PROJECT NATURECONNECT
Institute of Global Education
Greenwich University
Portland State University
Introductory Course
ECO 501 Educating and Counseling With Nature
"Come forth into the light of things. Let Nature be your teacher." - William Wordsworth
Chapter 19
Matching The SensesI read while sitting by this spruce. I shut my eyes and my book's words disappear from sight. But I remain aware of the branch I'm holding because I still touch it, smell it, and hear its needles whisper in the wind.
Even though the war against NIAL and its wranglers nearly devastated my inner nature, my parents' and community's great love for me and natural areas enabled me to keep my inherent connections with nature alive. To me, the callings of the natural world were undeniable. They offered unconditional love. They never spoke harsh words.
I felt welcome and acted differently around a campfire than in a classroom. After our daily elementary school classes were over, many cold winter afternoons we'd make small campfires in vacant lots and happily sit around toasting marshmallows or roasting potatoes. The fire itself spoke a language of warmth, motion, smoke, smell, light, sound, chemistry and combustion. Its magic disintegrated burnables, yet it brought us together. Even though I couldn't explain it or sell it, I trusted the magic of the fire far more than most promises ever made to me. It always rang true and dependable. It catalyzed communion and healing among us, even though it said not a word. Best of all, I didn't need to take a course in Fire 101. My body innately understood it. We knew each other as of old.
Then the war raised its ugly head. Some wrangler, somewhere, said that children that play with fire have hidden anger or repressed emotions. Within a week, our campfires changed from a passion to a problem. At home and at school adults expressed concern about them and us. Fortunately, Mother Nature smiled on we eight year olds and took care of the problem one freezing morning. That morning was so cold, Dad offered to drive me to school. He started up the old 1929 LaSalle. Through a hole in the dashboard, I could see that the engine was in flames. I screamed. We opened up the hood and while Dad stood helpless, I grabbed the ashes from a nearby ash can. I threw them on the flames and extinguished the fire. "How did you know the ashes would extinguaish the fire?" asked my father. I explained I knew this because we had tried to burn them at our campfire and they put it out.
We arrived at school late. Dad explained what happened and, in class the teacher had me do "Show and Tell" about the engine fire. Believe me, several times over, my presentation emphasized how I had learned from our campfires that ashes smother fire. After that, I never heard another word of complaint about the fires, other than "You smell like smoke."
This chapter parallels my campfire experience. It introduces qualities and values of NIAL in the natural world which, like campfires, we seldom acknowledge or validate. Although the war's anti-nature propaganda makes many people disown these qualities, that does not diminish their truth our your history with them. You can find that truth by trusting what you experience -what you sense and feel- while you do the activities. In this way, you may discover the history of your new brain with respect to natural senses brought to consciousness by the activities. If you can't trust what you discover through these experiences, what can you trust? The wrangler? Wrangling injures our nature so much that if it became a movie, the candy stand would make money selling kleenex.
Go to an attractive natural area and thankfully gain its consent to do this activity there.
Match a natural attraction you find here. Physically assume its shape and/or motion. For example: To match the radiating shape of a leaf, posture yourself with your body and arms spread like the leaf and wave as it does in the wind. Note what you sense while doing this.
This activity is similar to analytical therapies. It helps differentiate stories form the past with opportunities in the present, including the opportunity to psychologically change past stories. It helps identify injuries from the unseen war we engage in.
Try to remember if or when you have felt this sensation(s) before, indoors or outdoors. It has a history throughout your life and the life of the planet. For example, you may have sensed it when you once sat in a rocking chair, climbed a tree on a windy day, or stood on a swing. Ask yourself: When you experienced this sensation in the past, was the feeling considered to be an expression of the natural world? If not, under what label, concept or interpretation was it placed?
Too often, our natural senses are thwarted by cultural wanglers. We "toilet train" these senses to bond or addict us to society's ways. Can you remember any incidents, beliefs or people who removed you from enjoying this particular natural sense? Are these wranglers (wronglers) alive in you? If you saw somebody enjoying this natural sense, what might come to mind?
Part of the matching activity is using the RWN 9 activity to get your new brain to match your inner nature with the natural world. Activity 9 is where you write: My favorite plant, animal, mineral or sensation while doing this activity is 1. I like it because it 2 Complete this sentence fully, state why you like it.
Now match yourself with this attraction. Place the phrase I like myself because in front of (2) the "because it" clause you just wrote.
Match yourself with a person you know. What attractions to them do you recognize in yourself? Recognize that if you sense them, they are also some part of you.
Past Participant's reactions:
I have always loved the color orange but that love caused me grief when we made campfires in vacant lots after school.
Jim was a real nice boy and I wanted to play with him, but my parents threatened to keep me in the house if they caught me with him.
The group would only accept me if I smoked dope with them, and I wanted to feel I belonged somewhere.
I loved colors and design. My parents encouraged me to study art so I never lost that love.
The waving grass reminds me of my childhood years on the farm. We had to move when Dad got a good job in the city. This activity rekindled those old feelings, a lost part of myself.CWN Connectors that add experiences to this chapter: #69, #70
Write down the three most important things you learned from this chapter and activity.
Write down three G/G statements.
How would you feel having your ability to experience this G/G taken away?
Does this activity enhance your sense of self-worth? your trustfulness of NIAL?
Which wrangler/person, if any, does this activity identify or reeducate inside or outside you?
Share at least one sentence/person that conveys how hearing their experience has enhanced yours.
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