Category: Engaging Nature

Those of you who are regular readers of my essays might have sensed a series of themes that regularly underlie my writing:

 

• Everything in Nature is interconnected and interdependent.
• Nature is our home. We humans need Nature to live, but Nature does not need we humans.
• Humans are consuming Nature’s resources and polluting the atmosphere at unsustainable rates that might result in  the end of the human race by 2100.
• We senior adults are leaving an ecological mess for our youth.
• The environmental education of our youth is an essential activity that can aid our youth in reversing the destruction caused by we adults.

 

The Great Turning

 

These themes, and other themes about how humans are affecting Nature, have evolved into extensive rhetoric from many sources about how we humans can save ourselves.  The passion of our modern youth and the ideas of numerous thought leaders and conservation organizations has led to extensive discourse on the web and in many fine books. One popular theme that has emerged is  The Great Turning. Joanna Macy defines the “Great Turning” as :

 

“a name for the essential adventure of our time: the shift from the Industrial Growth Society to a life-sustaining civilization.

The ecological and social crises we face are caused by an economic system dependent on accelerating growth. This self-destructing political economy sets its goals and measures its performance in terms of ever-increasing corporate profits—in other words by how fast materials can be extracted from Earth and turned into consumer products, weapons, and waste.

A revolution is under way because people are realizing that our needs can be met without destroying our world. We have the technical knowledge, the communication tools, and material resources to grow enough food, ensure clean air and water, and meet rational energy needs. Future generations, if there is a livable world for them, will look back at the epochal transition we are making to a life-sustaining society. And they may well call this the time of the Great Turning. It is happening now.”

 

From my perspective and life experiences as a biologist, a teacher. and a conservationist, I do not see a “Great Turning” taking place. I say this because I see strong evidence that a sufficient number of influential people and organisations view themselves as “entitled” to live their lives by ignoring Nature’s warning signs. This group also refuses to accept the acquired knowledge of humans, both indigenous wisdom and our scientists, who have carefully studied the negative impacts that we humans have imposed upon Nature The harmful attitudes of those who view themselves as “entitled” have emerged from an erroneous worldview of how Nature and our world operates. I have written about my hope that all humans will somehow return to Nature. But, this can only come about if we, as individuals, embrace a wider sense of self within our beings.

 

Our needs can be met without destroying our world

 

Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone have written a wonderful book entitled “Active Hope“. Amazon describes the book as  :

 

“Drawing on decades of teaching an empowerment approach known as the Work That Reconnects, the authors guide us through a transformational process informed by mythic journeys, modern psychology, spirituality, and holistic science. This process equips us with tools to face the mess we’re in and play our role in the collective transition, or Great Turning, to a life-sustaining society.”

 

Human Wisdom can become a plan of action

 

While this book describes a task that might be too difficult or too big for many humans to swallow, the book has a wonderful chapter (called “A Wider Sense of Self”) that asks us to call upon one’s inner self to make a transformation. This chapter also contains guiding wisdom that can be presented by environmental educators to their students. In turn, this wisdom can become a plan of action that our youth can use to guide them toward protecting our Mother Earth.  What follows is a series of quotes from Chapter 5 of “Active Hope” entitled “A Wider Sense Of Self”. This chapter suggests that each human can experience a transformation in which the emergence of a wider sense of self powerfully enhances our ability to contribute to the stability of our interdependent and interconnected world.

 

“There is so much more to us than just a separate self; our connected self is based on recognizing that we are part of many larger circles. Our sense of rootedness comes from experiencing these more encompassing circles of our identity. When the definition of self changes, the meaning of self-interest and self-serving motivations changes accordingly.

 

The Indian culture has developed such a richly satisfying life of connectedness that they can’t be bought off. Preserving the beauty and vitality of their world is more important to them than anything a materialistic society can offer.

