Bonus newsletter this week, since new things are launching! Introducing….The Workshop.
As my friend and creator of The Workshop,
said, in a newsletter that went out earlier this week:The Workshop offers self-study online workshops that are aligned with Bewonderment's intent to create sacred systems for deep expansion. It features self-study, online courses from a variety of Bewonderment conspirators. We've worked together, studied together, learned from each other and continue to build community together both in this online space and IRL.
I’m pleased to announce that I’m officially a Bewonderment conspirator, and my first offering is a course called Just Wild Enough (yes, after the book that’s coming out in just over a month). Here is a little preview of what we’ll be digging into (along with some of my favorite video snippets from my explorations outside during the past few years..)1:
If you grew up in the 1980s or before, like I did, it’s likely you spent much of your free time during childhood running around outside, making forts, chasing butterflies, or just kicking around with the neighborhood kids. (Either voluntarily, or because your folks made you.) You didn’t have a cell phone and the video game options were limited. Going outside was the best option. I think it still is–according to ample research, going outside is essential for optimal cognitive and physical development. Kids learn how to adapt to change, overcome challenges, and take healthy risks. They learn courage, build autonomy and exercise creativity. They figure out what it means to be a part of a community that is bigger than what they can see on a screen and are more likely to develop a sense of responsibility to the earth itself due to being in direct relationship with the natural world. They intimately learn about the nature that is closest to home and have the opportunity to develop a love and appreciation of protecting what they see as part of them. The same goes for humans at any age. Even if you’ve drifted from feeling connected to nature, the earth will always take you back. Your wildness is still there, living inside you. There is always more to pay attention to, to learn, and to engage.
Maybe you’ll hike a trail, maybe you’ll run through a grassy field, maybe you’ll go to the beach. Maybe you’ll go on a wilderness vacation, but maybe, and perhaps this is even more essential than a deep wilderness experience, you will just sit in the front yard and watch the clouds go by. The objective of this course is to make spending time outside part of the norm—part of what is essential for optimal wellbeing. You might be surprised at what you learn about the earth and yourself along the way.
So, for six weeks, the objective is to spend at least five hours per week outside. The goal is to engage in experiences that stimulate wonder, creativity, and mindfulness. You’ll explore one of the five senses each week, reflect on what you’re noticing, and connect with your own inner wildness. I’ll read you some poetry and prose, and you’ll write some of your own.
This course is appropriate for humans of all ages and abilities, and all activities are adaptable for all spectrums of physical ability.
I’d love to have you join us!
Many thanks to Nick Barr taking time during ski season to put this video together.