Our first writing assignment for my program was to write a public narrative. Below you will find mine. This one goes out to my mother for the inspiration she has provided me even when I didn't realize it. I spend a great deal of my time these days reading, writing, and thinking. Although this was the first thing I wrote, it continues to shape what I am thinking about and points me in an unexpected direction. These themes continue to find their way into my writing and thoughts in all of my classes. And here I thought I would be all about campus sustainability! Don't get me wrong, that focus is still near and dear to my heart, and I am already thinking about ways to pull these themes into the setting of a college campus and college students. I just returned from a conference, AASHE (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education), and it also reminded me of why I started this program and why I have the interests I do. It is exciting, though, to find my mind and my inspiration wandering in other directions and finding other personal connections. I think I even have the inkling and shaping of what my thesis might be. This is really great as I came here scared to death about finding an idea on which I could write a 60 plus page research paper. I hope you enjoy my public narrative and I would love to know what your reaction to it is. It would help me know whether or not I accomplished the goal of the assignment.
I am content and happy in way that I have not been in a long time. In fact, it would be challenging for me to recall the last time I felt this relaxed and happy in my adulthood prior to now. I believe I have found my way, my peace, and my inspiration by coming to Flagstaff. I distinctly remembering being dissatisfied with my life throughout most of my childhood because I was a “country girl,” and I desperately wanted to be a “city girl.” I wanted cable to watch MTV and suburbia to have a posse of neighborhood friends. Well, I have been a city girl for the last fifteen years or so of my adult life, and although I have many joyous memories of adventures and experiences from around the world, I do not know that I was ever completely satisfied or at peace. As I reflect on the recent changes and choices made in my life, it suddenly occurred to me, that in a way, I have come full circle and made the unconscious decision to embrace my roots and upbringing. With that, I have a new respect and value for my childhood experiences and their influence on who I have become.
I grew up with a “hippy” mom in the seventies who was very gung ho to live the natural life and live off the land. At thirty-six, I completely appreciate what she was doing, but between five and eighteen, I just thought it was weird. I wanted “normal.” I wanted Heinz ketchup, Welch’s jelly, Oscar Mayer bologna, Rainbo white bread, and sugary cereals, not homemade bread and canned goods, fresh vegetables from the garden, and eggs from our chickens. I certainly did not want to be the victim of her vegetarian experiments like nut loaf and millet burgers. Well, I still don’t want those, but as I become older I realize how much of her values and lifestyle has snuck into my own! I am forever on the quest for fresh fruits and vegetables that taste like something. I love it when my husband makes bread, and although I have no desire to take care of farm animals to meet my dairy and egg needs, it would be nice to not be stressing about whether or not they are “happy animals” or the amount of money I am spending to have some of that peace of mind.
I have also rediscovered my passion for nature. I am and always will be an avid animal lover, but I have renewed my love for the scenery around me and being outdoors. We have been biking almost every day and hiking every weekend since moving to Flagstaff. Because I lived in the country as a child, these were part of my daily existence then. If I wanted to visit a friend, I had to hop on my bike and ride two to six miles away to go play. Every summer, I would spend most of my days playing in the forest behind our house. For the last fifteen years, I have lived in cities where parks were the green space and the “wilderness” was a car drive away. I now have the choice to walk and bike just about everywhere again, and I love it. I am re-experiencing that child-like wonder of the natural world around me.
Obviously, I came to Flagstaff for the Sustainable Communities program wanting to be better trained and educated to make a difference in the world around me, but now I have an even greater sense of urgency with the renewed realization of how much could be at jeopardy if we continue down the path we are on as a society. It seems so much of it is about consumerism and how we use it as way to make ourselves feel better and our association with needing stuff to be happy. I am guilty of that although I am working on it! I love my stuff, and I enjoy shopping. However, I feel myself slowly pulling away from buying for the sake of buying and challenging myself with the questions of “do I need this?” and “do I need to replace what I already have?” My response to myself is still mixed, but having less disposable income than I have had in a really long time is definitely helping me be more honest in my answers. The most important piece of this is that I have realized, as I said earlier, that I am happier than I have been in years! I am also more active than I have been in years. I am going outside and playing instead of sitting inside watching TV or going shopping. I suspect there is a correlation between my moods and how I am choosing to spend my time.
It is time for all of us to rediscover what playing is all about and how enjoying the world around us can bring a sense of joy and wonder in a way an IPod or new pair of shoes cannot. Perhaps my idyllic country childhood is unique to a small group that continues to dwindle, but I believe that all of us have had a moment in our lives where we have felt a sense of awe and pleasure based on an experience or encounter with a piece of the natural world. This could have been a trip to the zoo, a family camping trip, a visit to a natural history museum, playing in the park down the street, or even a science lab at school. We all should pause, remember, and reflect. What are our memories of that feeling? Why did it bring us pleasure and awe? Most importantly, how can we discover ways today to find that feeling again and embrace it daily? How can we introduce this to our children so that our future generations value the natural beauty of our Earth and want to protect and enjoy it?
This is my fear and this is why I call to you to remember how to play outside and teach it to your children. We are losing this value bit by bit and day by day. Our children are not in the habit of going outside and playing any more and neither are we. The siren call of the television and video games or driving to the mall to shop drowns out the wind in the trees for many of us. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2010), childhood obesity has tripled in the last thirty years, and in 2009, 26.7% of adults were considered obese. Serious health risks are linked to obesity, including an increased risk in cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Exercise is on top of the list of how to combat obesity. I think we could count play as exercise, don’t you?
We face challenges, though; in fact sometimes we are dealing with actual rules and laws that discourage play. Richard Louv (2005) writes about what he has labeled “nature-deficit disorder,” and the increasing number of children who are experiencing this problem. He describes it as “the human costs of alienation from nature, among them: diminished use of sense, attention difficulties and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses” (p. 34). Is this where we have arrived? Are we truly at the point where someone has to write a book about how losing touch with the natural world around them is having a negative impact on the health of our children? The increasing regulations in our neighborhoods in the form of homeowner’s association regulations and zoning codes are also prohibiting playing. From prohibiting basketball hoops in the driveway to requiring tree houses without building permits to be torn down, we are stealing the potential of spontaneity and creativity. We are discouraging play and we need to stop this momentum.
Flagstaff is not the true turning point in my personal shift in priorities, but it is definitely shaping my path and clarifying it further for me. Flagstaff and my surroundings have brought out parts of me that I did not know existed or that I have not recognized in a long while. I have newfound peace and acceptance for who I am and where life’s journey may be taking me. It has heightened my awareness and is continuing to shift my values. I do see hope and possibility that encourages me to continue promoting the value of green space and play. A recent trip to Manhattan, which is one of the most urban places on earth, celebrates its green spaces, and so do the residents. Everywhere you turn in Central Park, there are people of all ages playing and enjoying the outdoors. There are smaller parks around the city that are well used, as well as neighborhood playgrounds everywhere with children running around and laughing. In another part of the city, a group of citizens took an abandoned elevated railway track and have turned it into the Highline Park, an urban oasis of greenery and comfortable benches for sitting and watching the world go by. It was filled with people walking, talking and picnicking while we were visiting. Despite the dominance of steel and concrete, it is clear that this is a city that wants to preserve its bits of green for the residents so they have a quick escape from their daily urban confines and a place to play. Even around me at NAU, I see many taking advantage of the campus green spaces. Students are outdoors talking, studying, throwing Frisbees, and not inside playing videogames. People do want to play and be outdoors, we just need to remind them that they can and should be choosing to spend their time in different ways than they currently are doing.
