Photo by Don Pierce
Unless you are one of my long-term trusted friends, you don’t know me well enough to take me as a perfect mentor. Writing this book doesn’t make me a sage. My experience mostly tells me what’s impossible. But that perspective, while it sounds like skill, is actually a limitation. It’s far better to be so naïve that you dive in and muddle your way toward what seems impossible.
If you’re not young and claiming to know everything, avoid giving unsolicited advice. Instead, be a coach who asks questions rather than a consultant who gives answers.
I’m not a guru because I’m not young enough to know everything. Still, what I share here deserves your scrutiny. Apply it to your life as you see fit. Question everything I say, and accept or reject it based on your own understanding.
HumaNatureConnect Activity
If today isn’t for unstructured nature time, try this guided practice:
Read the Text: Use your literary, mental, and reasoning senses to explore happiness and sustainability. Don’t just be an armchair traveler—engage all your natural senses while spending meaningful, enjoyable time outdoors on your way to Gladandgreen Junction.
Find an Attractive Natural Being: With pen and journal in hand, visit a natural area and choose a natural being that draws your attention.
Appreciate and Give Thanks: As you admire your chosen being, breathe in appreciation and exhale gratitude.
Consent: If you find yourself continuously attracted to an aspect of nature for at least ten seconds, consider this your consent to form a connection that supports your optimal functioning.
Engage Your Natural Senses: Use at least one radiation sense, one feeling sense, one chemical sense, and one mental sense to deepen and diversify your perception.
HumaNatureConnect Activity: After connecting, use your heightened awareness and nature-induced well-being to complete the following activity and any reflections you choose.
Following With Open Eyes
For this activity, practice being a good follower by:
Recognizing the need for leadership.
Managing your expectations to avoid wanting too much.
Reflecting on your role in the group and what benefits the whole.
Offering reasonable and helpful feedback.
Follow-up Protocol: Natural Systems Reflection Process
For best results, write down your impressions of this activity in your journal using as many of the following as you like, then share your thoughts with others:
General Description: How you did the activity and what happened.
Freeform: What you found attractive about your natural being.
Three Qualities: The three qualities you found most attractive.
Three Learnings: Three things you learned.
Self-esteem & Trust: How this activity affected your self-esteem or trust in Nature.
Changes To Self: Any changes you noticed in yourself.
Honor Yourself: Praise yourself for committing to this stop on the Heartwood Path.
I’m A Person Who...: Write three “G/G Statements” like “This connection experience tells me that I am a person who...”
Feelings If Activity Taken: How you’d feel if you lost this connection.
Nature Compared To Self: Write “I love this [natural being] because it is [qualities]. I love myself because I am [same qualities].” This is a powerful reflection for groups.
Ride The Green Wave: Mark plus (+) or minus (-) for each of the Ten Green Wave Validation Statements based on your agreement.
Two-Word Summary: Summarize your response in two words.
Nocturnal Pilgrimage
Ways To Perform A Reality Check
Number Four: Be Present.
Two ways come to mind—one positive for your dreaming world and one cautionary for your waking world. By training yourself to notice pleasant things while awake, you carry that habit into your dreams, making them more joyful and helping you wake up within your dreams.
Conversely, noticing unpleasant things while awake or dreaming can prompt greater compassion.
The misery of millions is not a cause for pity but a call for compassion, beginning with reflecting on how your actions affect others’ hearts. What a miracle it is to look into the eyes of a brokenhearted person you are helping!
You may also choose to do nothing—but if that’s your constant choice, don’t expect uncommon happiness. If others say you lack empathy, simply say you don’t care. True or not, use your dreams for healing.
When ready, move to the next waypoint: One’s Shoes (Part One). There, you will learn what it takes to become more empathetic—capable of feeling and understanding others’ emotions.
