So…What’s a Mindwalk Anyway?

Welcome to my parlor or kitchen table… a space where people feel comfortable in talking with friends that matter, about things that matter. I chose the title Mindwalk because it was a way of capturing the spirit of this forum.

I first came across the film “Mindwalk” in the mid-1990s. It was the title of a movie that was not exactly a commercial success despite the star-studded cast (Sam Waterston, John Heard, and Liv Ullman).

The “set” was both simple and fascinating.  Mont-Saint-Michel is universally recognized today as the site of a beautiful Gothic-style Benedictine abbey. The site was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. It is one of France’s most popular sites with over 3 million visitors per year.

The movie portrays a wide-ranging conversation among three characters while they wander around Mont Saint-Michel.

• Sonia, a Norwegian physicist who abandoned a lucrative career after discovering that elements of her work were being applied to weapons development,  
• Jack, an American politician attempting to make sense of his recent defeat as a presidential candidate, and 
• Tom, a poet, Jack’s close friend, and a disillusioned former political speechwriter.

Disparate perspectives political and social problems, and alternative solutions, serve as the focus of the film. Moving beyond ordinary Hollywood fare, the movie touches on systems thinking and modern physical theories such as quantum mechanics and particle physics.

However, the specific problems and suggested solutions are not the primary concern; rather, different ways of viewing these problems are presented and considered.

Over 20 years later I am still fascinated in watching sharp minds from different backgrounds respectfully share their concerns and grow through their discussions. I periodically revisit the online version. The conceptual background of each character may be different. It is how they engaged with each other that stays in my mind. They illustrate a “mindwalk”!

So I see this site as a place where people can engage in a Vincentian Mindwalk through the respectful exchange from different perspectives on things that matter to followers of Vincent and Louise.

I am committed to priming the discussion pump on a regular basis with posts addressing Vincentian Values as we face them in daily life.

Just the original Mindwalk was not a commercial success I don’t envision Vincentian Mindwalk as ever going viral. As I said above, it is just a group of fellow travelers exchanging thoughts about things that matter to them. I think Vincentia Mindwalk should be judged by the level of mutual engagement in a respectful atmosphere.

Feel free to join in a discussion with others who share similar concerns.  I expect there to be an ebb and a flow in conversations just as there are in real life. Sometimes people will be active and at other times they will eavesdrop.

Hopefully, it will always be engaging and thought-provoking. May it become an informal space where, free from the hyper-partisanship of so many social media sites, we can explore what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ, Evangelizer of the Poor today in a post-COVID 19 world.

PS I am happy to note that subscribers come from different continents, branches of the Vincentian including some at top levels of leadership. I am particularly happy to see a number of what is still awkwardly called “unaffiliated Vincentians”, not members of a specific branch but who have experienced the charism of Vincent in institutions administered by one or other group of followers of Vincent and Louise.

Click below for and audio version of the VIncentian Mindwalk