
own trench picking your way 
across the uneven ground. 

6198
05:45:38,300 --> 05:45:42,500
No man's land is emptying out 
soldiers returning to their 

6199
05:45:42,500 --> 05:45:45,700
positions as daylight fails. 
Behind you. 

6200
05:45:45,700 --> 05:45:49,700
The space between the trenches 
will soon be just that again no 

6201
05:45:49,700 --> 05:45:53,300
man's land. 
Empty and dangerous, a place of 

6202
05:45:53,308 --> 05:45:57,200
wire and mud and death. 
But for now you can still see 

6203
05:45:57,200 --> 05:46:00,900
Footprints everywhere. 
British boots and German boots 

6204
05:46:00,900 --> 05:46:03,900
all mixed together. 
Evidence of the day is 

6205
05:46:03,900 --> 05:46:04,700
impossible. 
Peace. 

6206
05:46:04,700 --> 05:46:08,100
When you reach your trench 
climbing down feels like 

6207
05:46:08,100 --> 05:46:12,400
returning to a different world. 
The Familiar damp walls, the 

6208
05:46:12,400 --> 05:46:16,500
smell of Earth and sandbags the 
narrow confines after the 

6209
05:46:16,500 --> 05:46:18,600
relative openness of no man's 
land. 

6210
05:46:19,700 --> 05:46:23,500
Other soldiers are climbing in 
settling back into positions. 

6211
05:46:23,500 --> 05:46:25,400
Resuming, the routines of trench
life. 

6212
05:46:25,400 --> 05:46:28,600
Sergeant Davies is organizing 
the burial detail for the 

6213
05:46:28,600 --> 05:46:31,300
recovered bodies. 
They'll be buried properly with 

6214
05:46:31,300 --> 05:46:34,100
prayers and marked Graves. 
The least that can be done. 

6215
05:46:34,100 --> 05:46:38,200
The German dead have been left 
in, no man's land but close to 

6216
05:46:38,208 --> 05:46:41,400
their own trenches, where their 
comrades can retrieve the measly

6217
05:46:41,400 --> 05:46:44,300
left tenant caring gathers, the 
officers for a brief meeting. 

6218
05:46:45,200 --> 05:46:48,700
You're not privy to what they 
discuss, but you can guess what?

6219
05:46:48,700 --> 05:46:51,900
To report to higher command. 
How to explain the days of 

6220
05:46:51,900 --> 05:46:54,100
events, whether the truth will 
continue. 

6221
05:46:54,100 --> 05:46:58,000
Or if tomorrow brings a return 
to war, you find a spot on a 

6222
05:46:58,000 --> 05:47:00,700
firing step and settle in 
wrapping yourself in your coat 

6223
05:47:00,700 --> 05:47:03,400
and scarf. 
The Christmas pudding from your 

6224
05:47:03,400 --> 05:47:06,100
mother is still in your pack 
along with the rest of the 

6225
05:47:06,100 --> 05:47:08,500
chocolate you decide to eat the 
pudding. 

6226
05:47:08,500 --> 05:47:11,200
Now while Christmas Day still 
has a few hours left. 

6227
05:47:12,000 --> 05:47:15,800
The pudding is dense and sweet 
rich with dried fruit and Brandy

6228
05:47:15,800 --> 05:47:20,500
you eat it slowly making it last
letting each bite dissolve on 

6229
05:47:20,508 --> 05:47:23,200
your tongue. 
It tastes of home of your 

6230
05:47:23,208 --> 05:47:26,300
mother's kitchen of Christmas 
mornings before the war. 

6231
05:47:27,400 --> 05:47:30,800
You save a small piece and offer
it to Thompson who accepts 

6232
05:47:30,800 --> 05:47:34,800
greatly best pudding. 
I've had in months tops and says

6233
05:47:34,800 --> 05:47:37,600
which isn't saying much given 
the usual rationals, but you 

6234
05:47:37,600 --> 05:47:40,600
appreciate the compliment. 
Anyway, Darkness settles over 

6235
05:47:40,600 --> 05:47:45,500
the trenches. stars come out 
again bright in the clear sky 

6236
05:47:46,600 --> 05:47:49,800
Cross No, Man's Land. 
You can see the German Christmas

6237
05:47:49,800 --> 05:47:53,700
trees being lit once more 
candles flickering to life in 

6238
05:47:53,700 --> 05:47:57,500
the Gathering dark. 
The site still seems miraculous 

6239
05:47:57,500 --> 05:48:01,900
small Flames burning into 
science of everything the war 

6240
05:48:01,900 --> 05:48:05,300
represents. 
Someone starts singing again a 

6241
05:48:05,300 --> 05:48:09,900
German voice from cross the way.
Steal and knocked wants more but

6242
05:48:09,900 --> 05:48:14,100
quieter tonight more intimate. 
A few British voices. 

6243
05:48:14,100 --> 05:48:17,800
Join in softly, the words 
floating up into the cold air 

6244
05:48:17,800 --> 05:48:20,900
like prayers. 
You think about hands probably 

6245
05:48:20,900 --> 05:48:24,100
sitting in his own trench. 
Now, perhaps thinking about you,

6246
05:48:24,100 --> 05:48:26,600
perhaps looking at the 
photograph of his fiance 

6247
05:48:26,600 --> 05:48:30,900
wondering if tomorrow will bring
more peace or a return to 

6248
05:48:30,900 --> 05:48:34,900
violence. 
Singing Fades, the night deepens

6249
05:48:34,900 --> 05:48:39,100
men settle into watch rotations,
the normal rhythm of trench 

6250
05:48:39,100 --> 05:48:42,100
life, reasserting itself. 
But everything feels different 

6251
05:48:42,100 --> 05:48:45,300
somehow, changed by the days of 
events and ways. 

