Posts tagged with "change"

hunger for change

One of the many things I have enjoyed about this project has been sharing it with people. Some people I know really well and some people who would never have crossed my radar if I had not had this opportunity. I find it really affirming and encouraging when people comment on the blogs on this site but actually the real feed back has been that deeper conversation round the water cooler at work, that email from far flung outposts of our organisation or that ubiquitous cabbie conversation.  Colleagues and friends who I see and speak to every day but instead of whingeing about work deadlines or the road works etc they tell me about some of their favourite places, what moves and motivates them. There is a tangible hunger out there for opportunities to talk about what really drives us.

This is an extract from an email I got from Buenos Aires

“Thank you for sharing this. As I sit in my office in Buenos Aires, seeing your images and reading your thoughts on solitude and nature gave me the strength I needed to remember what’s important today….. I, myself, would like to get involved from here and if you have any ideas I would certainly be open to them. “

So what next? This first phase is drawing to a close but its really just the start for the project. The group that I have been a part of is a unique cross sector snapshot of Scotland today. Personally  I would very much like to see Natural Change taken into inner city regeneration areas. I am putting out the feelers and waiting to see what builds.

How do you think we can roll this out and effect real change? Have you got ideas of how this project could be incorporated into your professional or personal life. Do you want ot become involved?

The wheels of change are rusty

S L O W D O W N

 IF YOU WANT TO MAKE CHANGES:-

It’s really very straight forward.

Go solo

Look wide

Look close

And closer

and closer

Look up

Look down

Watch

Listen

 Wait

S    T    O   P

Earth

Water

Air

and fire

Death

Regeneration

Reflections

Looking out

Looking in

Friends

Know your onions!

Let it go

  and go your own way

 A  N  D     C  H  A  N  G  E

Most of us already appreciate the wisdom that can be gained from nature but this project has given me permission and also silence to the white noise that has helped me to sift out what matters. It’s pretty subtle. The first solo in Knoydart (read the first blogs if you are interested) the idea of being silent for 36 hours terrified me. This weekend the silence was easy even when I met randoms while I was out on my own. It was easier to hold my own space and not think about what others might be thinking about me.

It’s liberating.

That was the easy bit.

Now

Changes and Gifts: Taking Stock…

Sea of grass = winds of change

It’s a few days until our next wilderness experience, so there is a natural focussing of the mind on next steps etc. I then thought that perhaps what I need to do is a bit of a “stop and take stock” exercise around the whole Natural Change experience so far. So, forgive me if this post is a bit of a random collection - but I’ll pick up the threads over the coming weeks hopefully.

So, what have I learned/experienced so far? What are the tangible changes and the gifts it has brought?

1. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, there is a definite change in my motivation relating to all things “eco”. I’m still coming to terms as to what is the potential scale and scope of the changes I can make, both personally and “professionally”, but there is a definite will that didn’t exist before, which now comes from my heart, not just my head.

2. I’m getting out more - much more. For a woman who previously thought the great outdoors was that space between the taxi and the front door of Harvey Nics, this is significant! My lovely walking boots - see my earliest posts - are no longer shiny and have seen good use in woodland, hills and seashore. I now crave the chance to be outdoors and the sense of perspective and wellbeing it brings me - and am prioritising it above other things.

3. I’m consuming less - and am seeing a noticeable reduction in my desire for “stuff” and the need to be validated by my purchases. That said, there’s still an Armani suit I’ve got my eye on… 

4. I’m wasting less food - through planning meals better and cooking more, as well as buying local and from farmers markets.

5. I’m striving to apply the personal learning that I’ve experienced - which is hard to quantify here - into my life and work, even if it’s just applying some of the tips and techniques for team building and simplicity of approach.

That’s the good stuff, but what are the challenges that remain? Well, aside from the ongoing nagging doubt about whether anyone except us is remotely interested in all this, there is one ”biggie”: I feel a strong sense of wanting to move on from the “personal healing” aspect of the project - which has been astonishingly powerful and an unanticipated gift - to how I/we/us can make a difference in relation to sustainability. But - and it’s a big but - there are so many people and organisations fighting this good fight - what contribution can I make? Believe me, my own sense of expectation around this is big enough, without the added expectations of WWF and co! I’m in the voluntary sector because I want to change the world…

But, most of all, the thing I keep coming back to again and again at this stocktaking moment, is the amazing - AMAZING - group of people who have been on this journey alongside me every single step of the way. It’s hard to communicate the deep bond that has developed between us without running the risk of doing it an injustice - I’ll leave that Herculean task to the final research report! But the trust, openness, intelligence, courage, respect, warmth and laughter that have been the hallmarks of our times together have reinstilled in me my oft-assaulted view that human beings are pretty wonderful creatures actually.

