Observe Your Natural Surroundings, Find Your "Place"

The relationship between people and the world they live in is a give and take relationship, which is similar to the relationships most people have with one another. The world we live in gives us the resources to create a life for ourselves. It gives us a means for mental stimulation as we observe it daily and still learn new things about it, much to our pleasant surprise. The world around us also gives us special places of self reflection and inner peace. In return, we care for the world around us and preserve the things that it gives us. I look at the natural world as an extended part of my family. It is a complex entity of many layers, very much like a human being. The care taker in me is concerned for its well being, but this is not a new-found concept. “Indigenous people view both themselves and nature as part of an extended ecological family that shares ancestry and origins. It is an awareness that life in any environment is viable only when humans view the life surrounding them as kin. The kin, or relatives, include all the natural elements of an ecosystem” (Salmón, 2000). Man is equal to nature in this context, but not more powerful. The world around us has too many undiscovered mysteries and that alone gives it greater power over humankind.

Race, class, and ethnicity have played a role in the human relationships throughout history. Native American tribes are perfect examples of this as much their history is associated with spiritual beliefs that held great respect for the natural world. Today, race, class, and ethnicity have rendered themselves irrelevant. The importance of sustainability is recognized by households of all races and creeds. “Green” practices are discussed on the radio, on TV, on the internet, and at your local grocer, just to name a few. Sustainable goods and services are part of an emerging market that will continue to grow and reach out to consumers of all classes as well. This approach seems very much on the surface, but the cooperation and interest of the general populous in “green” practices shows that people really do have the capacity to care for the world around them. People have the capacity to give back what they have taken, while many carry the desire to protect and preserve and treat the natural world as kin. I think this relationship is more natural than our technologically driven world has led us to believe. Our concern and admiration for the world around is evident when we are awed by a beautiful sunset, or marveled by the strength of a storm passing through, or intrigued by the behavior of another species in the natural world. We have always been connected to the world we live in through our endless curiosity, and that is what will continue to bring us closer to fully understanding it one layer at a time.

But how can we get beyond a superficial relationship with the Earth?

By observing your natural surroundings, particularity the behaviors of other species, you'll be able to see behaviors that you have in common with other species, and that alone enables you to connect to them. While observing another species, your senses are registering external stimuli like the distinct smells of your surroundings, the sounds, the light filtering through the leaves, the moisture in the air touching your skin - all of these factors tap into your emotions and create a memory of your observation. This memory will always be triggered by the smells, sounds, lighting, and feel of that "place" you encountered, and will therefore trigger the same emotions that were triggered when you first encountered this "place".

I think getting people to really pay attention to their senses when they are trying to connect with the natural environment is a great way for them to appreciate and understand any of the history behind a particular place. It becomes a multi-dimensional understanding as opposed to one dimensional, and only by delving deeper can you really make an impression on humankind that will encourage them to care about the world in a way they never knew they could.


Salmón, E. (2000). Kincentric ecology: indigenous perceptions of the human-nature relationship. Ecological Applications, 10(5)

Double Digits Until When?!?!?!?!

I have never been unemployed. Never fired from any job. I know being laid off is different from being fired but still - I've never been let go from a job. I have always been the one to leave so this is a whole new experience for me. It's like I've become a casualty of the declining economy and I am not too fond of being a casualty.

Anyway, it's articles like the one I posted the link to below that perturbs me to no end. Makes me wonder if I am going to have to settle for that $12 an hour job I've been trying to avoid. You know - the $12 an hour job with a list of requirements and duties a mile long that you know is not worth the aggravation?


www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/28/1601233/floridas-economy-slowly-recovering.html


Hello!!!! Is there anybody out there??? When I send my resume to a prospective employer it feels like it's going out into cyberspace, along with countless of other resumes, straight to a virtual resume graveyard. This online job applying comes complete with "do not contact job poster" or "no phone calls please" messages right on the ad, and I can totally see why. Sometimes you wonder of any of these job postings are legitimate.

The problem here is that 12.3% unemployment rate in the State of Florida. That means there are at least - at least - one million Floridians out of work with only a couple thousand jobs to go around. So the rat race has gotten even bigger but there still isn't enough cheese. 12.3% is higher than the national average. According to the article I linked here, the recovery process is going to take two years just to get that 12.3% down to 9.2%. I'm hoping it won't take me that long to land another job but the fact is Florida is not recovering as quickly as the rest of the country. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself. I don't come from a family line of stay at home moms. I'm a working gal and I need a job for my sanity just as much as I need a job for income.

Aside from there not being enough work, employers are having a hard time getting through their hiring processes because of the overwhelming responses to any position they advertise. They are arranging things like "10 minute meets" and phone interviews so they can narrow it down to 4 to 7 candidates from the 140+ applications they receive for a given position. In turn, it takes them a month to get back to the applicants they are interested in. This makes things even more discouraging for job hunters as patience is not readily available when you're worried about paying your rent and putting food on your table.

But I tend to find a silver lining in most things. As difficult as this has been for me, this is a whole new experience that I get to learn from. I get to see just what kind of survivor I am really am - if I am anything like my father who fought keep a roof over our heads until the day he died. No matter what he always managed to make ends meet. Where there's a will there's a way and I've certainly never lacked the will. I'll find a way even if I have to pour the asphalt myself.

Twelve More Bars to Go: My Life in Terms of a Chord Progression

In life, we often create tension only to find ways to resolve it. Sometimes tension is created for us and may present itself to us unexpectedly through life changes. But no matter how the tension manifests, there is a need to resolve it. It is part of our maturing process which leads to a deeper level of understanding, and with each tension and resolution cycle we become more layered as individuals. We add depth to our lives and personalities. In a twelve bar blues, the most popular and basic blues chord progression in music, there is tension and resolution. There are only three chords in a twelve bar blues which are referred to as the I (one), the IV (four), and the V (five), or the first, fourth, and fifth notes followed on a musical scale. These three chords are played over 12 bars of music in such a way that they build tension, peak, resolve, and then turn the tune around and start over only to rebuild new tension in a new set of 12 bars. Each set of 12 bars represents a new life experience, each with their own building, peaking, and resolving of tension – which is interestingly how I’ve seen my life unfold over the last 35 years.

And yet my 12 bar blues continues to be written. Although each phase of my life has already created many sets of 12 bars, I still have much to write about, sing about, photograph, laugh about, and learn. There is still tension to be created or stumbled upon and then resolved. Change seems to be the only constant and if there is one thing that I have realized is that just when you think you have it all figured out something comes along and shows you that you can be enlightened again and again. I can write yet another melody over another set of 12 bars and sing a completely different tune. It is the same set of chords but just a different way of presenting them. That is the beauty of this chord progression, and the beauty of life. Its flexibility accommodates to the infinite amount of songs that can be written over it, so no matter what new techniques or lessons you learn throughout your life there will always be a 12 bar blues that can carry your tune…and I find great comfort in that.