6252
05:48:45,300 --> 05:48:49,300
You can't quite articulate. 
You close your eyes, not really 

6253
05:48:49,300 --> 05:48:52,000
expecting to sleep, but the day 
has been long and emotionally 

6254
05:48:52,000 --> 05:48:55,000
exhausting images. 
Drift through your mind. 

6255
05:48:55,000 --> 05:48:57,300
Hands showing you his 
photograph. 

6256
05:48:58,100 --> 05:48:59,600
The soccer game in no man's 
land. 

6257
05:48:59,600 --> 05:49:03,900
The German Sergeant trading, 
tobacco with Davis, the candles 

6258
05:49:03,900 --> 05:49:06,500
on the Christmas trees, all 
those footprints in the frost, 

6259
05:49:06,500 --> 05:49:08,400
tomorrow will bring what it 
brings. 

6260
05:49:08,400 --> 05:49:13,300
But today, today, there was 
peace today, there was singing, 

6261
05:49:13,300 --> 05:49:16,500
and laughter and shared food and
handshakes between enemies. 

6262
05:49:17,300 --> 05:49:21,800
Today for a little while the war
pause, that's worth something. 

6263
05:49:22,700 --> 05:49:25,100
You're not sure what exactly, 
but it's worth something. 

6264
05:49:25,100 --> 05:49:28,400
You wake to the sound of rain 
soft at first. 

6265
05:49:28,400 --> 05:49:32,600
Then harder Clear, whether is 
broken and water, drips from 

6266
05:49:32,600 --> 05:49:37,300
every surface turns, the trench 
floor to deeper mud, soaks 

6267
05:49:37,300 --> 05:49:42,200
through every layer of clothing.
26th of December arrives, cold 

6268
05:49:42,200 --> 05:49:45,000
and wet and gray. 
The mood in the trench has 

6269
05:49:45,000 --> 05:49:48,800
shifted overnight. 
Men are quieter more withdrawn. 

6270
05:49:48,800 --> 05:49:52,200
Yesterday's extraordinary piece 
feels distant now. 

6271
05:49:52,200 --> 05:49:56,500
Almost dreamlike you wonder if 
it really happened or if the 

6272
05:49:56,500 --> 05:49:59,400
whole thing was some kind of 
shared hallucination brought on 

6273
05:49:59,400 --> 05:50:01,800
by cold and loneliness and 
Christmas longing. 

6274
05:50:01,800 --> 05:50:03,900
But then you see Thompson 
carefully. 

6275
05:50:03,900 --> 05:50:07,000
Tucking away, a German cigar 
wrapping cloth to keep it dry. 

6276
05:50:08,100 --> 05:50:11,100
You see, Davies wearing a scarf 
that looks suspiciously German 

6277
05:50:11,100 --> 05:50:13,900
in his weave. 
You see the photographs people 

6278
05:50:13,900 --> 05:50:17,700
received the extra tins of food 
traded across the lines. 

6279
05:50:17,700 --> 05:50:22,200
It happened all of it happened 
left tenant carry, makes his 

6280
05:50:22,200 --> 05:50:26,400
rounds early, his face serious. 
He stops at each group of men, 

6281
05:50:26,400 --> 05:50:29,600
speaking quietly. 
When he reaches your section, 

6282
05:50:29,600 --> 05:50:33,400
his message is brief and clear 
order from command. 

6283
05:50:33,400 --> 05:50:37,300
He says, the truth is over were 
to resume normal operations, 

6284
05:50:37,300 --> 05:50:40,200
immediately no more. 
Threatening with the Enemy. 

6285
05:50:41,000 --> 05:50:43,000
He pauses then adds more 
quietly. 

6286
05:50:43,000 --> 05:50:47,200
I'm sorry lads. 
Today was yesterday. 

6287
05:50:47,200 --> 05:50:51,500
Today is today. 
Nobody argues you all knew. 

6288
05:50:51,508 --> 05:50:55,400
This was coming yesterday was a 
gift and anomaly a brief 

6289
05:50:55,400 --> 05:50:57,100
suspension of the water's 
reality. 

6290
05:50:58,100 --> 05:51:02,000
But the war itself hasn't gone 
anywhere the same trenches the 

6291
05:51:02,000 --> 05:51:06,800
same wire the same guns all 
still here all still waiting the

6292
05:51:06,800 --> 05:51:10,900
rain continues steady and cold 
you stand watch with water 

6293
05:51:10,900 --> 05:51:14,200
dripping from your helmet 
running down your neck soaking 

6294
05:51:14,200 --> 05:51:17,700
through your glove. 
Across No, Man's Land the German

6295
05:51:17,700 --> 05:51:21,400
trenches look the same as they 
did before Christmas sandbags 

6296
05:51:21,400 --> 05:51:24,600
and wire and the occasional 
glimpse of Grey uniforms. 

6297
05:51:24,600 --> 05:51:28,000
The Christmas trees are gone, 
you know notice taken down 

6298
05:51:28,000 --> 05:51:31,000
during the night perhaps or 
maybe the rain put out the 

6299
05:51:31,000 --> 05:51:33,700
candles and someone decided 
there was no point keeping them 

6300
05:51:33,700 --> 05:51:36,300
up. 
Either way the German parapet 

6301
05:51:36,300 --> 05:51:40,000
looks ordinary again functional 
and hostile and empty of 

6302
05:51:40,000 --> 05:51:42,400
decoration the day passes 
slowly. 

