In case I haven’t made it too obvious, I am what many call a political activist. I don’t often call myself an activist because that term seldom does justice to the kinds of politics I practice. These are politics that are more concerned with being in love than being in charge. They don’t want to know who is right; they want to know who is aware.
The kind of awareness that fuels my activism can be heart wrenching. Last December a friend told me that the moose in his bioregion are dying in alarming numbers. Their bodies litter the upper Minnesota landscape. Winter in that region has been warmer than usual. Ecologists believe that the higher temperatures lower the moose resistance to infection and disease.
I received this news over a bowl of Bimbabop at a Korean restaurant. It was the last phase of a dinner spent catching up with three friends I have known for a long time. I spent the next half hour walking through my funky feelings and quivering a little. The moose. Climate change. Catastrophe. Sadness.
Perhaps the activist thing to do would be to urge you to hurry and sign a petition or change your light bulbs or bring down the system. My ‘thing’ is to go outside and breath and look and listen and love. Try it once or twice a day, every day or more. What is happening in your neck of the woods (or prairie or neighborhood block or lake shore or city park). Try it if you are concerned about the climate crisis. Try it if you feel your life is lacking in meaning or vitality. Definitely try it if you know you love the outdoors, especially if you feel you don’t get there enough.
I started penciling nature into my schedule after reading the Earth Path. It’s a beautiful collection of outdoor observations and natural spiritual practices. Here is one idea the book offers for those who want to spend some quality time with their local environment.
Find an [outdoor] spot that will be your home base, where you can practice the magical disciplines of observation. Be modest and realistic in your expectations of what you can do. Is there a park or a community garden or a vacant lot full of weeds near your workplace where you can eat your lunch regularly? Is there an untended hill-side you walk by when taking your child to the playground or your dog for her daily walk. Do you have a deck where you can drink your morning coffee and look out at the garden?
Once you have your spot, spend time there. Do the awareness exercises offered above, or just sit and listen. Notice how what you observe changes over time. How are the bird songs different through the seasons? What animals or human patterns do you observe and are they different at different times of day? In different weather? On workdays or holidays? And how does your own mental and emotional state affect your ability to observe?
My current home base is a small peninsula that juts into Lake Mendota. It’s a 10 minute walk from my house, and I visit at least once a week. Here are some images of it.
(Above) This is what my home base spot looks like. (Below) Here are some views from the inside.
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