This PsychicCity experiment will not be too hard, but it does have a couple steps to it. First, make your way to Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche, right outside the Kurfürstendamm stop of the U9.
Do not listen to music (or whatever) on your way there.
When you arrive you will see a round, modern-looking building, an obviously old and war-damaged building, and a tower which is under construction. First stop is the old one. Inside there is lots to read about the old church, how it was destroyed, restored, etc; don’t read any of that. You can come back after if you want, but for now don’t read anything that isn’t carved in the stone of the place. Just walk around (as much as you can, it is small and there is bound to be some other tourists there, though there were not many when I visited), look at the engravings and sculptures, and write down some observation, quote, or whatever. Something short. Don’t, for the love of God, buy anything. Near the statue of Christ there are devotional candles, think about something you want and light one of these off one that is already burning. Do not use a lighter. You can give a small donation if you’d like but it’s up to you. God doesn’t care about donations.
Next, walk over and into the sanctuary (ie not the tower, which is some kind of hippie store or something). Find a place to sit. Not in the back or completely off to the side; somewhere you can see most of the space, and where you cannot feel hidden. Set down your bag, take off your jacket, and sit. Breathe. Don’t do anything until your heart comes down from travel-mode, and your mind stops thinking about what you’re supposed to be doing here. Look around you and rest. When you feel settled in write something. It doesn’t matter what you write–don’t try to be profound or clever–just fill up a page of your notebook. Then go to the devotional candles over to the right and think about something new that you want and light another candle (again, no lighter). Stand, sit, squat, or kneel and watch your candle for a minute. Breathe.
After this, find a spot in the platz outside and sit and watch people for a minute or two, and then write something else down. Now you are done and can go read the historical information if you want, but you are expressly forbidden to buy anything here, nor can you put on your headphones until you get home. When you do get home, type up what you wrote in each of the three spaces. You are free to add to it or edit if you want, but don’t feel like it’s supposed to be anything. If all you wrote was a grocery list, or the lyrics to TLC’s “Waterfalls” then cool! Post that!
