What I Want, and What it Might Take to Get There - Entry One

I remind myself constantly that 'there is nothing wrong here' with the state of the world around me. But rather, plenty of possibilities to explore in powerfully making a difference in how humans relate to nature. Since I was younger I have been bound to nature intrinsically, to varied degrees and through many stages of my own development. I have grown up with the consideration and consultation of nature at the forefront of my own self expression and identity.

In playing the game of life as a full-on participant, out of the stands and onto the field so to speak, here are a few thoughts that arose this past weekend when I had some recent quiet time - in flight from a visit to Illinois. This is a random list of many random lists intended to capture ideas in writing for future reflection and commentary.

1. I am committed to the following statements occurring as opportunity for others and their lives.
2. I am committed to the possibility of creating a national presence of a back-to-nature movement through public relations, education, research, and authentic community building.
3. I am committed to building and/or rebuilding our relatedness to nature. Specifically, I recognize the power of doing so with young children and parents/caregivers.
4. I am committed to increasing the annual percentage of time that I spend out of doors, and enrolling others in the possibility of decreasing their own time spent indoors.
5. I am committed to an extraordinary shift of paradigm in our culture's relationship to nature, from nature simply as intrigue, entertainment, and anthropocentrically valuable, to a culture that has nature as vital, necessary and as an empowering way of understanding life on our planet.
6. I am committed to collecting and analyzing research and other work highlighting quantitative and qualitative data that support such a shift in paradigm.
7. I am committed to creating and/or strengthening intensive training initiatives for educators and parents/caregivers with an overall vision of empowering and enabling adults in this mission.
8. I am committed to developing, or contributing to, long term research projects that track children's development and their relationship to nature from early childhood.
9. I am committed to finding grant monies, and conducting fundraising activities to finance such studies and trainings.
10. I am committed to incorporate myself with other professionals, parents/caregivers, and students involved in this work.
11. I am committed to beginning work on, and achieving, higher education degrees in environmental education or a similar discipline in support of this vision.
12. I am committed to further investigating possibilities for convergence of our 'scientific/technical' and 'spiritual/emotional' relationships to nature.
13. I am committed to more closely investigating the timeline of our historic relationship to nature.
14. I am committed to more closely analyzing statistical quantitative and qualitative observations of how our natural lanscape has changed over time.
15. I am committed to identifying what I am pretending to understand about nature and our/my relationship to it.
16. I am committed to creating new possibilities in the area of relatedness to nature.
17. I am committed to creating opportunity for myself and others to engage in public speaking events on these issues at diverse locations and with diverse audiences.
18. I am committed to gathering my thoughts/notes and writing about these issues in support of a shift in paradigm.
19. I am committed to breakthroughs in being in integrity.
20. I am committed to living powerfully, thinking big, and living a life I love.