Help for Family, Parent, Child, Mother, Father, Baby, Kids Pregnancy

Within the Picture Frame

"Driving east towards the mountains at 5pm, the almost full paper moon is floating above Grandeur Peak. My breath catches, I want to share the simple beauty. When I pull into my driveway, I call Anna on her cell phone. She is my 14 year old daughter who appreciates the natural world pretty deeply right now. I tell her that if she can, go outside and look east at the rising moon. Wait, mom -- hold on. Now, which way? Above Eastwood. Oh....that is really cool, Mom. Thanks, bye.

The house is still quiet, so I take a look at the next eco activity. I kind of know already that the rising moon scene has probably already given me permission, so I put my hood up around my ears and go out in the backyard. Finger frame squares up the moon, peak, still-light sky. A bird flies past my fame. Permission? Yes. I ask, you -- what can you teach me about the disturbing conversation I often have about parenting and family. The one that says -- too hard, too unpredictable, not good enough mother, fear is reasonable. The moon, the earth reply: phases, sometimes dark, sometimes full, will come back, reflects light of something bright, may be full but behind a cloud, not quite sure what it is made of, beautiful, lovely, a little confusing to track but it is possible, always comes around.

I thank the scene with peace in my heart. I am really at peace.

I learned that matters of the heart are easily poured out upon the earth and will come back in tangible, reliable answers or lessons. I learned that carving out a moment to ask and to reflect is totally worth whatever it takes and it usually doesn't take much! I learned that I feel more alive, more settled and peaceful when I connect with nature in a trusting space.

My self worth is enhanced; I feel worthy of the wisdom I receive.

I would not want to do without the connection I just experienced. It has true value and meaning for me. The wrangler (my father) this reeducates in me is the one that says life is hard and confusing and just accept it that way.

I would share this education with an invitation to experience deeply the gifts that await within the picture frame of one's upheld fingers."

Awareness and Insight

"I just recently moved and was gifted with one of the most beautiful Orchids (two in one large pot) as a house warming gift. Over the past three weeks I have experienced the growth of the greenery and flowers themselves.

The simplicity of water nourishing the plant and seeing its growth has been a wonderful 'parenting' experience for me. My awareness of its growth is a new concept since the start of this course. I join it every morning in excitement to see the changes that have occurred to this new baby of mine. I find myself making sure it has the necessary space to grow (sits on my mantel and could become pressed against the wall) and that it has the little natural light that it needs to be happy. There is a fear that it will not prosper, kind of like a parent raising a child, and that I will miss what it needs to be content and happy.

I close my eyes and sit with the Orchid and feel a connection of “belonging” and “nurturing.” I feel that it has just has much importance in the home and family as I do…..to lose it would bring sadness…a different sensation that I have not experienced when connecting with nature. I am proud of our existence with one another and we are nurtured by being in one another’s presence. I have been left with a permanent impression of the beauty it holds beyond the physical demention.

I was attracted to the experience of “breathing” and appreciating it for the value and importance it has. It reminds me to not take the important things in life for granted even though we are given them without cost. For example being a mother. It is easy to get caught up in the daily routine and systematically play the role but am I truly appreciating the gift of parenting that I am given…such as air. I was attracted to the question, “Isn’t this a form of intelligence?” It does take awareness and insight (a form of intelligence) to see the connection and appreciate it. What comes to mind is the word “laziness.” Perhaps you can respond to what that means to you if anything.

I am attracted to the statement, “nature leaves nothing out; everything is attractive belongs and is wanted.” This reminds me of UNCONDITIONAL love…..what we all desire. It brings awareness for me to remind myself of my own interaction with others and difference. I was also attracted to “Isn’t it polluted thinking, bad science and limited consciousness to prejudicially value material facts while devaluing sensory facts?” So true in how the majority of Western Society places value….yet we are consumed with mental illnesses and diseases.

I appreciate this Chapter as a whole. I took the necessary time to read it and I am thankful."

Feelings Are Facts

"The senses, being the explorers of the world, open the way to knowledge." - Maria Montessori

I like this quote, very relevant to this course. Maria Montessori took young poor kids off of the streets of Italy and brought them inside to handle things like rocks and wood pieces to teach them analytical skills like sorting and comparing, which allowed the children to practice fine motor skills while preparing their minds for learning the alphabet and their numbers, pre-cursors for schooling. The activities were simple, always involving hands on natural materials, and was independently self- directed by the children. Her program was deemed a big success by the educational board because the children needed almost no instruction or discipline, they wanted to be there. Similarly, Rudolf Steiner was developing a similar program of education in Southern Germany with poor children of the workers of a cigarette company. He not only used hands on learning through the sensory manipulation of natural materials, but he also included a very strong component of drawing and singing and movement. His methods are still used today in many Waldorf Schools. Also around the same time, another German educator, whose name escapes me at the moment, was doing something even more radical. He taught kids mostly outside, from the homebase of his barn. He felt that to teach kids about life, the best teacher is nature. This philosophy is the base for the Waldkindergarten programs in Germany. I have always been most attracted to this way of teaching and learning. Nature is a trustable foundation.

I enjoyed reading Mike's account of his brother, John. I recently saw and heard John on the DVD about Mike: Naturally Attracted: Connecting with Michael J. Cohen. Mike obviously admires, is proud of and loves his brother, and it is apparant in the DVD that John feels the same way about Mike. It is wonderful to have a close, caring relationships, especially with siblings.

Well, this pinching activity presents an interesting and trustable foundation to build relationships on.

In pinching myself, I feel it more in some places than in others. In pinching my son, Sam, on his 13th birthday, I tried to get in 13 pinches, but only managed one before he started pinching back. I wonder if fish feel a pinch when they are caught on the hook?

I have heard there are circumstances when people do not feel. I talked with a woman once who did not want to live any longer, and she said she felt nothing as she slit her wrists. She was numb.

I see people on the streets in big cities, they look numb. I wonder if they would feel it if I pinched them. I see men sitting at the bar of
the brewery when I deliver our food products. They look numb. I wonder if they would feel it if I pinched them? I have a friend who has sat in a wheelchair since his mountain bike accident 20 years ago. He runs a successful kayak business here in Washington. If I pinched him on his leg, he wouldn't feel it, but if I pinched him above the waist, he would.

"With respect to a person you dislike, how do you differ from them on a sensory level?" Do you think George Bush would feel it if I pinched him? Oh, probably. I may need to pinch him pretty hard, though. I don't know if my husband's sister would feel it if I pinched her. However, if we ever sit down to talk about our differences, then I will suggest we pinch each other as a way of finding a commonality. We sure don't have much else in common.

I discovered that I feel alive when I feel and when I share feelings with all living beings. I prefer attractive positive feelings to painful feelings.
The more webstrings I nourish, the more I feel connected, and the better I feel. Painful feelings tell me to follow more postive attractions

I feel good in being a part or a big web of life and knowing that I feel.
and that this is a trait I share with many others

Without the feeling to feel I would be numb, and very disconnected from the nourishing webstrings of NIAL. Feelings are facts."

PROJECT NATURECONNECT
Post Office Box 1605
Friday Harbor, WA 98250
360-378-6313
nature@interisland.net