The Challenge That Will Kick My Ass

I have been going to my Secret Spot, or Sit Spot, on a regular basis for the past three weeks. The first week I went four times, last week it was three, and this week it will be four again (if I can muster up all the self discipline I have). This is a spot I developed a relationship with last year around this time. I picked it out in the dead of winter (January), and went as often as I could until July. July is when my stamina snapped and I lost all focus to summer spontaneity. But, as I was going, I watched the spring hurl everything into action. I watched my clear view from atop a fallen log become frustratingly limited as all the understory shrubs regrew their foliage. I watched the song sparrow play almost daily in the little waterfall below my log, heard birds sing from perches eerily close to my head, and even saw a coyote as it ambled up the creek, under the log where I sit, a piece of meat in its mouth, it's fur mangy and patched. Usually I went before work, around seven in the morning. It was a sheer act of will. Why? I'm sure some people naturally are drown to meditation, to peaceful moments alone to let their minds clear. I'm sure some people are drown to this practice because they are filled with wonder and excitement, like little children. Well, not me. When I go to my secret spot it is like battling an army inside my head. It is like standing my ground and focusing on peace and love when a thousand skilled warriors slash at my mind with sharpened swords and screaming battlecries. The thoughts are maddening. There is no peace. There is no gentle wonderment. I feel lucky if I can stay focused on my senses enough to notice the scent of woodsmoke every once in a while, or catch the faint twitter of the kinglets in the maple branches.

I got an email about this challenge today. The 30 day sit spot challenge. It made me feel OK about my struggles. I noticed, hey, maybe I'm not the only one with screaming warriors in my head. And maybe I'll just keep going and sitting anyway, even though everything inside tells me I'm doing it wrong. If I get tired of the battleground, I'll...well, I'll just walk around. When I walk I think the warriors have more to entertain them so they stop assailing me quite so voraciously.

Why even submit myself to the warriors? Why bother, you ask? Why not stay in and watch some nice home videos on YouTube?

I'll tell you. And hopefully you'll hear it from my genuine self, not my ego or your ego or judgment.

It's an act of resistance. It's an act of liberation. It's an act of decisive strategy.

Because I was raised inside a capitalist culture, I was raised with the values of production, market, growth. I was taught skills in communication, working hard, detail management, changing and manipulating systems, serving the needs of people and society. Granted, I got some good things from this system, mostly, relationships with people. But those, I struggle to maintain under the pressure to work and produce. People are not the bad part of this set up. The bad part is that I was never taught to value existing, observing, witnessing, feeling. I was never taught skills of observation, extra-sensory perception, stillness, survival, cooperation. I was not taught to notice nature at all! Even me, raised in hippie alterna-culture going to nature camps since I was old enough to poop! Yes, even I find that my senses are extremely dulled to the ways of nature.

I am going to my secret spot to change the way that I interact with nature. I am sick of living inside my own head filled with the warriors of the free market yelling thoughts at me all the time. I want to sit and witness what the winter wren is chatting about in the sword ferns over there. I want to notice when exactly that first nettle sprouts and what path the deer use most frequently to get down to the creek.

Perhaps the most devastating reality of the human society and nature right now is our disconnection with the our life support systems. I actually have no idea where the water has traveled from to come rushing conveniently out of my tap. I wouldn't have the slightest notion of how to grow the pineapple which I eat in my smoothie in the morning. What I want is a direct, intimate connection between the day-to-day realities of my life and how I keep alive from the land all around me. I want to be as dependent on this place for my life as every little critter who scavenges from these woods and drinks form these creeks. I want to learn about this place so I can untangle myself from the infrastructure that keeps me participating in the game of disconnection with place. Enough pseudo-reality! It's not OK that people who live in Pheonix can have long cold showers every day of the summer. Or that those in Olympia can have 70 degree houses all through December. At what cost?

This is why I go to my secret spot. To take down capitolism. To live more peacefully. To get more skills in the things I was never taught in school, or even in nature camp. It is infuriatingly hard to sit still and watch nature. I want to die half of the time because I hate that I am so bad at keeping my mind still, that I don't already have these skills, that I can hardly ever see even a damned deer or raccoon, that I am plagued with guilt every time my steps contribute to the quickly eroding action of the ivy-covered hill I visit. But I do it anyway. And I will join the sit spot challenge to commit to gentleness with myself, to contribute daily reminders to myself that this is not a contest or another excuse for me to think I need to be a good capitalist producer, but to affirm my connection to all living beings and the journey of healing for each one of us collectively. I invite you to join the challenge as well, and write to me about it. We'll be revolutionaries together, quietly observing.


This is a write up about the challenge from:

http://www.wildernessawareness.org/home_study/30day_challenge.html


The 30 Day Sit Spot Challenge

What is the challenge?

