THE THREE SISTERS

The gardener awaits nature’s most auspicious days for planting various seeds.

In consideration for harmonious conditions, he plants pole beans among a society of corn for reciprocity between nitrogen-enrichment and shaded poles. Among these he plants gourds to spread their vines, preserving ground water for the other two sisters.

Imagine the foolishness of a   gardener who planted all seeds the same day; demanded that they all grow under the same conditions; and subsequently, pulled on tender plants to get them to grow faster.

Are not schools that plant and tend child gardens without respect for uniquely favorable conditions equally reprehensible?

 

The inclination of the pupil for a particular profession must not be neglected, especially because such inclination usually asserts itself at an early age, being occasioned by personal gifts, by example of other members of the family, and by various other circumstances.

                                                                        Albert Einstein

FROM ROSEBUDS TO ROSES

Rose petals unfold according to a geometric code that is

As precise as it is sacred.

Who would prefer the mutilated victim of petals prematurely forced Open, to the perfect beauty

 Of nature’s patient unfoldment.

Unnoticed these days, petals of potential

Wither at the feet of unnaturally forced child-blossoms,

Depriving roses-in-the-making.

When we subject a child’s development to premature forcing,

It behooves us to think of rosebuds.

Where there is love, there is no imposition.

Albert Einstein

DEEP ROOTS for TALL TREES

Tall trees grow from deep roots. 
The health and appropriateness of the soil, 
As well as climate, 
Determine the depth and vitality
 Of the roots. 

Life-enhancing relationships in nature 
Extend far deeper than surface appearances 
And apply  just as surely to human beings 
As to trees.

Wisdom is not a product of schooling, but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.

                                          Albert Einstein

ECO-PSYCHOLOGY AND CHILDREN

 Q. Why do you emphasize the term eco-psychology so much? Is this more of your emphasis on placing children in nature?

A. Eco-psychology is a powerful term for this generation because of our appreciation for ecology in reference to planetary biomes. However, the term eco-psychology coined about a decade ago reaches deeper, into the inner terrains of children, to include psychological, physiological and even spiritual realities. The term “Deep Ecology”, offers a complementary reference to the power of nature’s energetic blueprints—to psychology that reaches deep into the hearts, minds and souls of children.

Eco-psychology bespeaks heart to heart relationships with children. Our urgent and immediate task as a society is to seek the means to free pent-up natural forces. As we begin to see the child through the eyes of the heart, we will replace current schooling regimes with organic, LIFE-affirming systems. Restorative powers inherent in the human family, will reveal astonishing generative potentials, enabling future generations to flourish.

The following example affirms the powerful life-promoting, healing power of nature’s substrata. When an enlightened society appreciate that this applies to children equally with forests, the places our children learn will be vitally alive centers of eco-psychology – that include nature’s playscapes.

In 1986 60,000 people in the Soviet Union were evacuated from the area surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power plant after a catastrophic explosion released large quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere. Prior to this the society had leveled thousands of acres of forest to install farms, roads and buildings.  Yet, less than three decades later a team of scientists has discovered there a remarkable rebirth, a primeval forest teaming with life.  Wildlife including wolves, moose, bears, beavers and bison are thriving in the self-restoring ecosystem. Nature, freed from mankind’s controlling, leveling, destructive tendencies, has restored a profusion of living potential in realms of breathtaking beauty.