6303
05:51:43,300 --> 05:51:48,100
Normal routines resume stand to 
at dawn and dusk the usual watch

6304
05:51:48,100 --> 05:51:51,100
rotation's the usual maintenance
of equipment and trenches. 

6305
05:51:52,100 --> 05:51:55,500
The rain makes everything harder
turning the clay wall. 

6306
05:51:55,500 --> 05:51:59,800
Slippery filling shell holes 
with water transforming the duct

6307
05:51:59,800 --> 05:52:03,900
boards into floating hazards. 
Around midday, the rain stops 

6308
05:52:03,900 --> 05:52:05,900
but the clouds remain, low and 
heavy. 

6309
05:52:06,600 --> 05:52:09,500
In the afternoon, you hear 
artillery, fire in the distance,

6310
05:52:09,500 --> 05:52:13,100
not close, someone else's 
sector, but a reminder that the 

6311
05:52:13,100 --> 05:52:14,900
war continues along the rest of 
the front. 

6312
05:52:16,100 --> 05:52:19,100
Sound carries in the wet are 
dull thuds. 

6313
05:52:19,100 --> 05:52:22,300
The echo across the landscape. 
No shots are fired in your 

6314
05:52:22,300 --> 05:52:25,400
sector though. 
Not yet the officers on both 

6315
05:52:25,400 --> 05:52:29,100
sides seem to be maintaining a 
quiet understanding no shooting.

6316
05:52:29,100 --> 05:52:32,200
Unless someone starts it It's 
not piece, exactly. 

6317
05:52:32,200 --> 05:52:37,100
But it's not quite War either. 
Something in between uncertain 

6318
05:52:37,100 --> 05:52:40,400
and temporary Thompson, sits 
beside you during a break, in 

6319
05:52:40,400 --> 05:52:43,700
watch duty cleaning his rifle 
with movements that have become 

6320
05:52:43,700 --> 05:52:45,900
automatic think. 
We'll see them again. 

6321
05:52:45,900 --> 05:52:51,200
He asked quietly the fritz Lads 
from yesterday you shrug Maybe 

6322
05:52:51,200 --> 05:52:54,500
we're not going anywhere. 
They're not going anywhere that 

6323
05:52:54,500 --> 05:52:56,500
hands fellow. 
You were talking to Thompson, 

6324
05:52:56,500 --> 05:53:00,200
says seem nice, funny that nice 
frits. 

6325
05:53:00,200 --> 05:53:04,100
He's a school teacher. 
You say in Bavaria teacher, 

6326
05:53:04,100 --> 05:53:08,800
Shakespeare Thompson, absorbs 
this My brother's a teacher. 

6327
05:53:08,800 --> 05:53:11,200
He says Primary School in 
Sheffield. 

6328
05:53:11,200 --> 05:53:15,000
Wonder if they get along him and
hands you wander the same thing 

6329
05:53:15,000 --> 05:53:18,400
you wonder about a lot of things
where the hands made it back to 

6330
05:53:18,400 --> 05:53:21,300
his trench safely yesterday 
whether he's standing watch 

6331
05:53:21,300 --> 05:53:25,000
right now in the rain just like 
you whether he's thinking about 

6332
05:53:25,000 --> 05:53:28,900
the same things you're thinking 
about the afternoon wears on 

6333
05:53:28,900 --> 05:53:34,500
rations arrived the usual stew 
bread tea you eat mechanically, 

6334
05:53:34,500 --> 05:53:38,000
not really tasting anything. 
The food is warm at least which 

6335
05:53:38,000 --> 05:53:41,800
matters more than flavor when 
you're cold and wet has Darkness

6336
05:53:41,800 --> 05:53:44,600
approaches men prepare for 
another night in the trenches. 

6337
05:53:44,600 --> 05:53:48,700
The routine is so familiar now 
checking weapons arranging 

6338
05:53:48,700 --> 05:53:52,100
equipment settling into 
positions for the long dark 

6339
05:53:52,100 --> 05:53:55,000
hours ahead. 
You've done this 100 times. 

6340
05:53:55,000 --> 05:53:59,100
You'll probably do it 100 more 
but tonight feels different. 

6341
05:54:00,100 --> 05:54:03,300
Can't quite explain why but 
something has changed. 

6342
05:54:04,200 --> 05:54:07,500
Maybe it's just the memory of 
yes today the knowledge that the

6343
05:54:07,500 --> 05:54:10,400
men across the way aren't 
faceless enemies, but people 

6344
05:54:10,400 --> 05:54:13,600
with names and families and 
Christmas pudding sent from home

6345
05:54:13,600 --> 05:54:17,400
the clouds break briefly as 
night falls and you catch a 

6346
05:54:17,400 --> 05:54:19,700
glimpse of stars before the 
clouds in again. 

6347
05:54:20,600 --> 05:54:23,800
You think about the Stars being 
the same everywhere in England 

6348
05:54:23,800 --> 05:54:28,000
in Bavaria in no man's land. 
The same Stars looking down on 

6349
05:54:28,000 --> 05:54:31,400
everyone in different to human 
conflicts and truces and the 

6350
05:54:31,400 --> 05:54:34,200
rain that soaks soldiers on both
sides of the wire. 

