February 15th, 1997
CONNECTING AND NOTICING
By Jackie Giuliano
Did you "connect" with anyone or any thing during your journey today? Did you
have a satisfying connection with a friend, a loved one, or a non-human part of the world?
What did you notice today? Did you notice, really notice your family, or the absence of
one? Did you notice the wind and the flowers? Will you spend any time in the sun today?
As I was writing this column at 2pm in Los Angeles, I realized I was so focused on my own
problems that that I failed to notice anything else. I had gone out into the world for a
meeting in the morning, but I was so wrapped up in my emotional issues that I didn't feel
the sun on my body or the wind on my face. Looking out the window of my fiancee's
apartment, I noticed that there was sunlight shining on the building next door. I realized
that I had the patio door open, and though I knew it was a warm day out, I was getting
cold because of all the shadows created by the cluster of buildings. I realized I was very
disconnected from something that is very important to me - the natural world.
Many believe that the disconnection that so many of us feel from the natural world is
standing in the way of our healing. A growing number of researchers, philosophers, medical
practitioners, and just everyday folk are sensing that something is wrong, that something
is missing.
We go through our day thinking that our "universe" is our home, our car, and
then our office. We are rarely mindful of the fact that we live on a dynamic planet,
spinning through space at thousands of miles per hour. Do you realize that every moment of
every day, our planet is passing through a region of space in the universe that it has
NEVER been in before and will never be in again?!
Chellis Glendinning, in her book "My Name is Chellis and I'm in Recovery from Western
Civilization," shares enlightening observations of what she calls
"nature-based" people. These peoples of our country and the world seem to have
fewer neuroses, fewer anxieties, and fewer of the issues that plague our western-based
culture.
When she says nature-based, she means "people who live, or have lived, in direct
unmediated participation with the forces and cycles of the natural world." This is a
powerful definition and worthy of some examination. What would our lives be like if we
lived in direct, unmediated participation with the forces and cycles of the natural world?
What might it be like if we observed the passages of the seasons (maybe even celebrated
them), became intimately aware of the outside temperature throughout the day, and even saw
the stars out at night? It may be difficult for any of us to imagine what such a life
might be like.
Chellis observes that nature-based people catalyze, focus, and harness a sense of
belonging, an energetic self-definition, and the ability to tap into what she calls
nonordinary states of reality. We have all experienced, or at least heard of, some of
these nonordinary states: vivid memories of ancestors, trance states, unexplainable
synchronistic events, and miraculous feats of athletic prowess. Of course, Western
scientific practice, with its demand for "quantifiable" evidence and
laboratory-verifiable proof, scoffs at such events.
Yet in nature-based peoples, Chellis says that "nonordinary states of awareness are
commonplace, meaningful, and fully integrated" into their reality. They are regular
and frequent. What if living with more awareness of the natural world could allow us to
tap into a way of being that we now only wish we had access to? How many times have you
said, "I wish I wasn't so stressed out," or "things just don't seem to be
working out right?" If we lived in a deeper connection to the natural world, we might
become slower, calmer, more attuned with life, and less worried about time. What if stress
was not an issue or if things just seemed to work out right?
The field of Ecopsychology is challenging our perceptions on many levels. It suggests that
many of our fundamental perceptions of how the universe works may need adjusting. Educator
Greg Cajete, a Tewa Indian, says, in Chellis' book, that the "science" developed
by indigenous people starts from the premise that the Earth is living and all life upon it
is sacred. This view of the world sees "all aspects of humanity in continuous and
dynamic interrelationship with every other aspect of self and environment."
Trying to notice the dynamic interrelationships all around us may be our supreme
challenge. Challenging our fundamental beliefs of how the world, and our life, works may
seem like a daunting task. But it may start with simply noticing ourselves and our
presence in the natural world.
We don't really have to go anywhere to be in nature. Our bodies are constantly in a
dynamic interrelationship with the world around us. Our skin and our lungs are constantly
exchanging gases with the atmosphere. Ideally, we need to find a moment to leave behind
our busy schedules, our pagers, and our lists of things to do. Unburdened by these tools
of disconnection, we may begin to awaken. But maybe our awakening can also begin by simply
noticing the sun or rain on our face and the air moving deeply into our lungs - and
calling them sacred.
"The real miracle is not to walk on water or in thin air, but to walk on the
Earth." -- Thich Nhat Hanh
RESOURCES
{Jackie Giuliano is a Professor of Environmental Studies at Antioch University in
Los Angeles, California} |
