Quiet Discovery: Wayfinding With a Local Author

A Fractal Walk with Deborah Gregory

Back in April, I shared that part of my birthday plans included joining local author Deborah Gregory on a “Fractal Walk” through the Ormond Beach Memorial Gardens. I did just that and am back to tell you about the experience and her newly released book, “Spiritual Wayfinding: 33 Walking Meditations for Navigating Life with Embodied Wisdom.”

The only other time I had heard the word “wayfinding” was in the Disney movie, “Moana.” It is mostly what it sounds like: using your body and nature to find your way. Moana did it with her hands, the stars and the sea to find her way home to Motunui. We do it every day here in Volusia County when we use the sights and sounds of the ocean to head east. All the walks in Deborah’s book are meant to help us step away from anxious thoughts such as “Who am I?” and “Where am I going?” and find a better way through each day by moving our feet.

The specific Fractal Walk we went on was all about slowing down to find patterns in nature. Deborah shared mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot’s research with our group, explaining that “each part is like the whole but smaller.” Think about the pattern of leaves on a fern stem and then the pattern of ridges on each individual leaf. They both follow the same alternating spacing. We looked at examples and heard how noticing these fractals could reduce stress and engage our brains’ reward centers. Then, she sent us on a walk through the gardens to notice the textures, shapes and patterns for ourselves.

The Lesson I Found in Bamboo

The plant and pattern I kept returning to was bamboo. Each stalk appeared to have stripes or rings every few inches, so I used my phone to do a quick Google search to find out what they were. I learned that on young bamboo shoots, horizontal lines often mark where the culm sheath, a protective, paper-like sleeve, attaches to the node. As the shoot matures, the sheaths fall off, leaving permanent sheath scars, or rings, on the bamboo. The bamboo keeps growing, but the evidence of its previous protective coverings remains.

As a woman who has the scars of three Cesarean sections from growing our family, this image was particularly powerful for me. I spent some time thinking about how I have grown physically and emotionally over the years and what scars, or reminders of that growth, I was showing.

It helped me see them as a positive, beautiful pattern rather than something to hide.

Turning Nature Into a Fibonacci Poem

After a set amount of time, we returned as a group to share our observations. Deborah asked us to reflect on patterns in our own lives and then showed us how to respond to those observations by creating a Fibonacci poem. In a Fibonacci poem, the number of syllables in each line follows the mathematical Fibonacci sequence. Each number is formed by adding the two numbers before it: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5 and so on.

I do not usually consider myself an artistic person, but as a high school physics teacher, I am all about math and science. I was able to replicate the pattern to create a poem:

1 Sheath

1 Scars

2 Culm Sheath

3 Falling off

5 As the shoot matures

8 Leaving a permanent scarring

13 Scars give evidence of less protection but more growth

Find Your Way With Spiritual Wayfinding

Overall, my time in April was a peaceful reminder to slow down. I bought a copy of Deborah’s book and have been making my way through her other walks, as well. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for guidance on moving their body more and exploring the beauty of this place we call home.

You can find out more about the author, download a free chapter or buy the book on her publisher’s website: IVpress.com/Spiritual-Wayfinding or you can find it on Amazon and her Instagram account @SpiritualWayfinding.