 

Discovering hidden depths to our identity

 

But elsewhere, beautiful forests are being torn down to make way for open-cast mines, while corporate-backed mercenaries crush opposition from the local population. “Who am I to take on the problems of the world?” we might ask. Yet our view of what we’re capable of is linked to our sense of who and what we are. Discovering hidden depths to our identity opens up a whole new set of possibilities.

 

Can we transform our expression of selfishness by widening and deepening the self for whom we act?

 

Unhappily, the extensive moralizing within the ecological movement has given the public the false impression that they are being asked to make a sacrifice — to show more responsibility, more concern and a nicer moral standard. But all of that would flow naturally and easily if the self were widened and deepened so that protection of nature was felt and perceived as protection of our very selves. By inviting in experiences of interconnectedness we can enhance our sense of belonging to our world. This mode of being widens and deepens our sense of who we are.

 

It is from our connected selves that much of what people most value in life emerges, including love, friendship, loyalty, trust, relationship, belonging, purpose, gratitude, spirituality, mutual aid, and meaning. When people lose their sense of belonging to larger circles, they lose not only the motivation to act for their communities and environment but also valuable sources of support and resilience.

 

We humans live in the web of life. Life did not take over the globe by combat, but by networking

 

We live in the web of life in reciprocity with people, other creatures, and the earth, recognizing that they are part of us and we are part of them. When we include the natural world, we are brought into a much larger story of who and what we are. Recognizing ourselves as part of the living body of Earth opens us to a great source of strength. Life has a powerful creative energy and manifests a powerful desire to continue. When we align ourselves with the well-being of our world, we allow that desire and creative energy to act through us. When I try to protect the rainforest, I become part of the rainforest protecting itself. I am that part of the rainforest recently emerged into human thinking.

 

Important steps in our evolution have occurred through cooperation between species, even to the point of separate organisms joining together to create entirely new forms. According to Margulis and Sagan (1996), “Life did not take over the globe by combat, but by networking” (i.e., by cooperation, interaction, and mutual dependence between living organisms).

 

Our passions need to be compassion and an insight into the radical interdependence of all phenomena. We need compassion because it provides the fuel to move us out to where we need to be and to do what we need to do.  You also need the insight into the radical interconnectivity of all that is. We are so interwoven in the web of life that even our smallest acts have repercussions that ripple through the whole web, beyond our capacity to see.

 

When we see with new eyes, we discover a different way of perceiving and experiencing power.”

 

One of my essays entitled “Compassionate Consciousness” suggests a pathway toward the ideas expressed in these quotes from the “Active Hope” book.

 

Our plan of action must include developing connections through our young people

 

“The secret to resolving our environmental crises is to develop a consciousness for the idea of Nature’s interdependent connections. through our young people. Young people have fresh minds. They are unhampered by the biases we develop as we get older. And, they learn and associate through awe and wonder. Many environmental organizations are beginning to realize that sustainability education within our schools is a powerful means to correct the ecological mistakes of the past. Instead of offering the common doomsday approach, environmental education uses stewardship to build a basic consciousness toward interdependence in Nature that will serve as a foundation for sound ecological decisions in the future.”

 

For Your Further Consideration

 

This essay, and other essays in this web site, present ideas to environmental educators and all stewards of Nature about ecoliteracy and legacy.   The emphasis is on two key ideas:

 

· Our earth is a living system that transports and transforms energy. The key to an active ecoliteracy that results in a healthy environment for all life on earth is the building of a systems view of life into the minds and hearts of humanity, This worldview includes the fact that all of Nature is interconnected and interdependent.

· Environmental education is not simply offering facts. Environmental education must be hands-on and place-based if ideas, facts, and effective conservation strategies are to become a consciousness in the minds and hearts of our youth. Environmental education must include the the passing of this consciousness to future generation.

 

Please Comment

 

The purpose of this web site is to build a dialog between myself and my readers. I invite you to offer your comments, your critique, and to share your ideas with all of my readers in the comment space provided below.

