Field notes – ongoing, lightly edited

Change
Everything changes constantly. Some of it a little more slowly than we can see directly. But nothing retains its state, its properties or its form. All attempts undertaken to preserve something involve an enormous expenditure of resources. In time or money, for example. Moreover, they only weaken and delay. As soon as these efforts cease, the unstoppable resumes its natural rhythm. (Sun, light/shadow, reflections / plastic turning brittle, colours fading, …)
 

Adaptation
Resignation means death. Everything that continues to exist finds a solution in every situation. The question is not whether the situation offers ideal conditions, but how one must adapt to it. The more cleverly one can apply one's strengths, the greater the chances of success. Even the most adverse circumstances seem to be no obstacle. (A dandelion growing in a crack in the asphalt / trees fanning out their branches and leaves into the sun, making total use of the surface exposed to sunlight)
 

Non-judgement / no valuation
The sun shines on everything that does not lie in shadow. The rain falls on everything that is not under cover. And the wind reaches everything that is not sheltered from it. This has nothing to do with moral or ethical questions. Everything that follows the laws of nature comes to enjoy its blessings. There is no past and no future. Either one is in the sun at the moment the sun is shining – or not. Among other things, this means there are always possibilities and a new chance or opportunity. (The sun shines on a plastic bag just as it does on a tree or a flower. The sun does not care. It is generous and unconditional. But it, too, is of course bound to laws, has possibilities and limitations. See the text "The Plastic Bag")

Harmony is a matter of attitude / depends on perspective
The harmonious, the beautiful, the delightful can be found almost anywhere and at any time. What is decisive is whether one is mobile oneself. When all other parameters are given, one can oneself be the changing element in order to reach the corresponding perspective. (Emblem: the camera. One has to move, zoom, adjust the settings until one finds the picture.)

A constructive stance
Everything that survives is marked by a constructive stance. The motto seems to be: to ascertain the circumstances and the environment, to accept them and take them as given for the moment. And then to apply one's own possibilities and abilities to the full. With the aim of making the best possible use of the potential of this constellation. On this basis one can build, develop one's own existence, and grow. This point is partly connected with the point "Adaptation". (A seed flying through the air, landing somewhere, and later becoming a flower or a tree. Somewhere, seemingly by chance.)

Realities are individual
In the same places and at the same time, perceptions and viewpoints differ considerably. Life takes place in the same places and at the same times in completely different ways. On the one hand, this relativises everything. On the other, it opens up a multitude of possibilities. Attitudes and views can also be corrected or changed when they do not serve.

Time is change, and time is individual.
Everything changes at its own pace and according to its properties. To the same degree, time is perceived individually. (The rubber of a tyre changes at a different pace than, say, the leaf of a tree.)

Decay / change
Decay is an opinion, a particular perspective. From a more holistic view, it is simply change.

Everything seems to exist in abundance. / Resolution
No matter what I occupy myself with or what I have begun to observe on strolls: the more I have engaged with it, the more of it I have seen or discovered. The more I have examined it, the more I have learned about it and the further I have advanced. So far I have found no end. Consequently, in an expanding, evolutionary universe, none should be found. Or to put it differently: unlike our models and conceptions, the universe is of extremely high resolution. One can look as closely as one wishes, and it still seems to deliver ever smaller parts. (Compare also: atoms, electrons, neutrons, the Higgs particle … A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking …)

The more traces are visible, the more interesting and exciting something is.
Time, the elements, and the influences of humans, animals and other living beings leave traces. It is these traces that make something interesting in the first place. This is nothing that can be brought about artificially. That, too, is why they are so valuable. What human beings are capable of building and developing is, seen in this light, very limited, and is always the result of assumptions and conceptions. These are very limited in relation to the whole abundance that life brings with it. Our conceptions always collide with life, whether in immaterial or material form (e.g. as a building). The more we protect them from it, the less interesting they seem to become.

Life as such is colourful, diverse, dynamic – and there is no leader or boss per se.
Of course there are certain givens and laws. But as we saw under "Non-judgement / no valuation", these are impersonal and impartial. There does, however, seem to be a contest between different ideas, models or interests, and over time some prevail and others disappear. Prevailing can be favoured. But it cannot be guaranteed, predicted or determined. All means seem possible and permitted. Particularly popular is the claim that one's own cause has already prevailed, or will certainly prevail for a particular reason. Yet this remains only an attempt at favouring.