The Sit Spot (also known as the Secret Spot): a surefire way to get to know nature and yourself more intimately. (What's a Sit Spot?). For some of us, going to this place is easy, like breathing. For others, we really want to visit a secret spot regularly, but it is a struggle, and we give up. No matter where you fall on this spectrum, I invite adults and youth of all ages to join Wilderness Awareness Schools' first 30-Day Sit Spot Challenge! Join the Challenge

How does it work?
Go to your Secret Spot every day for at least 20 minutes. The starting date is Friday, February 15, 2008 and will continue to March 15, 2008 (NOTE: If you just found out about the challenge and are late getting started, that's OK. Just make up the missed days at the end of the challenge if you can).

Rain (or snow), or shine, night or day, blindfolded or sighted, go to that beautiful place and the sky's the limit. Do a sense meditation. Stalk up on the black cat that stalks the winter wrens. Dance. Build a fire. Whatever it is that you do when you go there, just do it! Even if you're traveling, sit somewhere each day.

Now, I want to let you know up-front that it is perfectly normal to experience a wide-range of emotions when sitting in silence for 20 minutes many days in a row. You may feel peacefulness and calm, intense joy, frustration, or even sadness or anger. While this may seem challenging, just know that it is a chance for healing to happen. Remember that there are many people out there who are also doing the challenge, including me, supporting you. And so is nature. You are not alone! Read a sit spot story from Kat

How to join our 30 Day Sit Spot Challenge!

* To join, send us an email saying "I accept the challenge! and I live in..." (closest city or town and state/country),
* OR, you can post your location in our forum.

We'll put you on the Challenge list, and add you to the map so we can all see where everyone is sitting around the world. Share your experiences with us along the way and we'll highlight them in the next issue of Foxprint!

Share your Sit Spot Challenge experiences...
Share your experiences with us, and others!
During the challenge, there will be 3 ways to share your stories, thoughts, photos, drawings, etc...other people will appreciate hearing about your experiences!

Share your experiences with others...1. Post your experiences on our forum! Go to our new Sit Spot Challenge forum on NatureTalk.net where you can post your own stories, read how other community members' Challenge's are going, and encourage each other!

2. Email us. Email Kat Koch, who his coordinating the Challenge. Email your stories, photos, drawings, and more... We'll include some of your experiences on-line and in our e-newsletter, as well as in a future issue of our Foxprint donor newsletter.

3. Map of Challenge participants! We've created an interactive map showing participants in the challenge. When you post your location in the forum or email us your location, you'll be added to the map!

We're very excited about this...sign up today and please let us know how it goes for you! If you have any questions, email Kat.
A Sit Spot Story from Kat
I'll leave you with a story. I was sitting at my Spot this past fall, thinking. (It happens, you know, when your mind chats away, interrupting your quiet with all kinds of stories.) Then I began to relax, I took a deep breath and as I exhaled, I felt myself glued to the cedar tree. I thought, maybe I am doing enough in my life. Maybe all I need to do is continue to strengthen and tone my body and mind like I've been doing.

Immature Coopers Hawk - http://www.thebirdguide.com/Then, I heard a scratching noise above me. As I turned to look, an immature Cooper's hawk flew right past my face and landed in an apple tree 15 feet away, obviously agitated. I looked above me and there sat an eastern grey squirrel. I was floored with the energy of the moment. I studied the intricacies of the hawk's feather colors. And then it flew away and I began breathing again.

Questions about what happened jumped like sand fleas in my head. And I kept on sitting and wondering and sensing and smiling.

What is a Sit Spot?
A Sit Spot (also known as a Secret Spot) is simply a place to go in the woods, or even your back porch, and sit. It doesn’t have to be all that special to start with. You make it special, and secret, by sitting in it – time after time.

Find one place in your natural world that you visit all the time and get to know it as your best friend. Let this be a place where you learn to sit still – alone, often, and quietly -- as well as playfully explore beyond. This will become your place of intimate connection with nature.

The Best Teacher is One Place
by Jon Young

People who know me well have heard me give this same answer to many different questions – not because I am losing my train of thought, contrary to what some might say, but because there is truly only one good answer to the many questions about the deep learning of naturalist skills. The foundation is the same for all:

* What makes a great naturalist?
* What makes a great tracker?
* How did they become “natives”?
* How did they become good teachers?
* How did they become good storytellers?
* How can we become great outdoor instructors?
* How can we learn to understand the language of the birds?

In one way or another, my answer always contains something of the following:

“Find one place you can get to know really, really well. This is the most important routine you can develop.

Know it by day; know it by night; know it in the rain and in the snow, in the depth of winter and in the heat of summer. Know the stars and where the four directions are there; know the birds that live there, know the trees they live in. Get to know these things as if they were your relatives, for, in time, you will come to know that they are! That is the most important thing you can do in order to excel at any skill in nature. Nature and your own heart are the best teachers, but your body, mind and spirit all have to attend the class, and do the homework. There is no replacement for this experience!”

One of the most critical elements in the routine of visiting a single place and getting to know one area well is really just taking the time to listen to the wind, to check in with your heart – that is, your feelings – and allow yourself to just be.

From Kamana 1: Exploring Natural Mystery by Jon Young, page 98.

You never know what you'll see at your sit spot... Photo by Dave Moskowitz