Hello Hedge Schoolers,
I've come to know the five kilometres around my house really well. 200+ days of lockdown will do that to a person. The streets. The paths. The wildlife. There is a depth to my relationship that was not present before. My ear, locally tuned to the patterns of my area sensed Spring was afoot a few weeks back. New buds, a shift in the patterns of local animals, and a rise in sun height signaled Spring's eager early start. This has been the silver lining of lockdown. While I pine, like others for the liberties beyond the five-kilometre radius, I have come to revere the area that I live in. The boundless amount of beauty available if I just adjust my aperture to take it in.
Beauty
“A start is to broker communication with beauty. Beauty is created not just by desire but by diligence. By circling again and again like a hawk round the well to what truly sends you both dizzy with admiration but also utterly focused in service. Be mastered by beauty is what I'm saying. Be defeated by it. Rise to it in the weepy faithfulness of your response.”
Martin Shaw - Courting the Wild Twin
Communing with the world around us has so many benefits. Opening our aperture to the wonders of the world takes our breath away. It leaves us in awe. According to Sturm et al, awe is defined as "a positive emotion elicited when in the presence of vast things not immediately understood and can help reduce self-focus, promote social connection, and foster prosocial actions by encouraging a “small self." I much prefer Shaw's poetic explanation of awe as "something that sends us dizzy in admiration." Awe reminds us just how big and beautiful the world is and helps us appreciate the smallness of our place amongst it. How our small self meets the beauty of the infinite universe we inhabit.
Awe Walks
While the world is awash with heavy energy, awe is always present. Always available. It just might take some practice reacquainting ourselves. Awe walks are a beautiful practice to help tune our senses to the magic available with every step in our local area.
"Awe Walks are different. We walk mindfully. Our focus is outward to the natural world. We walk slowly, tuning in to our senses. We're inquisitive and curious adopting a gentle awareness to the physical world. If something strikes us as interesting we inquire, not to get an answer, but to get a deeper sense of its reality. A fuller experience. Its "moreness".
Fraser Dean - Awe
In simple terms, we walk like a five-year-old would. With whimsy.
Try it for yourself and see what marvels you uncover. I guarantee you there is a world in your backyard you haven't seen yet.
Be dizzy in admiration for the beauty that lies at the edge of your aperture.
Till next week,
Steve
Awe
Awe: Seeing your world for the first time