 

You are strongly encouraged to become one of my 11,000+ followers on Twitter. My Twitter ID is @ballenamar .  With Twitter, in addition to receiving regular Tweets that announce my essays, you will see when I retweet something that I read and that I think is important.

For the last 35 years, I have lived the life of a college professor and high school teacher in the beautiful city of Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico located some 250 miles due south of Tucson, Arizona along the eastern shore of the Sea of Cortez. One of my greatest pleasures and privileges is being an environmental educator working with students who are in their last year of high school as they get ready for new life adventures as university students in Mexico or in the USA.

 

One of my projects is to oversee the “Green Team” where my students teach primary grade students about the flow of energy in Nature. The Green Team emphasizes that everything in our world is connected and interdependent. Through the group of 3rd grade to 8th grade students, my high school students are building their own legacy as effective stewards of Nature. The Green Team “classroom” for these young students is a beautiful beach and estuary that is part of the shoreline that defines the Sea of Cortez. The beach and the estuary is a legally protected bird sanctuary that is governed by conservation regulations that are administered both by the Mexican state of Sonora and the Republic of Mexico.

 

This idyllic location is very close to the village of San Carlos — a location that attracts both Mexican and American/Canadian (Anglo) tourists. There are two large condominium projects just outside of the boundary for the protected area. Dogs and other human pets are prohibited inside the protected area. There are four large signs in Spanish and English that prohibit dogs. Dogs are considered an ecological threat because the large group of visiting migrating birds view dogs as predators. Feeding and breeding cycles of these birds are disturbed by dogs. Some dogs also chew the legs of these birds. Also, there is a growing number of sea turtles who now lay their eggs in the protected area. Dogs (and humans) invade these nests.

 

During the times that our Green Team “school” on the beach is operating, my students are trained to approach people who illegally walk their dogs on the beach and respectfully offer some environmental education about why a dog is an ecological threat. Over 80% of the time, my students succeed in convincing the dog walker to leave the restricted area with their animal. But, the other 20% of the dog walkers start arguing because they believe that are “entitled” to be on this beach with their dog despite the signs that are posted. The usual response by the dog walker is that they have been visiting San Carlos for 15 years, live in the condominiums, and are not going to change (in other words, they are “entitled” ). Some of these condominium dwellers have organized themselves to circumvent the rules that govern the protection of the beach and the estuary. (another act of “entitlement”).

 

Recently, one condominium dweller approached my group of students. I will call her “Jane Doe”. Jane  declared her “respect” for my students then went on to explain why dog walkers are necessary to keep the beach clean. Her logic escapes me because a dog does not clean the beach. Instead, it threatens the wildlife of the area. At this point in their conversation with Jane, my students disbanded to successfully engage and turn back four other groups of dog walkers. Jane Doe then reconnected with my group of students to declare that, once they leave the beach, she and others will be illegally walking their dogs again in the restricted area.

Acts of Human “Entitlement” Damage The Environment And Disrespect Society

 

Sadly, Jane Doe and some other visitors to San Carlos commit both ecological sins and cultural sins. They  show disrespect to their host country by violating the laws of their host country,  disrespect to their host community, disrespect to my students, and disrespect to a group of knowledgeable scientists who have  created guiding regulations in order to preserve an important ecosystem. There is no respect. There is only the ecological damage caused by acts of “entitlement” by some very arrogant adult humans.

 

Entitlement is defined as the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.The “entitled” groups of the world come in packages of all sizes,  From the Jane Does on the beach at San Carlos to global corporations. These groups see themselves as deserving of privileges and special treatment that results in damage to the environment in which all life, both plants and animals, depend upon to exist.

