The seminar started on the floor... literally. We were all asked to find a space in the room, lie down flat and close our eyes. We then went through a very relaxing breathing exercise, focusing on reminiscing past memories which related to cameras and feeling our contact with the floor. We then all exited the room slowly, without speaking a word to anyone, and set off to follow our instincts and curiosity and see where our feet led us. Mine took me through the left side entrance of the Grimond building and up the stairs in the corner near the ATMs. Once up there my first observation was how easy it would be to get onto the roof and I really wished that it was an acceptable thing to do. I decided to ignore my wishes for the sake of avoiding possible trouble, and went back down, disappointed.
My path next took me though a parted tree trunk and along a muddy path which led to the back of the Marlowe building. There I found an interesting piece of tile and a seemingly half constructed spiral staircase. I sat on the stairs for a minute observing the blue and white patterns on the tile, and then remembered that I'd wanted to go to my favourite campus tree since before I left the seminar room. So I set off and arrived at the large tree to the side of Elliot footpath. I climbed up it, washed the tile in a puddle of water in a hole on one of the branches, and started reflecting on how drawn I am to climbing and heights.
As a kid, I used to climb everything I saw whether it was the side of a stone building, a roof, a tree, a mountain or a cliff. I started reflecting on how most things are acceptable and considered "normal" when you are a kid. But when you become an adult, you suddenly have to think about what society would think of your actions. I have always hated this, and as a teenager I tried to stay a kid for as long as possible. But what is "being a kid"? What is "being an adult"? Does it matter what other people think? What exactly is tolerated? Could one get arrested for climbing onto a roof? Shouldn't you be responsible for your own actions? Be in control of your own life?
None of these reflections led me to a film idea, which was meant to be the aim of this exercise. However an idea was already forming in my mind...