That, readers, gives me hope. And, if nothing else, that in itself is a beautiful gift.

Resources (ONE)

I have thousands (and I mean thousands) of references for material that supports the theories and practices that underpin the Natural Change approach. I’ve selected a few here and will post lots more in the next few weeks.

It’s that time, I feel, when we need to validate, contextualise and make sense of our experiences together. We’re not alone and we’re not mad! Human’s have been ‘doing Natural Change’, well, since we became human!

Nature is our home - makes sense to spend some time there!

Here’s the refs…

Abram, D. (1996). The spell of the sensuous: perception and language in a more-than-human world.
New York: Pantheon Books.

Beringer, A. (1999). “On adventure therapy and Earth healing.”
Australian Journal of Outdoor Education 4(1): 33-39.

Birrel, C. (2001). “A Deepening Relationship With Place.”
Australian Journal of Outdoor Education 6(1): 25 - 30.

Brookes, A. (1994). “Reading Between the Lines - Outdoor Experience as Environmental Text.”
Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance: 28 - 39.

Bucke, R. M. (1956). Cosmic consciousness: a study in the evolution of the human mind. New York: Dutton.

Capra, F. (1997). The Web of Life: A new Synthesis of Mind and Matter.
London: HarperCollins.

Chawla, L. (1998). “Significant life experiences revisited: a review of research on sources of environmental sensitivity.”
Environmental Education Research 4(4): 369-382.

Clinebell, H. (1996). Ecotherapy: healing ourselves, healing the earth; a guide to ecologically grounded personality theory, spirituality, therapy, and education.
Minneapolis: Fortress Press.

Cobb, E. (1977). The ecology of imagination in childhood.
New York: Columbia University Press.

Cooper, G. (1994)”The Role of Outdoor Education in Education for the 21st Century.”
Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Leadership 11(2): 9 - 12.

Cooper, G. (1996). “Assessing the Value of Outdoor and Environmental Education Programmes Provided by Residential Centres.”
Environmental Education Research 23.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. and I. S. Csikszentmihalyi (1988). Optimal experience: Psychological studies of flow in consciousness.
New York: Cambridge University Press.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. and I. S. Csikszentmihalyi (1990). Adventure and the Flow Experience. Adventure Education. J. Miles and S. Priest.
PA: Venture Publications.

Deikman, A. J. (2000). A functional approach to mysticism.
Cognitive models and spiritual maps: Interdisciplinary explorations of religious experience. J. Andresen and R. K. C. Forman.
San Francisco: University of California

Duenkel, N. and H. Scott (1994). “Ecotourism’s Hidden Potential: Altering Perceptions of Reality.”
Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance: 40 - 47.

Eliade, M. (1964). Shamanism : archaic techniques of ecstasy.
New York: Bollingen Foundation; distributed by Pantheon Books.

Ellis, M. J. (1973). Why people play.
Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall.

Ewert, A. (1989). Outdoor adventure pursuits and self-concept: Foundations theories and models.
Columbus, Ohio: Publishing Horizons Inc.

Fox, W. (1990). Toward a transpersonal ecology: developing new foundations for environmentalism.
Boston: Shambhala.

Greenway, R. (1996). “Wilderness Experience and Ecopsychology.”
International Journal of Wilderness 2(1): 26-30.

Haluza-Delay, R. (2001). “Nothing here to care about: Participant constructions of nature following a 12-day wilderness program.”
Journal of Environmental Education 32(4)

Harper, S. (1995). The Way of the Wilderness.
Ecopsychology: restoring the earth, healing the mind.
San Francisco: Sierra Club

Henderson, R. (1999). The Place of Deep Ecology and Ecopsychology in Adventure Education. Adventure Programming. J. Miles and S. Priest.
PA: Venture Publications.

Herbert, J. T. (1998). “Therapeutic effects of participating in an adventure therapy program.” Rehabilitation Counselling Bulletin 41(3) Mar 1998

James, W. (1902). The Varieties of Religious Experience.
USA: Longmans, Green & Co.

Kanner, A. and M. Gomes (1995). The all-consuming self.
Ecopsychology: restoring the earth, healing the mind. T. Roszak, M. E. Gomes and A. D. Kanner.
San Francisco: Sierra Club: 77-91.

Kaplan, R. and J. F. Talbot (1983). Psychological benefits of a wilderness experience. Behavior and the natural environment. I. Altman and W. J. F.
New York: Plenum.

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning : experience as the source of learning and development.
Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall.

Martin, P. (1999). Critical Outdoor Education and Nature as Friend. Adventure Education. J. Miles and S. Priest.
PA: Venture.

Maslow, A. H. (1959). “Cognition of Being in Peak Experiences.”
Journal of Genetic Psychology 94: 43 - 66.