 

The true story of Jane Doe illustrates an important point. The “entitled” groups of our world, both human adults and human organizations, have created a worldwide epidemic of entitlement that has resulted in the youth of this world inheriting  a damaged environment on our Earth that has put BOTH humanity and all of Nature at risk. The most common example is climate change where the  “entitled” are large corporations and climate deniers who believe that climate change consciousness is destructive to their economic well-being. The entitled groups hold a destructive state of mind that:

 

• Publicly projects an erroneous attitude of entitlement,
• Robs from future generations
• Has no consciousness for Nature and Her creatures.
• Fails to recognize that Nature is our home and the home of all living things.
• Has no sense that we humans must work to preserve our home.

 

Acts of Human “Entitlement” Endanger The Future Of Our Young People

Sadly, these “entitled” people and organizations possess an environmentally destructive worldview. This means that the future of our youth is in doubt. It is our youth who must take some form of action to stop the potential environmental destruction. In the case of Jane Doe and her actions for example, the youth of San Carlos can solicit the local government agency and volunteer to help with the problem. In addition, since the citizens of Guaymas are very proud of their estuary, the students could solicit public support by writing an article for the local newspaper.

 

Fortunately, the youth of the world are beginning to rise up as they make moves to protect their future and the future of those who they love. The most famous example is the work of Greta Thunberg . I salute you Greta !!! Time Magazine has made a very wise choice for their “Person Of The Year” You are an inspration to all young people and hopefully to those adults who need to eliminate their sense of entitlement.  In addition to Greta, the Internet is ripe with many examples of the youth of the world protesting the destructive behavior of the more senior members of the world who feel “entitled” to do whatever suits them.

For Your Further Consideration

 

This essay, and other essays in this web site, present ideas to environmental educators and all stewards of Nature about ecoliteracy and legacy.   The emphasis is on two key ideas:

 

1. Our earth is a living system that transports and transforms energy. The key to an active ecoliteracy that results in a healthy environment for all life on earth is the building of a systems view of life into the minds and hearts of humanity, This worldview includes the fact that all of Nature is interconnected and interdependent.
2. Environmental education is not simply offering facts. Environmental education must be hands-on and place-based if ideas, facts, and effective conservation strategies are to become a consciousness in the minds and hearts of our youth. Environmental education must include the the passing of this consciousness to future generation.

 

Please Comment

 

The purpose of this web site is to build a dialog between myself and my readers. I invite you to offer your comments, your critique, and to share your ideas with all of my readers in the comment space provided below.

 

You are strongly encouraged to become one of my 11,000+ followers on Twitter. My Twitter ID is @ballenamar .  With Twitter, in addition to receiving daily Tweets that announce my essays, you will see when I retweet something that I read and that I think is important.

.

As an environmental educator, I feel deeply privileged to be participating in the lives of my students. My passion is strong. I tend to be like a protective parent with my young people as I experience anger over those who continue to damage our Earth’s environment and the future of my “kids”. Many of my students do not understand my anger simply because they have not experienced the negative impact of those who are causing environmental damage. Rather than explain my feelings, I choose to portray gratitude for how Nature is our home and how Nature can protect us if  we allow her to do so. By taking this positive approach, I hope to instill a defense mechanism of gratitude in my youth that will carry them into full adulthood.

 

I am writing this essay during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season when we express our thanks for many things and wish good will to all mankind. What follows is a collection of notes about gratitude that I have collected over the years.

 

Gratitude is a felt sense of wonder, thankfulness, and appreciation for all of life.

 

Recognizing the gifts in your life is profoundly strengthening. By savoring these gifts, you add to your psychological buoyancy, which helps you maintain your balance and poise when entering rougher waters.

 

Gratitude enhances our resilience, strengthening us to face disturbing information.

 

Gratitude promotes a sense of well being. It focuses our attention on things that we feel good about. Our readiness to help others is influenced by the level of gratitude we experience. It’s about getting better at spotting what’s already there.

 

Each day, by asking ourselves, “What happened today that I’m pleased about or thankful for?” we direct  our gaze toward constructive and positive actions.

 

Gratitude As An Antidote To Consumerism

 

While gratitude leads to increased happiness and life satisfaction, materialism — placing a higher value on material possessions than on meaningful relationships — has the opposite effect.