6351
05:54:34,200 --> 05:54:37,800
Somewhere in the darkness, you 
hear singing again just one 

6352
05:54:37,800 --> 05:54:39,800
voice. 
This time distant and faint 

6353
05:54:39,800 --> 05:54:41,900
singing. 
Something German that you don't 

6354
05:54:41,900 --> 05:54:46,700
recognize the voices young and 
clear and it carries across No 

6355
05:54:46,700 --> 05:54:48,500
Man's Land like a message in a 
bottle. 

6356
05:54:48,500 --> 05:54:50,600
Reaching anyone, who cares to 
listen. 

6357
05:54:50,600 --> 05:54:54,200
Nobody sings Back. 
The moment doesn't feel right 

6358
05:54:54,200 --> 05:54:57,100
for it. 
Somehow But you listen and you 

6359
05:54:57,100 --> 05:54:59,700
think others are listening to 
standing in their respective, 

6360
05:54:59,700 --> 05:55:03,000
trenches hearing that lone Voice
singing in the dark. 

6361
05:55:03,800 --> 05:55:06,000
Singing stops. 
The night. 

6362
05:55:06,000 --> 05:55:09,900
Settles into silence broken, 
only by the drip of water, and 

6363
05:55:09,900 --> 05:55:12,900
the occasional Sound Of Men 
Moving about in trenches. 

6364
05:55:13,700 --> 05:55:17,200
You lean against the wall of the
trench, your rifle beside you. 

6365
05:55:17,200 --> 05:55:20,600
And close your eyes. 
Tomorrow will bring what it 

6366
05:55:20,600 --> 05:55:23,000
brings. 
Maybe the informal truce will 

6367
05:55:23,000 --> 05:55:26,000
hold, maybe someone will fire a 
shot and everything will 

6368
05:55:26,000 --> 05:55:29,900
escalate back to normal Warfare.
Maybe orders will come down from

6369
05:55:29,900 --> 05:55:31,900
command to resume active 
operations. 

6370
05:55:31,900 --> 05:55:36,300
You can't control any of it. 
But you had Christmas day, you 

6371
05:55:36,300 --> 05:55:39,200
had singing and football, and 
shared, food and handshakes in 

6372
05:55:39,200 --> 05:55:41,000
no man's land. 
You met. 

6373
05:55:41,000 --> 05:55:43,700
A German school teacher named 
Hans, who wants to get married 

6374
05:55:43,700 --> 05:55:45,900
after the war. 
And who thinks Shakespeare is 

6375
05:55:45,900 --> 05:55:48,900
German, because of all the 
worrying, you saw Christmas 

6376
05:55:48,900 --> 05:55:51,900
trees lit with candles in the 
trenches and heard men from 

6377
05:55:51,900 --> 05:55:54,700
different armies. 
Singing, the same carols that 

6378
05:55:54,700 --> 05:55:57,200
happened. 
It really happened and nobody 

6379
05:55:57,200 --> 05:56:00,200
can take it away from you. 
Whatever comes next, the days 

6380
05:56:00,200 --> 05:56:03,700
after Christmas blur together, 
in a sequence of cold, rain and 

6381
05:56:03,700 --> 05:56:06,000
Grace, guys, The Unofficial 
truth. 

6382
05:56:06,000 --> 05:56:08,500
Doesn't exactly end but it arose
gradually. 

6383
05:56:09,600 --> 05:56:12,600
First come the long range shots,
distant and impersonal. 

6384
05:56:12,600 --> 05:56:16,900
Then a few days into the new 
year, the artillery starts up 

6385
05:56:16,900 --> 05:56:20,600
again, tentative at first. 
Then more insistent, by 

6386
05:56:20,600 --> 05:56:24,900
mid-January 1915, the war has 
resumed in full The Trenches of 

6387
05:56:24,900 --> 05:56:28,600
the same, trenches the wire, the
same wire but the brief period 

6388
05:56:28,600 --> 05:56:30,600
of Peace might as well have been
a dream. 

6389
05:56:30,608 --> 05:56:34,700
You stand watch and fire when 
fired upon duck. 

6390
05:56:34,700 --> 05:56:38,000
When shells come over, maintain 
the deadly routine that has 

6391
05:56:38,000 --> 05:56:41,200
become normal. 
Something has changed even if 

6392
05:56:41,200 --> 05:56:45,000
the war hasn't you find yourself
looking across no man's land 

6393
05:56:45,000 --> 05:56:47,300
during Quiet Moments and 
wondering about hands? 

6394
05:56:47,300 --> 05:56:50,400
Is he still there in the 
trenches opposite? 

6395
05:56:50,400 --> 05:56:52,500
Yours? 
Did he survive the winter? 

6396
05:56:52,500 --> 05:56:56,200
Did he get more packages from 
his mother more letters from his

6397
05:56:56,200 --> 05:56:58,700
fiance? 
You'll probably never know. 

6398
05:56:58,700 --> 05:57:02,600
Thompson still has the German 
cigar though, he hasn't smoked 

6399
05:57:02,600 --> 05:57:04,300
it. 
Saving it. 

6400
05:57:04,300 --> 05:57:08,900
He says, when anyone asks for 
when the war ends His tone 

6401
05:57:08,900 --> 05:57:12,700
suggests, he's not entirely sure
the war will end, but the cigar 

6402
05:57:12,700 --> 05:57:14,500
remains carefully and stored 
away. 

6403
05:57:15,300 --> 05:57:16,900
A Talisman from that strange 
Christmas. 

6404
05:57:16,900 --> 05:57:19,600
The photographs people took 
during the truth. 

6405
05:57:19,600 --> 05:57:22,100
Get passed around examined in 
Quiet. 

