This theme and the photos that belong to it, reflects the role of risk and uncertainty in enabling transformation. As Gould said, ‘growing is a dangerous act of transformation’ (Gould, 1979, p. 25). Moments of choosing unfamiliar routes, taking detours, following my intuition, entering ambiguous space or encountering barriers introduced an element of risk and disruption to my wayfaring. Over the course of my research, I came to see this risk and uncertainty not as negative but as productive and a space for creative potential. Interrupting the everyday, the habitual routines and ways of seeing is risky. Deterritorialization (Deleuze & Guattari, 2013), a breaking away from the norm is risky. Being open to change and transformation is risky. Trying new practices, processes and mediums is risky. However, as my previous research has shown, ‘real learning requires stepping into the unknown, which initiates a rupture in knowing’ (Meyer et al, 2010, pg. ix), transformation requires ‘leaving that familiar space and crossing over into the riskier space beyond the threshold’ (Meyer et al, 2010, pg. ix).
Deleuze, G. and Guattari, F. (2013) A Thousand Plateaus. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
Gould, R. (1979) Transformations: Growth and Change in Adult Life. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Meyer, J., Land, R., and Baillie, C. (2010) Threshold Concepts and Transformational Learning. Rotterdam: Sense.