Gratitude is about delighting in and feeling satisfied with what you’re already experiencing.

 

Gratitude pulls us out of this rat race. It shifts our focus from what’s missing to what’s there.

 

To find our power to see the hard parts clearly and respond constructively, we need to draw on resources that bring out the best in us. Gratitude does this. It’s a resource we can learn to tap into at any moment.

 

The notion that we can be completely independent or self-made denies the reality of our reliance on other people and on our natural world. Indeed, Nature is a self regulating system. Nature can operate without we humans. but humans need Nature to survive.

 

Chief Leon Shenandoah said in his address to the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1985 that  “Every human being has a sacred duty to protect the welfare of our mother earth from whom all life comes.”

 

Different stories give us different purposes. In the “Business as Usual” story created by we humans, nearly everything is privatized. The parts of our world remaining outside individual or corporate ownership, such as the air or the oceans, are not seen as our responsibility. Gratitude is viewed as politeness, not necessity.

 

The Haudenosaunee (hoe-dee-no-SHOW-nee which means means “people who build a. house” ) is an alliance among six Native American nations who are more commonly known as the Iroquois Confederacy. Each nation has its own identity. In their “Basic Call to Consciousness,” the Haudenosaunee tell a  story in which:

 

“… our well-being depends on our natural world and gratitude keeps us to our purpose of taking care of life. When we forget this, the larger ecology we depend on gets lost from our sight — and the world unravels.”

 

Giving Back and Giving Forward

 

A timber executive once remarked that when he looked at a tree, all he saw was a pile of money on a stump. Compare this with the Haudenosaunee view that trees should be treated with gratitude and respect. If we saw trees as allies that helped us, we would want to become allies to them. This dynamic pulls us into a cycle of regeneration, in which we take what we need to live and also give back. Because our modern industrialized culture has forgotten this principle of reciprocity, forests continue to shrink and deserts to grow. To counter this unraveling, we humans need to develop an ecological intelligence that recognizes how our personal well-being depends on the well-being of the natural world. Gratitude plays an important role in developing this positive consciousness.

 

Thank That Which Gives You Life

 

The nth time that you see a tree or plant, take a moment to express thanks. With each breath you take in, experience gratitude for the oxygen that would simply not be there save for the magnificent work plants have done in transforming our atmosphere and making it breathable. As you look at all the greenery, bear in mind also that plants, by absorbing carbon dioxide and reducing the greenhouse effect, have saved our world from becoming dangerously overheated. Without plants and all they do for us, we would not be alive today. Consider how you would like to express your thanks.

 

Giving To The Future

 

Receiving from the past, we can give to the future. This point of view establishes a positive legacy for our young people who will follow us. When tackling issues such as climate change, the stance of gratitude is a refreshing alternative to guilt or fear as a source of motivation.

 

For Your Further Consideration

 

This essay, and other essays in this web site, present ideas to environmental educators and all stewards of Nature about ecoliteracy and legacy.   The emphasis is on two key ideas.

 

• Our earth is a living system that transports and transforms energy. The key to an active ecoliteracy that results in a healthy environment for all life on earth is the building of a systems view of life into the minds and hearts of humanity, This worldview includes the fact that all of Nature is interconnected and interdependent.
• Environmental education is not simply offering facts. Environmental education must be hands-on and place-based if ideas, facts, and effective conservation strategies are to become a consciousness in the minds and hearts of our youth. Environmental education must include the the passing of this consciousness to future generations.

Please Comment

 

The purpose of this web site is to build a dialog between myself and my readers. I invite you to offer your comments, your critique, and to share your ideas with all of my readers in the comment space provided below.

 

You are strongly encouraged to become one of my 11,000+ followers on Twitter. My Twitter ID is @ballenamar .  With Twitter, in addition to receiving daily Tweets that announce my essays, you will also see when I retweet something that I read and that I think is important.