KineOasis

On my daily walks, I observe people's reactions to me and sometimes to my Sons - when we walk together. We often walk our Huskies, which is safe to say that our Huskies are often walking us.

And in my walks, I tend to be friendly. When given a chance, I say "hello" to whomever I encounter. Sometimes eyes glance away, sometimes they don't glance at all. Rarely, do we receive a hello back, and the heart jolts with joy for just a moment.

This might be a personality trait, being openly friendly and eager to connect with other humans, but it could also be an aspect of my early childhood education.

As I grew up I still caught those times when gentlemen would slightly lift their hats or at least tilt their heads when passing by one another. My Grandfather was one of them.

I remember his walk. Old military school, he placed dignity in every detail of his presence - from his polished shoes to his hat and often a long black umbrella with a fitting wooden handle.

Back then, gentlemen would even step aside, stop, and lift their hats every time they passed by a woman. It was a mannerism of stunning proportions and it took place in every corner of the country, not just on the streets of busy cities.

There was poise and pride in walking and you could see it in the streets, on park alleys, in cemeteries, on unpaved country roads, and even

inside people's homes.

Walking had presence. Walking required presence. Walking demanded presence. And within that presence, there it was - the social jewels of those times - acknowledgment, trust, and respect for one another.

Time has passed. Passing changed the times. We now walk by each other and one could easily assume that everyone is wearing not a suit, not a dress, not a hat or an umbrella, but an item taken right out of Harry Potter's make-believe world. An Invisibility cloak.

As the human world has sped up, we, in our rush to keep up, have slowly abandoned the moments we promised to each other as civilized beings.

Subtly yet swiftly, we turned our eyes blind to those around us, and in doing so we lost one of our "magical" social jewels - we no longer show signs of acknowledgment to anyone other than in our immediate sphere of personal interest.

Slowly yet rushing, we allowed our trust and faith in one another to erode, thus losing our second precious social jewel.

Painfully yet numbingly, we shed ourselves of the requirements of protocols and mutual respect, sealing the faith of the last of our social treasure.

As time - and technology - continued to press on and push our senses to exhaustion, we began our final descent into social oblivion by abandoning our most fundamental aspect of being alive. We began losing our presence. In our insatiable quest to rise to some arbitrary top and our raging and now unsatisfied desire to be seen, we fell away and apart from one another.

With nothing to keep us together, our modern social citadel has claimed its price as the erosion of acknowledgment, trust, and respect can only lead to increased isolation.

And yes, all of this is indeed observable while walking a Husky, or otherwise said - when a Husky walks a human.

It's ironic almost, to see my Huskies - as were my previous wonderful canine companions - fully engaged in observing and acknowledging

everything and everyone within the range of their senses. It's humbling to admit the loss we humans have imposed upon ourselves in our rush to success and efficiency.

It's sobering to know that our beloved furry creatures are ultimately better social beings than us.

We have gone so far down the rabbit hole of rushing nowhere, that we can barely still recognize what has happened. Even when it is right in front of us, at our feet, we still can no longer perceive the very treasure we have lost.

Let's flip the script.

At heart, we're still the kids who once daydreamed about the wonders of life, the loves and friendships yet to come, and the adventures awaiting to be taken in the joyful companionship of our kind and peers.

We are kids at heart so much so that we don't want to hear about all this doom and gloom. We can't stomach negativity. We want positivity. We want to be appreciated but not criticized, not analyzed, and not even seen for who we are. We want to be seen for who we project ourselves to be.

We want. Or we tantrum. Then want more. We are lost and found between our nine to fives, between tasks and slots, between goals and timelines.

Yet, as I always tell our sons, we are never truly lost. If we can only pause for long enough to sense our world, to reclaim being present, then, we can begin to realize that instead of being lost we are simply found in a new place - maybe an unfamiliar place or unknown, or stressful, or painful. But not lost. Found.

Lost, we rush. We chase. We panic. Lost, we cannot sense.
Found, we can see. We can observe. We can acknowledge. We can trust again.

To pause is the secret to being found.

When it comes to Movement, we find ourselves challenged to be authentic. In movement, we cannot hide. Evolutionary speaking, movement allows us to find shelter, food, and new territory. Because of this, it engages all of our senses and demands our full awareness of ourselves and our environment.

Yet, as it happens, we found ways to automate our movement and turn ourselves into robot-like beings, trapped in "efficient" patterns,

encapsulated in rigidity, and isolated from both ourselves and our surroundings. From sitting at a desk to driving, and more sitting, we "moved" away from most of our ability to be movement and to create movement.

We created an environment that serves our efficiency-driven society, an environment that does not change much, an environment we can automate ourselves into. And so, we slowly lost our adaptability, our flexibility, our strength, and endurance. Last, we lost our creativity in movement.

There is light at the end of this - because, if you remember, we are not really lost. We found ourselves away from our innate qualities of a superb creature, yet we still recognize our beauty - celebrate it even. Through Arts and Sports, we gave ourselves the gift to experience the beauty and freedom of our movement - either as direct participants and creators, or as spectators, enjoying the pleasure of movement vicariously - via a TV screen, or once again..sitting and watching.

This recognition and celebration of movement through the arts and sports is the shimmer of hope we need, that we can all eventually

rediscover ourselves in movement - if we so choose.

It begins with awareness. It continues with the courage not to hide. Turns into inquiry. Reveals answers. Offers options. Then expands.

All things are connected. Pausing to acknowledge another person as you walk by each other demands all of those steps and actions. In doing so, your awareness moves onto yourself and the surrounding environment. This, in turn, gives you an opportunity to be present in mind and body. Just like that, you are back inside a movement-centered relationship with life itself.

Try it. Play with it. Explore it. Expand it. And above all, be mindful of patterns and efficiency...because when it comes to the freedom and power of movement, your very own gift of life, patterns and efficiency are very narrow paths. They serve their purpose but were never meant to take over.

We were never meant to be robots.

If life takes you on a path of efficiency through repetitive tasks, remind yourself to find your inner oasis, find the time and space to be inside Movement and create Movement for the sake of movement. Hold on to that beautiful gift of being a fluid and powerful creature that exists and journeys through space using this amazing joy of movement.

Whether large or minute, our movements are portals into the many layers of what makes us "us." Awareness of movement is a great equalizer when it comes to being empowered through movement and there are myriad ways to awaken ourselves and our senses into this vast universe of being alive.

Bo is the Co-Founder of KineOasis and Arts4Hope, powering projects with a combination of love and tech. He runs The Grasshoppers Club, an Exploratory Martial Arts practice for all ages. In-Person Practice now takes place in Madison, WI where Bo and his family have relocated since 2023.