Head or outside world
Being more in one's own head seems to mean being less in the outside world, and vice versa. (See the text "White Maps")

There are days on which I see great pictures everywhere. On others, not.
So what I see must above all have to do with myself. With my mood, my attitude, my way of seeing, my thoughts and my condition. Or also with whom I am out walking, what we have set out to do, which conditions we have committed ourselves to, and what we talk about. Possibly this applies not only to strolls but to other areas of life as well. Perhaps even to everything.

Everything is new, again and again
Of course I tend to store what I have already done in the form of the experiences, impressions and perceptions that arose from it. And of course, in certain situations, this is very helpful behaviour. But actually it is not a necessary method – at most a sufficient one. For the opposite experience is quite obvious when strolling: on the very same route I can discover something entirely new again and again. The question is whether I open myself to it or not. Evidently, a great many parameters change considerably from stroll to stroll. The weather, for example, the light, sounds. But I myself am by no means a constant fixed point in this system either. And evidently I never have the capacity to take in and process everything that is present as potential stimuli for my senses. If, however, on a subsequent stroll along the same route I discover nothing or little that is new, it simply means that I am actually strolling not in the outside world but in my own memories, in my own synapses. As I currently suspect, this can be used as an analogy for almost everything in life. Incidentally, it is also astonishing to note, again and again, how much my memories can differ from reality. I have often retained much less than I thought, for example. And distances, colours or occurrences are quite different from how they are in my head. Which brings me to the next point.

Imagining a stroll is something completely different from actually taking one. (or: There is no foreseeing what will turn up on a stroll)
Perhaps this sounds like a truism. But I keep falling for it. Of course I occasionally depend on my reason to assess certain situations in advance and, for example, to calculate a possible risk. But I often catch myself wondering beforehand what we will probably talk about on a stroll, or where we will go. When it is hot, I ask myself: where will we be able to get something to drink? But when I look at it more closely, such considerations are highly illogical and a foolish habit. For it is of course impossible for me to know what we will talk about and what the other person will say. If I know it, that simply means I am located in time AFTER the event. I have already experienced it. In my observation, the future unfolds with great dynamism. The more I can be present in the current moment, the more of it I take in, and the more consciously I can help shape what is happening. And interestingly, the fact of being exposed to a particular situation seems to activate entirely different forces, abilities and instincts than when I merely imagine something. So when I have the courage to accept not knowing how a situation will develop or what result it will lead to, then in retrospect I am often left only with astonishment and a smile. For myself, I have learned from this to decide and act more and more out of the moment. In my experience, there is enormous power in that.

A stroll is always a good idea
I have never regretted having taken a stroll.

Everything that happens to you or that you encounter on a stroll is part of it.
From the moment I set off until I end the stroll, everything is part of the stroll. This is how the stroll must be defined. It cannot be interrupted; nothing wrong can be done, said or thought. The experience becomes much more exciting and richer when I allow everything. It goes even further. Once I had gathered various experiences with strolls, I could observe that everything was connected. What I saw influenced what I thought, for example. What I thought determined the topics I talked about with my companions. And this in turn influenced what we saw, discovered, and where we went. So even for purely practical reasons it is appropriate to treat a stroll in this way. For it is actually impossible to separate these things from one another anyway. Had one not run into the Müllers and had a quick drink with them, the stroll would have gone quite differently. I often believe I recognise exactly this law in my life as well.

Wonder
For me, strolling is in many cases wondering. Either I set off already in this attitude, or the wonder sets in over the course of the stroll.

Strolling is incredibly satisfying
Since I learned to stroll consciously and to allow everything that happens along the way, I find it deeply fulfilling. I always discover more than I expected. I always learn something I did not know before. I always see things I had not yet seen. I always become aware of something I was not yet aware of. I always find pictures (either as photographs or in my head) that are new to me. These souvenirs are my treasures. And they fill me with joy. Most of them are personal, and I may never be able to share them with anyone. Others, in turn, contribute very much to more valuable human relationships. In every case, it is something that I found, that became clear to ME MYSELF, or that makes sense or is beautiful from MY personal perspective. And this being-creative-out-of-oneself is incredibly satisfying.

The most beautiful pictures have never been photographed
I see far more that is interesting, exciting, harmonious and stimulating than I could ever photograph. In fact, the fewest discoveries lend themselves to being depicted photographically. For photography is a very limited medium. It has its strengths, but also many limitations. Our senses, especially in combination with the abilities of our brain, have so many more possibilities. And so, on my strolls, I have made it a habit simply to smile briefly when I have discovered a great picture of which I know that I will never be able to depict it physically.

This list does not end here. Every time I stroll in any form and set myself in motion, mentally or literally, it keeps growing. Until I discover indications to the contrary, I will stay with the assumption that it can be continued endlessly. So far it is limited only by the time available to me for engaging with the subject.