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Mirrors
in Nature
Section Overview
Nature can
be both teacher and healer. Being immersed in nature we can observe the
environment, take note of how we feel, and become aware that attributes
of ourselves might be highlighted in the characteristics of plants, animals
and elements, such as the hardness of rocks, the piercing eye of an eagle,
or the persistence of a wombat. These metaphors then become messages for
personal reflection and action. These messages are the Mirrors in Nature.
Ecopsychologist Susan Brelin-Becchio has developed a beautiful framework
based on the the ever changing rotation of the seasons. The seasons become
metaphors and lessons for life. The earth and its wondrous mechanisms
deliver a pattern for personal enhancement rooted in the soil and the
ebb and flow of the universal wisdom. She calls her practice Deep
Elemental Ecology.
Anna Clabburns journey is quirky and intriguing. A love affair blossoms,
flowers and eventually fades. The lifecycle of the flower is a metaphor
or mirror for this journey of the heart. Her story is called Flowers
of Men.
Kerri Halliday is bringing up her son to love nature in the same way as
her own father raised her, with frequent and tender experiences in the
outdoors. She weaves her personal and family nature encounters into a
tapestry with indigenous spirituality. Her discussion is titled Defining
the Boundaries that give rise to "the Edge" so they can be crossed,
referring to the process of bridging the gap in childhood between human
and nature.
Parents and grandparents are important role models for developing curiosity
and awareness of the natural environment. Here Mark Boulet in A
Portrait of My Mother writes about his mother with reverence and love.
She encouraged his passion for adventure, for activism, and for his explorations
in nature.
Animals and birds can be guides and protectors on our journey. They act
as messengers bearing information or insight, and they sharpen our awareness
by indicating another way of seeing and knowing. Brett Donaldson reveres
the hawk and takes us on a revealing journey with this graceful raptor.
Its called The Hawk.
Sometimes discovering a mirror in nature can be both uncomfortable and
revelatory. Sue Edwards explores her unexpected similarities in physicality
and mentality of Wombat.
Trevor Plumridges
poem Tadpoles in Rockpools at Kata Juta
harks back to the first ecopsychology class at Monash when staff and students
took a transformative field trip to central Australia, in particular to
the sister rocks of Uluru. How amazing it was to see pools of water and
the fertility of nature grasping its fleeting opportunity to reproduce
life in the form of tadpoles in the desert.
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