Maslow, A. H. (1962). “Lessons from the Peak Experiences.”
Journal of Humanistic Psychology 2: 9-18.

Maslow, A. H. (1968). Toward a psychology of being.
Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand.

Maslow, A. H. (1970). Religions, Value & Peak Experiences.
New York: Viking Press.

Mezirow, J. (1990). Fostering Critical Reflection in Adulthood: a guide to Transformative and Emancipatory Learning.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Miles, J. (1995). Wilderness as Healing Place.
The Theory of Experiential Education. Warren, Sakofs and Hunt.
Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing.

Mortlock, C. (1984). The Adventure Alternative.
Milnthorpe, UK: Cicerone Press.

Mortlock, C. (2001). Beyond Adventure.
Milnthorpe, UK: Cicerone Press.

Naess, A. (1989). “Ecosophy and Gestalt Ontology.”
The Trumpeter 5(4).

Orr, D. (1992). Ecological Literacy: Education and the Transition to a Postmodern World. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Palmer, J. A. (1992). “Life Experiences of Environmental Educators.”
Environmental Education Research 41.

Palmer, J. A., J. Suggate, et al. (1998). “An overview of significant influences and formative experiences on the development of adult’s environmental awareness in nine countries.” Environmental Education Research 4(4): 445-464.

Pirsig, R. (1974). Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
London: The Bodley Head.

Roszak, T. (1992). The Voice of the Earth: an Exploration of Ecopsychology.
Grand Rapids: Phanes.

Roszak, T., M. E. Gomes, et al., Eds. (1995). Ecopsychology: restoring the earth, healing the mind.
San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.

Sessions, G. (1995). Deep ecology for the twenty-first century.
Boston: Shambhala

Stringer, L. and L. McAvoy (1995). The Need for Something Different: Spirituality and wilderness adventure.
The Theory of Experiential Education. Warren, Sakofs and Hunt.
Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing.

Tanner, T. (1980). “Significant life experiences: a new research area in environmental education.”
Journal of Environmental Education 11(4): 20-24.

Watts, A. W. (1990). The Way of Zen.
New York: Arkana/ Penguin.

Want an easy way to help do your bit?

Gavin found this great web site http://www.thenag.net/.  It’s really easy to use and makes making changes for the better easier.  Love it.

Leaders to follow?

This project has a strand in it about developing leadership in driving change. Our conversations as a group have often centred around iconic change heroes: Ghandi, Mandela, Obama.

More immediately role models have been harder to find. Last month Time magazine ran a special double issue report on ‘Heroes of the Environment.’

Here is a selection for googling and emulating.

Wang Yongchen

A journalist with China National Radio, she co-founded Green Earth Volunteers in 1996. Now 50,000 people have joined programmes such as environmental classes and trips to the wilderness. Sound familiar? She says, “When children grow up to be bosses and have to weigh growing the economy and protecting the environment, they’ll have a different response than people who haven’t experienced nature”

Annie Leonard

Maker of the viral online film “The Story of Stuff’

See here: http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Silas Kpanan’Ayoung Siakor

After 7 years in humanitarian relief for the UN he joined a pressure group, wrote a newsletter, reported on trips in the destitute forest villages, and uncovered a scandal; President Charles Taylor was using logging profits to fund his civil war. This led to the UN ban on Liberian timber, leading to evidence against Taylor for his war crimes trial. Taking Siakor’s cue in 2005 the newly elected president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf makes forest protection a key government policy, cancels all Liberian logging concessions, and protects 11.8 million acres of the last virgin forests in West Africa. All in less than a decade.

Can we change, yes we can.

You want more……….

Jean Francois and Jean Charles Decaux

Brothers of the JCDecaux outdoor advertising dynasty (just check a bus shelter near you) they are also the founders of Velib a self service bike rental scheme in Paris. They have rented 30 million bike rides since July 2007 and by the end of this year will have rolled out Velib like schemes in 49 cities. If 200,000 Parisiens can take out one year Velib subscriptions so can we in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen…If we demand our ‘toon cooncilers’ to demand a Velib service.

Kevin Conrad

Papua New Guinea’s Special Envoy for Climate Change, who last December at the UN Climate Change Conference challenged the US with these words. “If, for some reason, you’re not willing to lead, leave it to the rest of us…Please get out of the way!” Within minutes the US had backed down and the road map for the post Kyoto 2012 climate treaty, the ‘Bali Action Plan’ could then be agreed.

Soren Hermansen

He helped the Danish island of Samso go carbon free. How? Harnessing the power of community leaders and at times free beer!

Privilege, wildness and middle-class navel-gazing

There’s been some talk recently, on Louise’s blog and coincidentally in various corridors of power, about the potential for the Natural Change project to be privileged middle-class navel-gazing.

Is going to wild places a privilege? Yes, definitely. Is this privilege a problem? Well maybe the point is being missed.

