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“The hardest part about listening is to not fill in the blanks with your perceptions – to clear the mind and be willing to understand something new” – Amy Larson
Did you know that Singapore’s primary vegetation has been reduced to 0.16% of a total land area of 714.3km2? (Khew, Yokohari, & Tanaka, 2014). Does this lead you to believe that Singapore cares about nature? Probably not, but read on and you might be surprised.
During our time in Singapore many people, myself included, commented on how the main difference between Outdoor Education (OE) in Singapore and Australia, is that Australia has a much larger focus on connecting people to nature. This statement is true, as long as we perceive nature as the wild, abundant, spacious wilderness type environments that are common to Australia and Australian OE programs. But what if we broaden our perspective of what nature is, or can be?
Hello again, it’s me, the task driven woman, here to update you on some thoughts that I’ve had about being a facilitator and about working with other people of the same and/or different leadership styles. Upon reflection of my own facilitation and that of others as well as a little reading I have devised a handy two step guide to working cohesively.
STEP 1 – PUT ENERGY INTO SYNERGY
Synergy comes from the Greek word, Synergia, which means ‘working together’ (Diamond, 1987). Seems pretty simple right? So simple that we tend to completely overlook it when we come to working with other people.
In the dark of the morning it came.
I’ve never experienced anything quite the same.
Shaking the ground beneath us,
Creating quite a fuss.
The power of the storm I wish to discuss,
My already slim hours of sleep I had to adjust.
The timing quite correct,
A reminder that we need to respect,
Something that society so often rejects.
Ensure that there is learning occurring and work well with your 3 teammates.
Sounds easy enough? Until it actually comes to the day of facilitating and you realise that you are a ruthless, task-driven individual. This means that I will not rest, sleep or eat until the mission that I have been tasked with is complete. I’ll admit, sometimes this is great. When I can use this trait of mine positively I can contribute a lot to a group in the way of focus, delegation and feedback. Unfortunately for my group on the day of our facilitation, I was unable to do so and I instead became the task-crazed woman of your nightmares.
Recently I created a portfolio of teaching resources and information that aimed to answer the question, ‘Does innovative classroom design contribute to student learning?’ It was one of the more interesting assessment tasks I’ve completed whilst at university. I found that that the classroom environment has a large part to play in student learning. If you’re wondering where I’m going with this, don’t be alarmed, it will all become apparent soon.
When your university tutor’s explain to you that they have received a grant to take you to Singapore, saying no is not something that comes to mind. Neither is the fact that you will be able to be a part of something truly inspiring. I mean, I knew this trip was going to be amazing but I guess I just didn’t expect it to be quite this impactful.
A nature narrative, told from the perspective of a tree, through the eyes of me.
Chapter 1 – A prisoner of nature
When they came, I was excited, at first. They seemed as if they had the ability to maintain harmony and peace in our lands, to protect us. Not that we really needed their protection, we were doing ok.
But then, all of a sudden, we weren’t so ok. In fact we were dying. Some of us got sick. I think that had something to do with the soil tasting funny. Others were just ripped right from their home, there one minute and gone the next. I began to envy the animals who could scurry and fly away to safer havens. I was never angry at them though, I would have done the same if I could have.
Today I am craving to be alone. To spend some time away with myself, and to just sit somewhere and be. I can’t quite describe the feeling that has come over me from being in this place. Peacefulness doesn’t quite do it, but rather I can feel myself transcending into some form of authenticity. For the first time in a little while, I am me.
I don’t want to be obvious, or to stand out, I just want to be, without disturbing anyone else who is being. Like the canines that I see lazing on the cool concrete, or taking a dip in the aqua pools at the wetlands. As one trots along the path in front of me, it’s as if it’s saying, follow me, I’ll show you the way to yourself. This creature doesn’t spend so much time questioning it’s self, rather it just spends time being in the world. Perhaps we can learn more than a thing or two from these four legged souls.
Thewater lilyhas elements above, on and below the water, as well as serving many important functions to the ecosystem around it. I am like this flower in that I am a complex being, but what do I bring to my ecosystem?
It’s hard to describe exactly what it is about this place that makes me feel how I am. At first it was the sounds of the ocean ripples as they lapped the shores, the rhythm of nature, a reminder of home. But then it was more than that, it was as if the aliveness of the island reminded me of some aliveness within myself. An aliveness that I have not realised in any other place that we have been. But what’s more is that I wasn’t just aware of it, but I was feeling it. Actually feeling it, a living experience.
The scents of the nature garden diffused deep into my skin, giving fragrance to the stunning relaxation within my bones. The breeze brushed lightly across my skin, and for a brief moment I felt as if the island had somehow noticed me.
Prayer flags display buddhist prayers, mantras and powerful symbols. Buddhists believe that this creates a spiritual vibration, activated and carried by the wind. All beings that are touched by the wind are left happier and uplifted – “Just as a drop of water can permeate the ocean, prayers dissolved in the wind extend to fill all of space”.
Here I am relaxed. Here my mind is aware, and alive and open. It is here that I can learn, simply by being myself. The quietness of nature allows me to be aware in a way that I simply can not within the city. The hustle and bustle of cars, trains and buses and the flocks of people busy in their lives. There is too much to notice in the city, it’s a noise both to the eyes and ears, and sometimes I loose sight of the green. But here on the island it is quiet, and I am free. Here on the island I can be.
Now it’s time to leave and I say that I don’t mind, but I really do. I haven’t learnt my whole self yet, and I feel that just a little longer here would help me to stick.
But what is most reassuring is that the little that I have learnt has cost me nothing but a little, just a piece of myself that will always remain here on these restful shores. Not disconnected or gone, just left, because it needs to be.
“A cheery relaxation is man’s natural state, just as nature itself is relaxed. A waterfall is concerned only with being itself, not with doing something it considers waterfall-like” – Vernon Howard Quotes from The Power of Your Supermind
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