6406
05:57:22,100 --> 05:57:26,400
Moments, you're in one of them 
standing with hands and Carl and

6407
05:57:26,400 --> 05:57:28,500
Thompson. 
All of you grinning at the 

6408
05:57:28,508 --> 05:57:31,300
camera, like old friends. 
Looking at it. 

6409
05:57:31,300 --> 05:57:35,600
Now, it seems impossible. 
You and a German soldier with 

6410
05:57:35,608 --> 05:57:38,000
arms around each other's 
shoulders, both smiling. 

6411
05:57:38,000 --> 05:57:41,700
But there you are captured on 
film proof that it really 

6412
05:57:41,700 --> 05:57:44,700
happened. 
Davies mentioned once that the 

6413
05:57:44,700 --> 05:57:47,600
German Sergeant, he met on 
Christmas Day waved to him one 

6414
05:57:47,600 --> 05:57:51,300
morning during quiet period. 
Just a brief wave across No 

6415
05:57:51,300 --> 05:57:54,600
Man's Land acknowledged. 
And then both men went about 

6416
05:57:54,600 --> 05:57:58,000
their business, they didn't 
speak, they didn't meet again 

6417
05:57:58,000 --> 05:58:02,100
but that small gesture of 
recognition meant something the 

6418
05:58:02,100 --> 05:58:05,000
war grinds on. 
Men are transferred in and out 

6419
05:58:05,008 --> 05:58:08,000
of your section. 
Some face North to other parts 

6420
05:58:08,000 --> 05:58:11,800
of the front others to 
hospitals, others, to cemeteries

6421
05:58:11,800 --> 05:58:16,300
new soldiers, arrived to replace
casualties young men who aren't 

6422
05:58:16,300 --> 05:58:19,300
here for Christmas who don't 
understand when the veteran 

6423
05:58:19,300 --> 05:58:22,600
sometimes pause before firing. 
As if remembering that the 

6424
05:58:22,600 --> 05:58:25,600
targets and gray uniforms have 
names and families too. 

6425
05:58:25,600 --> 05:58:28,900
In February, your unit is moved 
to a different sector. 

6426
05:58:28,900 --> 05:58:32,000
You leave the trenches, where 
the Christmas Truce happened, 

6427
05:58:32,000 --> 05:58:36,000
marking along, muddy roads to 
take up positions further north 

6428
05:58:36,800 --> 05:58:40,700
The new trenches of the same as 
the old ones mud and wire and 

6429
05:58:40,700 --> 05:58:43,900
sandbags. 
But they feel different somehow.

6430
05:58:44,700 --> 05:58:46,800
These trenches have no memories 
of singing. 

6431
05:58:46,800 --> 05:58:50,700
No invisible lines across no 
man's land where you want played

6432
05:58:50,700 --> 05:58:53,200
football with the Enemy. 
You write to your mother 

6433
05:58:53,200 --> 05:58:56,200
regularly though, you can't tell
her much about what you've 

6434
05:58:56,200 --> 05:58:59,300
experienced. 
The sensors would cut anything 

6435
05:58:59,300 --> 05:59:03,500
specific and besides how do you 
explain Christmas day in a 

6436
05:59:03,500 --> 05:59:05,400
letter? 
How do you describe singing 

6437
05:59:05,400 --> 05:59:09,500
carols with German soldiers or 
trading chocolate for cigars or 

6438
05:59:09,500 --> 05:59:11,600
meeting a schoolteacher named 
hands. 

6439
05:59:11,600 --> 05:59:14,500
So you write around it. 
You tell her the Christmas 

6440
05:59:14,500 --> 05:59:17,100
pudding was wonderful. 
You mentioned that Christmas was

6441
05:59:17,100 --> 05:59:20,900
quieter than expected you for 
the scarf which was kept you 

6442
05:59:20,908 --> 05:59:23,500
warm through the winter. 
You don't mention that you 

6443
05:59:23,500 --> 05:59:26,400
shared her shortbread with a 
German soldier though. 

6444
05:59:26,400 --> 05:59:29,800
You think she might understand 
if you did spring comes slowly 

6445
05:59:29,800 --> 05:59:34,400
to Belgium the mud doesn't 
improve but the days grow longer

6446
05:59:34,400 --> 05:59:37,000
and occasionally the sun breaks 
through the clouds. 

6447
05:59:37,900 --> 05:59:42,800
The war continues its strange 
static dance months of stalemate

6448
05:59:42,800 --> 05:59:46,000
interrupted by brief of violent 
offensive that gain a few 

6449
05:59:46,000 --> 05:59:49,900
hundred yards at terrible cost 
in may you see someone being 

6450
05:59:49,900 --> 05:59:52,700
transferred through your sector 
who was at the Christmas Truce? 

6451
05:59:52,700 --> 05:59:56,100
He's from a different unit 
wounded in the arm, but 

6452
05:59:56,100 --> 05:59:58,600
recovering being sent to a 
hospital in England. 

6453
05:59:58,600 --> 06:00:01,600
You stop him asked if he 
remembers it. 

6454
06:00:01,600 --> 06:00:05,100
Remember it. 
He says I've told the story 100 

6455
06:00:05,100 --> 06:00:06,200
times. 
Nobody believes me. 

6456
06:00:06,200 --> 06:00:08,700
They think I'm making it up or 
that I've gone shell shocked. 

6457
06:00:09,700 --> 06:00:13,000
He laughs but without much 
humor, but it happened. 

6458
06:00:13,000 --> 06:00:16,400
I've got a photograph to prove 
it people will believe it 

6459
06:00:16,400 --> 06:00:18,700
eventually you say though. 
You're not sure that's true. 

