California Wilderness: Find your Calling

Eli Willis (aka River) reflects on her time spent in the Yolla Bolly Mountains:

This entry begins where I am sitting on a small island of stones in Yellow Jacket Creek, just off the Eel River. Douglas Firs grow above and around, while wildflowers and vibrant green shrubs populate the soil closest to the water. Bees, dragonflies, butterflies, water skeeters, and other insects (more bugs than are within my current comfort zone, actually) buzz and hop around. This small stretch of the creek is my sit spot, the place in this unfamiliar region of Yolla Bolly that I can get to know personally, that I can visit daily to be with my thoughts and observe nature doing her thing.

Jon Young recommends the sit spot as the single best practice for creating a meaningful connection to nature; I and several others in the group have taken the sit spot as our 40 day practice. For the past few days I’ve made the short walk to this spot, getting to know the landscape of the journey as well as the spot itself. With my grandma’s bandana tied over my braided hair and my mind wide open to adventure, I feel like a child. With innocent curiosity I look and listen and feel. What is the magic behind this beautiful natural place? How do river and rock, fly and flower, trees and bees interact and exist harmoniously, becoming one entity, one ecosystem? How is it that simply sitting quietly here has such a profound effect on me? These are the questions I ask, and nature subtly responds.

In class we explore these topics, inquiring about humanity’s place in nature and nature’s place within our own lives. The readings are relevant to our experience in the wilderness, and themes from class mingle with my own observations and thoughts. Of particular interest to me is William Everson’s Birth of a Poet, the Santa Cruz Meditations, a collection of transcriptions of his thoughts and lectures to a UCSC class in 1975-76. This book seems to speak directly to me, a current UCSC student concerned with the state of the world and open to new possibilities for my precious lifetime. Everson discusses broad topics such as the uniquely American relationship between people and this land, and personal topics like how we can each find and follow our own path.

He speaks of finding one’s vocare, their calling. I’m thinking about my vocare, my own role in healing our relationship with nature. Somehow those thoughts feel different out here, immersed in nature itself, than in the front country. One phrase we’ve been exchanging around may help explain it: though there is a lot of work to do, we are human beings, not human doings. Being with nature, being nature, is crucial in healing nature. I’m so  grateful to be exploring the real force behind my studies and ambitions: a genuine love and respect for the Earth.

California Wilderness: Reflections from Death Valley

Overview:

The spring California Wilderness 2013 program begins with a backpack into Death Valley. Since the early stages of a program can emphasize the so-called "separation phase" of the journey, Death Valley is an especially favorable starting place because it is unfamiliar and challenging to most participants. Discomfort is quickly dissipated once we have settled into our basecamp under cottonwood trees with spring water nearby. In the expanse of desert, the days pass and seem to float independently and timelessly, losing their connection to any calendar.

From Antonella De La Torre, aka Pachamama:

Under the afternoon sun of Cottonwood Springs, we sit in shady sit spots reading, journaling, and watching the wildlife interact with both earth and sky. Cottonwood Springs shelters a plethora of migrant birds, colorful lizards, wild horses, and even a few snakes! Because of the amount of life in this seemingly barren desert, I never felt alone during this last stretch of our educational adventure.

Inspired by all the amazing readings by authors such as William Everson, Bill Plotkin, John Tarrant, Jon Young, Starhawk, and other ecopsychologists, my ecological and personal consciousness expands with every day that passes. Endless learning and infinite questions pervade my Sierra Institute experience so far, and what I am getting out of this is beyond any sort of knowledge I’ve gained in the typical educational institution.

From Kelan Ilya:

As we enter the Oasis of Cottonwood Canyon, we endure solitude to the highest degree. We face the reality of the emptiness of the desert.The dialogues that take place in such an astonishing setting allow us to relinquish the stresses of our everyday lives. Both personal and universal mysteries are addressed and investigated in a manner that enables the group to express themselves freely.

The group dynamic is sophisticated and enables an intimate bond similar to one of a native tribe. Being a part of such a unique community is an honorable experience and seems unachievable elsewhere in society.

A wild horse in Death Valley 

To see more images from the Spring 2013 California Wilderness trip, visit Sierra Institute on Facebook.