Monday, August 17
Response to The Resource Trail, A required reading in the Kamana II Naturalist Course- Introduction by Jon Young
Jon Young has an excellent way of communicating to potential or new students. Although is an expert in his field as a naturalist, has studied under Tom Brown Jr. and has founded the Wilderness Awareness School in Duvall, Washington, he still has the sensitivity to not intimidate those who have little to no experience with the natural world.
The majority of Western society these days has had little exposure to the natural world. Individuals cannot be blamed for their lack of exposure. It is simply the conditions in which they have been raised. Our entire Western infrastructure is designed to go against nature, not to be apart of it. One can go from a well insulated, airtight and air-conditioned house to their air-conditioned car in the garage of their suburban home to the parking garage in their office building, which is also sealed and air-conditioned. Then they can reverse the whole process at the end of the day. Exposure time to the natural world for the day: zero.
Chances are they will have a meal or two of packaged food from a grocery store that was processed at an unknown location (maybe not even in the same hemisphere). Ask where their chlorinated, fluoridated water comes from and chances are they will tell you that it comes from either the sink, the pipes or the city.
How can we remove the blinders from the people around us? According to Young, the first step in approaching an individual is to help them realize how unaware they are. An excellent tool that was developed by Young and is used by the WAS is what is called the “Alien Test”. I took the Alien Test when I began Kamana 2. It is a one hundred thirteen question test, followed by a written reflection on the experience of taking the test. The one hundred thirteen questions test your knowledge of native plants in your bioregion, what type of ticks is in your area, hydrology, local wildlife etc. I failed the test miserably, which only tells me that there is a lot I need to learn.
“Why do we despise the planet which gives us life?”
-The Last Winter (2006)
The planet we live on is sick and in danger. Why do we not treat it with the same empathy as if one of our family members were sick? Instead we have created a society that separates us from what provides us with life. And we treat that provider as a “natural resource” and we have done are best to consume as much of it as we can, as fast as we can for the sake of economic growth and progress.
How is progress measured? What are the indicators?
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Perhaps, more importantly, what is progress? I like to imagine progress as a circle instead of the linear line depicted graph we're so accustomed to in the Western world. Imagine if we viewed the path to death as progress. If you viewed progress as a circle, as a system, there are no up's or down's... there's just that moment in time where we happened to reflect on the notion of 'progress.' Moreover, what if 'progress' was 'measured' not by the individual but by the sustainability of a community? Again, progress would be a circle, a system, with the beginning, journey and end equally important. So maybe this notion of progress is economic in it's origin and doesn't exist in the natural world (like economics). Or maybe it does? Regardless, how do we begin to move our communities, cultures and societies into a more system and sustainable notion of progress? To that point, Xtian, I believe that Jon Young (and many others) are spot on in attempting to reintroduce people to nature and all of her beauty.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious, what changes have you seen manifest in your life?
Thanks for sharing,
Jamie
The way our systems are design to separate us from nature - when that is impossible and foolish - is part of what I am studying this quarter too. I agree with Jamie in that it is a revisioning, new cultural patterns that we need to break the mold. I think there has been a lot of movement in this area, but changing doxa is not easy or quick.
ReplyDeleteVery nice Christian--thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteI would nudge you to wrestle with what Jamie is asking you about progress--AND add on a piece about what a social constructionist point of view complicates about all of this.