6460
06:00:18,700 --> 06:00:23,200
Maybe he says after the war 
perhaps when people want to 

6461
06:00:23,200 --> 06:00:25,300
remember the good bits instead 
of the rest. 

6462
06:00:25,300 --> 06:00:29,000
He's probably right the 
Christmas Truce will be the kind

6463
06:00:29,000 --> 06:00:31,900
of story people tell when they 
need to believe that Humanity 

6464
06:00:31,900 --> 06:00:36,200
persists even in terrible 
circumstances, it will be 

6465
06:00:36,200 --> 06:00:41,400
simplified romanticized turned 
into a parable about peace and 

6466
06:00:41,400 --> 06:00:44,700
goodwill. 
The reality the cold the 

6467
06:00:44,700 --> 06:00:48,000
uncertainty the knowledge that 
it couldn't last will fade 

6468
06:00:48,000 --> 06:00:52,500
leaving only the bright parts. 
You were there, you know what it

6469
06:00:52,500 --> 06:00:57,000
really was complicated and 
beautiful and fragile born from 

6470
06:00:57,000 --> 06:01:00,500
loneliness and Christmas longing
and the human need for 

6471
06:01:00,500 --> 06:01:03,500
connection. 
It was men making a choice for 

6472
06:01:03,500 --> 06:01:06,400
one day to be something other 
than enemies. 

6473
06:01:06,400 --> 06:01:10,000
It was imperfect and temporary 
and perhaps in the grand scheme 

6474
06:01:10,000 --> 06:01:15,500
of the war meaningless, except 
it wasn't meaningless not to use

6475
06:01:15,500 --> 06:01:18,800
standing in the Belgian mud 
remembering hands as smile and 

6476
06:01:18,800 --> 06:01:22,100
the taste of German cheese and 
the sound of mixed voices 

6477
06:01:22,100 --> 06:01:26,200
singing Silent Night. 
Not to Thompson who still 

6478
06:01:26,200 --> 06:01:30,700
carries that unsmoked cigar not 
to Davies who received away from

6479
06:01:30,700 --> 06:01:32,400
across no man's land and waved 
back. 

6480
06:01:32,400 --> 06:01:35,800
The war changes you in many ways
over the months and years. 

6481
06:01:35,800 --> 06:01:40,200
You become harder more cynical 
less shocked by things that 

6482
06:01:40,200 --> 06:01:41,900
would have horrified your 
younger self. 

6483
06:01:42,600 --> 06:01:45,900
You learn to sleep in impossible
conditions to eat food. 

6484
06:01:45,900 --> 06:01:49,300
You wouldn't have fed to a dog 
before the war to accept losses 

6485
06:01:49,300 --> 06:01:52,600
that once would have devastated 
you but you never quite forget 

6486
06:01:52,600 --> 06:01:57,100
Christmas Day 1914. 
The memory becomes a small warm 

6487
06:01:57,100 --> 06:02:00,600
thing you carry with you 
protected from the cold and mud 

6488
06:02:00,600 --> 06:02:04,000
and horror. 
On particularly bad days, you 

6489
06:02:04,000 --> 06:02:07,500
take it out and examine it the 
candles on the Christmas trees 

6490
06:02:07,500 --> 06:02:11,900
the football game hands showing 
you his photograph the feeling 

6491
06:02:11,900 --> 06:02:14,300
of standing in no man's land 
without fear. 

6492
06:02:14,300 --> 06:02:17,300
You wonder sometimes if hand 
survived the war. 

6493
06:02:18,100 --> 06:02:22,100
If he made it home to Bavaria 
married his fiancee went back to

6494
06:02:22,100 --> 06:02:26,300
teaching Shakespeare to Children
you like to think he did he'd 

6495
06:02:26,300 --> 06:02:28,600
like to imagine him telling his 
students about the Christmas. 

6496
06:02:28,600 --> 06:02:31,800
He spent singing carols with 
British soldiers about the 

6497
06:02:31,800 --> 06:02:34,400
strange and temporary piece that
came to the trenches. 

6498
06:02:34,400 --> 06:02:39,100
The war finally ends in November
1918 four years after that 

6499
06:02:39,100 --> 06:02:41,200
Christmas the guns fall silent 
for good. 

6500
06:02:41,900 --> 06:02:45,700
Not for a day not as a temporary
truce, but permanently. 

6501
06:02:47,000 --> 06:02:50,300
The news comes down the line on 
the 11th Hour of the 11th, day 

6502
06:02:50,300 --> 06:02:53,500
of the 11th month. 
The Armistice has been signed 

6503
06:02:53,500 --> 06:02:57,500
the War is Over, You Stand in a 
trench, not in Belgium anymore. 

6504
06:02:57,500 --> 06:02:59,900
But in France and here, the 
silence. 

6505
06:02:59,900 --> 06:03:03,400
It sounds different from the 
Christmas Truce silence. 

6506
06:03:03,400 --> 06:03:09,800
This silence is final complete. 
Official, this silence means 

6507
06:03:09,800 --> 06:03:14,900
going home, men around you, a 
cheering crying laughing. 

6508
06:03:15,600 --> 06:03:19,700
You feel oddly, quiet inside. 
Four years is a long time. 

6509
06:03:19,700 --> 06:03:24,700
The world you left in 1914, is 
gone replaced by something. 

