Travessias e silêncio : uma autobiografia fenomenológica do caminhar

Abstract

We live in a context of societies that seek primarily material progress, to the detriment of feelings, social justice or environmental protection. Faced with a crisis of civilization, an existential crisis lies at the heart of this crossroads of human adventure. The daily life of many goals and commitments to the growth of economies provides an accelerated and often empty life of existential senses. In the construction of my PhD thesis, I take an investigative look at my own learning in the long walks. The research had as objective to interpret phenomenologically the experiences and the learning of walkers in long crossings, in two territories: a) In Serra do Espinhaço, in Minas Gerais, Brazil; and b) on the Way of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. In the epistemological course, I sought dialogues with the Phenomenology (Merleau-Ponty), the Environmental Education (Michèle Sato), the Presence (Csikszentmihalyi) and the Psychology of the art of living (Susuki). Phenomenology was also my hiking stick, strengthening the methodological steps of a pedagogy that enabled an existential immersion, generating what I call phenomenological autobiography. Sometimes alone, but most of the time accompanied, I walked in these crossings for more than 1200 kilometers on both routes, which offered a horizon of many experiences, feelings and reflections. To contribute to this investigative construction, I mixed my gaze with thirty-three other subjects interviewed who have followed these two paths. The long walks provide a break in the society of progress, causing the gradual slowing of the walker. Throughout the days and weeks, the walk begins to teach mindfulness, as it is a requirement of the interaction of the body-mind with the landscape. It is in this sense that the walks can be understood as meditative and educational experiences. This gradual Presence generates an experience of Silence, which causes the walkers to also pay attention to the 'inner' journey and discover new existential senses. The crossings increase our sense of re-bonding, generating a deep understanding of the interdependence of body-mind and self-other-world. They provide learning about people, their cultures and their relationships with nature, which could be translated as an environmental education of walking.