The work I do outdoors is exclusive. Less physically able people can’t do it, elderly people find it too challenging, those who can’t afford to equip themselves with all the right clothing meet an economic barrier to taking part. So, on this basis, should we say it’s unfair for anyone to go out there?

Being in wild places has the power to transform the way we think, feel and act towards the natural environment, each other and, indeed, towards ourselves. John Muir famously took someone who was extremely privileged out into the wilderness of the Sierra Nevada mountains - President Roosevelt. The result was the US national park system and the American Wilderness Act. Both of which are now global phenomena.

I think, on balance, the world is better off thanks to that particular camping trip.

I have numerous other examples of this type of process: Wilderness experience leading to radical personal and often social change. I wrote my masters thesis on the topic.

I think it’s important not to throw the baby out with the bath water, or to fall into the trap of mutual exclusivity. Just because wilderness approaches to personal and social change aren’t accessible to all, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be used by some, or that they don’t ultimately effect many.

And then there’s the simple fact that outdoor access has always been a staunchly working class issue. In the 1930’s the largest mass trespass in British history took place on Bleaklow in the Peak District. The leader of the group was confronted by the Duke of Devonshire and his hunting party out on the moors. “Get off my land”, shouts the Duke. “Why?”, responds the trespasser. “Because my forefathers fought for this land.” The trespass leader casually took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves and calmly said, “Right then, I’ll fight you for it now!”. Working class rhetoric at is Mancunian best. Access to wild land is not a middle-class privilege. It’s a privilege full stop.

To achieve social change for sustainability we all need to be working wherever we are most effective. We all have a place along a broad frontier of change. As long as we each move our bit of the frontier in the ‘right’ direction, we are helping the cause.

I work with people who have influence and I work outdoors. It’s where I find it easiest to create change. I think the “wilderness is a middle-class privilege” mantra is completely true. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a hugely powerful and effective way of achieving social change.

After all, what are we trying to do here?

Circle of Trust

Since being on the project and working on the process of change I think there is a real sense of development and trust forming within the group and a new way of thinking. The group seems to have this real connection and bond that I have not felt in other groups or in other settings.  There is a complete aura of honesty with one self and it feels right because of the respect and compassion that exists.  This I think has happened because we are removed from our work, our family, our home, our place and our usual thoughts and our usual way of life.   

  For me, the group dynamic is interesting because a lot of what is going on is connected to the people that are going through this process together.  Over the last few days I have heard and learnt so many things that I would never have picked up on had I not been on the Natural change project.  I personally feel different, but I don’t know why or how?  What I do know is that it feels like a greater sense of connection and empowerment to do something about how I am feeling and how we are feeling as a group. 

 As a group we have all spoke quite honestly and shared our secrets that may cause us pain or make us unhappy, sad, stressed and sick.  However,  what is important is that we have all felt that we can be quite honest and true to ourselves and share with one another our story and by doing so we are dealing with our issues no matter how big or small.   This process itself is helping us deal our sadness and pain. This process is not to be underestimated as it is not an easy one or one that is being forced or one that is false.  This process is actually just a really simple one.  The process of being able to heal yourself and others involves simple things like, listening, giving, sharing and taking time to stop and appreciate everything around you.  It involves a process of being comfortable with the basics and immersing yourself in the simple but yet complex elements of Planet Earth.

 Where does this need for action come from?

 And what is the action going to be?

A good place to start

Its only 6 weeks since we all became friends in Knoydart but it feels like so much longer. Such a close bond formed in a long weekend. Then we have all been rushing around madly in our real lives and now here we are back together again. We all headed to Glen Tilt from across Scotland meeting up as we got nearer. Getting more and more excited until we were all on the train together at Perth and then into the mini-bus at Pitlochry. The autumn colours dominating the landscape more and more as we neared our destination. Even the driver was so keen to share the beauty with us he managed to drive into a ditch whilst pointing out a waterfall.

I’m quite anxious as well as excited though. This time together is so out of the norm of rushing around, deadlines, targets, outputs, relationships, responsibilities. It is such a privilege to have been given permission to slow down and reflect but it’s a big mental shift.

 A simple question when we all meet- how have you all been since Knoydart? I feel overwhelmed

So, it’s out with the big pad of paper and the coloured pens. People want to know what we are hoping to achieve, are we going to make a difference? How then? It so lucky to have freedom and licence to explore and express our passions. All those conversations, you longed for. Strong themes of commonality emerge for the problems of social and environmental injustice but can such a “self-indulgent” process as this go any way to improving anything? Trauma keeps coming up, trauma that needs to be acknowledged before progress can be made. There is a feeling of real change in the group, some more dramatic than others, often subtle but it’s mostly about self. It’s a good place to start.