6510
06:03:24,700 --> 06:03:29,400
You don't quite recognize yet. 
But the war is over and that has

6511
06:03:29,400 --> 06:03:32,800
to be enough on the journey home
on the ship crossing the 

6512
06:03:32,800 --> 06:03:34,800
channel. 
You think about Christmas and 

6513
06:03:34,800 --> 06:03:37,900
1914. 
You think about all the men who 

6514
06:03:37,900 --> 06:03:40,000
were there that day British and 
German? 

6515
06:03:40,000 --> 06:03:42,400
And how many of them didn't make
it to this moment? 

6516
06:03:43,300 --> 06:03:48,400
How many are buried in Belgian 
soil in French soil engraved 

6517
06:03:48,400 --> 06:03:51,500
scattered across the continent 
hands might be one of them. 

6518
06:03:51,500 --> 06:03:56,200
You'll never know Bavaria is a 
long way from England and the 

6519
06:03:56,200 --> 06:03:59,300
war has made Europe strange and 
distant in new ways. 

6520
06:04:00,200 --> 06:04:01,600
Probably you'll never see him 
again. 

6521
06:04:01,600 --> 06:04:05,000
Never know what happened to him 
never get to visit those 

6522
06:04:05,000 --> 06:04:07,400
mountains. 
He mentioned but you remember 

6523
06:04:07,400 --> 06:04:11,400
him you remember his kindness 
his broken English his 

6524
06:04:11,400 --> 06:04:13,900
photograph of a fiance a waiting
at home. 

6525
06:04:13,900 --> 06:04:17,700
You remember standing in no 
man's land together sharing 

6526
06:04:17,700 --> 06:04:21,500
bread talking about families and
football and the stupidity of 

6527
06:04:21,500 --> 06:04:25,500
War you remember that for one 
day the war stopped not 

6528
06:04:25,500 --> 06:04:29,300
everywhere not permanently, but 
in your sector of the front for 

6529
06:04:29,300 --> 06:04:33,700
one bright winter day the guns 
fell silent and Men chose peace 

6530
06:04:33,700 --> 06:04:37,600
over violence, that's worth 
remembering that's worth 

6531
06:04:37,600 --> 06:04:41,300
carrying forward into whatever 
comes next years pass. 

6532
06:04:41,300 --> 06:04:44,600
The Great War becomes the first 
world war when a second one 

6533
06:04:44,600 --> 06:04:47,100
proves that Humanity hasn't 
learned quite enough from the 

6534
06:04:47,100 --> 06:04:51,800
first You grow older, the sharp 
memories of mud and trenches 

6535
06:04:51,800 --> 06:04:54,400
softening at the edges. 
While somehow remaining 

6536
06:04:54,400 --> 06:04:58,800
intensely clear at their Center.
You never forget Christmas 1914.

6537
06:04:58,800 --> 06:05:02,600
You tell the story occasionally,
when it seems appropriate to 

6538
06:05:02,600 --> 06:05:04,200
your children. 
When they're old enough to 

6539
06:05:04,200 --> 06:05:08,200
understand to fellow veterans 
who not knowingly, some of them 

6540
06:05:08,200 --> 06:05:10,600
were there too in other sectors 
where similar truces 

6541
06:05:10,600 --> 06:05:14,600
spontaneously erupted to 
historians later who want to 

6542
06:05:14,600 --> 06:05:17,600
document what happened before? 
Everyone who remembers his gone.

6543
06:05:17,600 --> 06:05:21,500
The story gets told in 
newspapers in books in 

6544
06:05:21,500 --> 06:05:26,500
documentaries, it becomes famous
the Christmas Truce capitalized 

6545
06:05:26,500 --> 06:05:29,000
and turned into a proper 
historical event. 

6546
06:05:30,000 --> 06:05:34,000
People are amazed by it moved by
its skeptical of it. 

6547
06:05:34,800 --> 06:05:38,500
Some call it propaganda. 
Some call it proof that humans 

6548
06:05:38,500 --> 06:05:41,900
are fundamentally good. 
It becomes both more and less 

6549
06:05:41,900 --> 06:05:44,900
than what it actually was. 
But you know, the truth of it. 

6550
06:05:45,600 --> 06:05:48,300
You were there? 
You stood in no man's land on 

6551
06:05:48,300 --> 06:05:52,700
Christmas Day, 1914, and shook 
hands with a German soldier 

6552
06:05:52,700 --> 06:05:57,300
named Hanz, you played football 
in frozen mud, you sang silent 

6553
06:05:57,300 --> 06:06:00,400
night in two languages. 
You saw Christmas trees lit with

6554
06:06:00,400 --> 06:06:03,200
candles and trenches small 
Flames burning in the dark. 

6555
06:06:03,200 --> 06:06:05,700
You never found out what 
happened at hand. 

6556
06:06:05,700 --> 06:06:11,200
You tried after the war writing 
to schools in Bavaria asking if 

6557
06:06:11,200 --> 06:06:15,200
anyone you a teacher named Hans 
who served in the army, But 

6558
06:06:15,200 --> 06:06:18,900
Bavaria is large, and hands is a
common name and the chaos. 

6559
06:06:18,900 --> 06:06:22,200
After the war made searching 
difficult, eventually, you 

6560
06:06:22,200 --> 06:06:25,500
stopped trying accepting that 
some questions don't get 

6561
06:06:25,500 --> 06:06:27,500
answered. 
But you think about him 

6562
06:06:27,500 --> 06:06:30,800
sometimes, Specially at 
Christmas when you hang 

6563
06:06:30,800 --> 06:06:34,500
decorations on your own tree, 
when you sing carols at church 

6564
06:06:34,500 --> 06:06:37,200
when you sit with your family 
and warmth and peace. 

