Value, mindfulness and care

I was sitting by the front window enjoying the sounds of the snow squall outside, especially since I was warming to a wood fire and felt like I could relax within my protected view of that potentially brutal reality.  I even had an internet connection, and happened upon an article about "the value of art".  It was describing a unique vending machine where an art student was selling various pieces of ceramic art.

“In this work, the audience participation is crucial as they are put through a decision-making process in contemplating the value they attribute to craft in relation to the price they select."  In other words, the audience is somewhat forced to pause and think about how much they value that piece of ceramic behind the glass wall. At the same time, Hans poses another question to us: “Can we be purely economical about craft?”

As I sat looking out at the raging storm, I thought of how we approach natural experiences, and the prices we pay to get close to nature.  Guided tours, gas to drive, equipment and even relationships and mindset to make the experience tolerable towards "thriving".

If we were to think of "nature" as an immediate, integral, consistent and evolving aspect of our lives, we might look at ways to become more thriving with and within it. 

I began thinking of repurposing a list of ways to thrive:

• Take smart, common-sense risks and step out of your comfort zone - find new ways to approach and become immersed within nature.
• Begin to better prioritize your relationships, both with yourself and others - rethink the relationship taken up with nature.
• Change your environment to a more productive and encouraging one - explore new avenues for experiencing nature.
• Begin to work on understanding your emotions, emotional triggers and limiting beliefs - become more self-reflective when "out in nature".
• Model the excellence you want and expect in your life - discover how you reach mindfulness when "out in nature".
• Improve your fuel plan to support your physical body’s ability to thrive - find new ways to nourish yourself when hiking, paddling, walking or touring in any natural space.
• Try something new and embrace an element of play in your day - surprise yourself by peeking around a corner you never would have imagined yourself peeking around...

My vision is that within waketrail.org there will be something like a channel titled "mindfulness" where people can share such experiences and experimental explorations and discover others who are having similar explorations, or who have taken part in a similar exploration in a location where you are planning to go to, are journeying out into, have recently visited, etc.  We might then be able to get a better perspective on how we invest our time, energy, money and thought and emotional processes in our encounters with nature, and find ways in which we can further our own explorations, possibly towards participating in projects that help to care for and celebrate nature.