Situational Awareness
Letting Nature Re-wild Us!
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Dear ones,
If you are a new subscriber, a special WELCOME! Today we are exploring the wilds! How being in nature reactivates our awareness, enhances our perception. Reminding us about our relationship with everything. Enjoy and love to you all!
Meeting the Wild…
Every time I have stepped into an ocean, taken a hike, and visited a wilderness area I feel alive. Partly because I am instinctively aware of the possible peril, danger and risk. That is a quality of it being “wild.” I have also came close to many wild animals where I was not sure what would transpire. Like the time I came face to face with a mountain lion. Except this was not a back country area, it was outside the property line of my parents’ home. An undeveloped area that sloped down into a creek and then rose up again on the other side.
One summer day, I was sitting right outside the fence when I saw a bush on the opposite slope begin to shake. What emerged from behind it appeared to be a medium to large sized dog that sat down across from me. Yet this was no dog, it had jowls! This was a big cat! I didn’t feel panicked, it was more a sense of being grounded and curious with a hyper alertness. We stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Till the cat got up and started walking towards me. I knew it could literally get to me in seconds. Slowly, I stood up and deliberately walked to the fence gate, opened it, entering the other side, then closed it! I know this could have gone south, that is always an aspect of the wild. Instead, I was left with the fullness of relief and awe! This happened when I was around eighteen, leaving an impression that has lasted a lifetime.
Situational Awareness
My experience is an example of situational awareness. Mostly known as a psychological tool, I believe there is much more depth to this than therapeutic meaning and use. Essentially defined as being fully present with the prevailing moment. (Which I was). Receiving and understanding what is currently transpiring. (Which I did). Sensing into the nuances and coming to an informed response that is beneficial to yourself while also serving those around us. (The natural slow action I ended up taking was the answer). Necessary for personal safety and success in any endeavor. (Very thankful).
We live a multi-layered dimensional existence. An untamed complexity which can astound and generate awe but can never be fully known. An ongoing impermanence, either moving slow or fast, it is never the same from one moment to the next. What enables us to exist in this complexity of living is the simplicity of situational awareness.
Taking it Deeper
Situational awareness is not just being present, it is the ability to flow from one moment to the next. Meeting the arising of life that is currently unfolding, navigating its waters rather than holding to a static belief or fixed stance. Connecting into the ongoing emergent energies, this vitality of aliveness. It’s not trying to make the animate, inanimate. Or the wild, tame.
In our current times, it seems to be getting more and more difficult to engage with situational awareness in a healthy way. OR, we are being driven to it by necessity! There is this incessant tugging on our awareness. Where we end up outwardly projecting more than we are inwardly sensing.
There is a direct relationship to this lack of situational awareness when the following are present. Increasing the chance of reacting in dysfunctional ways.
Distractions: Some are necessary, even healthy. It’s more the amount and the type that is the issue. Texting when driving. Addiction to screens. Multi-tasking.
Blinded focus: At times needed, but even still there are blinders on. It’s also the need to be right, to hold tight to a polarized belief.
Expectations: Wanting something else than what is currently happening.
Sensory overload: Too much information coming in then can be processed.
Life and Nature Shouldn’t be Subjugated
Life flows, forever in constant motion, even in its unhurried ways. Even in its dying and decomposition. Yet there is this tendency to try and domesticate the moment. Making it an external morality on how to be. Then labeling it, packaging it up and trying to sell it. How can we ever truly grasp what is eternally ephemeral? Existence is not something to contain as a static knowing.
As a society and culture, we are losing our connection to nature and the wildness of it. Even the unpredictability of being in this moment. Instead, it’s an onslaught of domestication and manicuring of life. Then holding tight, trying to create some sense of normalcy.
Here are some examples of “one star” ratings of US National Parks based on this subjugation:1
YOSEMITE: “We didn’t even see any bears on our visit — how lame is that.”
YELLOWSTONE: “Everywhere you go, there’s this lingering smell of rotten eggs. You’d think for the $35 entrance fee the park people could install some Air Wicks or something.”
GRAND CANYON: “No plants, no life. It’s like a picture of death.”
GRAND TETONS: “Could be better. Mountains were blocking the sunset.”
Cultivating Situational Awareness
An invitation to turn off the various portals that suck up our attention. Social media that is designed to turn us into commodities. Advertising that is convinced it knows what is right for us. Programs that divide and separate. We as a culture tend to look outside ourselves for answers when life keeps pointing us back into ourselves.
Each one of us has a unique constitution, temperament, chemistry, sensory system and past. There is NO one right answer or way to be. Each one of us needs to find what brings us meaning, health and connection. This starts by paying attention to the body, including our intuition and instincts. Our physical forms and animal nature are our greatest allies! Amazing intelligent sensory systems that pick-up cues from our environment. Inviting us to tune in and listen while learning to have healthy filters.
And we are not a “self “separate from everything else, we are relational beings living in a relational world. This involves recognizing and respecting our inherent association with everything. These threads that are the web of life. The tendrils we extend, linking up with the mycelial network of existence.
And the place I feel this the most is in nature. Nature teaches us situational awareness. Communicating all the time, there is so much the wilds can show us if we humble ourselves to listen. Being outdoors in the natural world is a place where we can reboot our system and feel the rhythms of existence. Breathing as life breathes. This wondrous interconnectedness.
Questions for you…
What is one thing that nature and wildlife has taught you?
Is there a special place in nature where you go to unwind and reconnect?
Do you feel at home in your animal body?
Would love to know your thoughts and feelings. Let’s have a conversation…
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Share, Amber, “A Giant Litter Box: Our Favorite 1-Star Reviews for National Parks”, The Washington Post, 2/21/2024
Wow, what a magical encounter you had with a mountain lion! ♥️✨ I saw one in the wild once, on a cliff above me (not nearly as close as the encounter you had). We had that moment of stillness, looking at each other like you describe, but then she went on up the cliff away from me. Something about those experiences weave themselves into our very cells, don't they? I love your take on situational awareness and how it equates to mindful/bodyful presence. Being fully with the moment and responding in that whole presence. I love that! And, omg, those comments from park visitors are hilarious. 😂
I have always felt the most alive and the most myself near the ocean. It calms and energizes me in a way nothing else can. I always find that I naturally pay less attention to my phone and feel less distracted and overwhelmed by everything. This is true of nature in general, but to a slightly lesser extent - the ocean just really calls to me differently.