Okay, here is the post that I said I would write after the Living with Intention post. Living with intention and feeding your body is important. However, there are other things that I think are just as important... how you treat that body and what you do with it and your mind are important too. There has been a lot of emphasis on diet and exercise and there are many different ways to do that. Many valid ways... these are just a few thoughts I have on "moving my body" and nature.
As a homesteader, I do get exercise outside, hauling feed bags, moving things around, cleaning coops and rabbit poo, weeding, hoeing, etc. I don't really like the idea of going to a gym which I can't afford anyway. I honestly wouldn't have the time anyway....not with all the work to be done on the homestead plus still being in school and working a full time job. So, my exercise is not consistent and it is generally need based...I may be a bit chubby, but I know I eat healthy food and I move my body a good amount more than the average person. (I just happen to like my bread and hate treadmills in a building filled with tons of other folks - although a pool that was accessible would be nice)
I also feel the need to be outdoors. My philosophy of life and how I live it, in what I want as my career and with my homesteading, is all about living in harmony with the natural world. As an environmentalist and a pagan, I want my footprint to be light but I also want to enjoy the world around me. I really enjoy hiking and kayaking, fishing and hunting...feeling a part of nature. This is also where I feel the gods the closest. I talk to the landvaettir as I work the homestead but I feel closest to the gods on the water or in the woods. Spiritually I believe part of my purpose in re-enchanting the world is to help others see the value in living close to the land, the Mother that supports us all. I believe that you can't value something you don't spend time enjoying in some capacity. A recent article I read reminded me of the healing powers of nature too...and it is true, when I need peace, healing of body or more often, of mind and spirit, I need time just to be with nature.
As John Muir says:
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.
-- Our National Parks, 1901, page 56.Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.
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The Yosemite (1912), page 256.
I truly believe that to be a part of this world...truly a part of it, we need to live with intention and to walk and see and play within it... not in concrete buildings and asphalt parks. There are advantages to cities and I have lived in and loved them at times in my life. Culture and art are also a great part of being human but for me to truly live, I need to be a part of nature, to see the art in a simple stream or bud of a leaf, the connections that make it all possible. I have always know that everything is connected, but with my studies I learn in more detail of how and it is truly amazing.... biogeochemistry, the way that everything is connected...we couldn't have designed it better.
So, in order to not be all work and no play, I try to find the time to play in nature and just experience. In the winter, that is hunting and walking trails. There is something amazing about sitting in a tree stand on a crisp and clear cold winter's morning as the sun rises, listening to the birds wake up and watching the light change from a dim glow to full daylight. I experience something similar when I take time to fish at sunset at Trap Pond. I rarely catch anything but listening to the inhabitants settling in for the night and the frogs waking up as the light moves to that magickal twilight is just so peaceful. I try to take time to walk the trails in the parks around me and to kayak on nice days. I spent a lot of time last year kayaking places like the Pocomoke River in my Viking kayak and exploring the swamps in my sit on top kayak, my favorite places being the local Trap Pond with the Cypress swamps and down in North Carolina, Merchants Millpond with the Cypress and Tupelos draped with Spanish Moss.
So, this Spring, I am hoping to do a lot more and making a concerted effort to spend that time in nature...it is too easy for me to sometimes just say that I have too much to do and skip the "play time". I am hoping to do Delaware's Trail Challenge (a selection of trails around the state) along with other trails in the neighboring area. Of course, I will be back in my kayak soon, as well, the weather has just been a bit chilly and windy lately. I will be documenting the trails on land and water at my site on
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=2122060&code=bbfadf4c5fd9a3e6b2232f0b97a09cea
I truly believe that we need the beauty as well as the bread to live a whole life.