6565
06:06:38,100 --> 06:06:39,900
You think about a young German 
Man? 

6566
06:06:39,900 --> 06:06:42,700
Who Loved his fiancee, and 
Shakespeare, and wanted to show 

6567
06:06:42,700 --> 06:06:46,700
you the mountains of Bavaria. 
You hope he survived, you hope 

6568
06:06:46,700 --> 06:06:49,700
he made it home married. 
His sweet heart taught children 

6569
06:06:49,700 --> 06:06:52,700
about literature and language, 
grew old in peace. 

6570
06:06:52,700 --> 06:06:55,800
You hope is memory of that 
Christmas is clear. 

6571
06:06:55,800 --> 06:06:59,200
Impression as yours, the world 
changes around you. 

6572
06:06:59,900 --> 06:07:02,400
Another War more terrible than 
the first. 

6573
06:07:03,200 --> 06:07:08,300
Then peace again. 
Uneasy but lasting The trenches 

6574
06:07:08,300 --> 06:07:10,900
in Belgium and France are filled
in though. 

6575
06:07:10,900 --> 06:07:12,900
The scars remain if you know 
where to look. 

6576
06:07:13,700 --> 06:07:17,000
The generation that fought in 
those trenches grows old then 

6577
06:07:17,000 --> 06:07:21,200
begins to fade but the story 
persists, the Christmas Truce 

6578
06:07:21,200 --> 06:07:23,800
becomes one of those moments 
that people need to believe in 

6579
06:07:23,800 --> 06:07:27,300
proof that even in the worst 
circumstances Humanity can 

6580
06:07:27,300 --> 06:07:31,300
assert itself. 
It gets simplified romanticized 

6581
06:07:31,300 --> 06:07:35,500
turned into a symbol. 
But that's all right symbols 

6582
06:07:35,500 --> 06:07:39,500
matter stories matter, you know 
what matters most though. 

6583
06:07:39,500 --> 06:07:43,100
It really happened. 
The singing happened. 

6584
06:07:43,100 --> 06:07:47,400
The football game happened the 
handshakes and the shared food 

6585
06:07:47,400 --> 06:07:51,700
and the brief bright piece. 
All of it happened not because 

6586
06:07:51,700 --> 06:07:55,000
governments ordered it or 
General's planned it but because

6587
06:07:55,000 --> 06:07:58,700
ordinary soldiers chose it that 
choice Echoes forward through 

6588
06:07:58,700 --> 06:08:00,700
time. 
It echoes in the lives. 

6589
06:08:00,700 --> 06:08:02,900
You all went on to live in the 
stories. 

6590
06:08:02,900 --> 06:08:07,300
You told in the simple fact that
for one day the war stopped 

6591
06:08:07,300 --> 06:08:11,300
because men on both sides 
decided it should on Christmas 

6592
06:08:11,300 --> 06:08:13,500
Eve in your old age. 
You sometimes stand by the 

6593
06:08:13,500 --> 06:08:17,000
window and look at the stars. 
They're the same stars that Sean

6594
06:08:17,000 --> 06:08:22,000
over Belgium in 1914 unchanged 
by human Wars or Cruces or the 

6595
06:08:22,000 --> 06:08:24,700
passage of years. 
You think about all the men 

6596
06:08:24,700 --> 06:08:28,700
standing in trenches that long 
ago night looking up at the same

6597
06:08:28,700 --> 06:08:32,500
Stars hearing the same carols 
and you remember? 

6598
06:08:33,400 --> 06:08:35,600
You remember the candles on the 
Christmas trees? 

6599
06:08:35,600 --> 06:08:40,600
You remember Han's smile and 
Thompson harmonica and the taste

6600
06:08:40,600 --> 06:08:43,900
of German bread. 
You remember standing in no 

6601
06:08:43,900 --> 06:08:47,600
man's land without fear 
celebrating Christmas with men 

6602
06:08:47,600 --> 06:08:50,400
who were supposed to be enemies,
but chose briefly to be 

6603
06:08:50,400 --> 06:08:54,400
something else. 
The guns fell silent once and 

6604
06:08:54,400 --> 06:08:56,600
the memory of that silence 
carries forward. 

6605
06:08:57,800 --> 06:09:01,500
It reminds you that peace is 
possible that humans can choose 

6606
06:09:01,500 --> 06:09:05,600
kindness over violence that even
in the darkest times like 

6607
06:09:05,600 --> 06:09:08,000
confined away through that's 
worth remembering. 

6608
06:09:08,800 --> 06:09:12,000
That's worth preserving. 
That's the gift those soldiers 

6609
06:09:12,000 --> 06:09:15,600
gave to the Future proof that 
peace is always possible. 

6610
06:09:15,600 --> 06:09:20,100
If enough people choose it at 
the same time a story ends where

6611
06:09:20,100 --> 06:09:26,400
it began. with men in trenches 
cold and Far From Home choosing 

6612
06:09:26,400 --> 06:09:29,500
to honor something larger than 
the war choosing Christmas 

6613
06:09:29,500 --> 06:09:34,500
choosing Humanity choosing 
peace, even though they knew it 

6614
06:09:34,500 --> 06:09:39,500
couldn't last it lasted long 
enough one day one bright winter

6615
06:09:39,500 --> 06:09:43,300
day when the guns fell silent 
and the world briefly remembered

6616
06:09:43,300 --> 06:09:46,500
what piece felt like that was 
enough that was more than 

6617
06:09:46,500 --> 06:09:48,200
enough. 
That was everything.