Attending to being outside--and inside! What difference does it make?

Yesterday the morning fog was beautiful and as I walked through the campus, I could feel the drops of water in the mist on my body, my clothes. It drizzled on and off and overall it was a weather - event that Bryn Mawr does not usually experience. When reading the forecast - it predicted ocassional showers throughout the day and possible thunderstorms in the afternoon. Although it did not thunderstorm very much yesterday (until about 1 AM this morning) - I still took this possibility into consideration. Finally, I came to the conclusion that I would rather we were comfortable and warm inside the English house than having class in the mist. I believe I made a good choice, I'm glad everyone was able to focus on the text and the discussion at hand rather than focusing on holding up an umbrella or the ocassional water drops that fell on them. When I was a child, I was a huge advocate of dancing and singing in the rain - but that was before I was capable of falling sick from just a few raindrops. For some reason, rain can cause sickness (either through displacing the body's homeostasis or in other ways). I also took this into account. Overall, I am content with my decision. I know that perhaps a few students would have rather preferred to sit outside - but I think having the opportunity to choose - I was incredibly glad and wanted to take full advantage of it while keeping in mind everyone's considerations (ecological decision making). 

There was really no science behind my choice to be outside for class on 11/26.  The weather looked like it was going to be pretty mild that day, even if I was initially worried that a "partly cloudy" forecast would mean a lower temperature experience.  I like to be outside.  I love to feel the wind across my face and the sun warming my back.  During the fall and winter, I find the temperature drop quite refreshing.  What I don't like are the insects that often come with being outside during the warmer times of the year. I also do not want to be outside when its wet out.  This is in large part a cultural thing rooted in the state of my hair. When my hair is straight, it does not get wet.  It can take up to two hours to wash, blow dry and straighten it and because my hair does not become oily as quickly as finer hair does, I only have to go through this exorbitantly long process once a week at the least.  I do not want to engage in that process any more than necessary. 

Anyways, I was pleasantly surprised at the way the afternoon turned out.  It was clear and sunny out and QUIET for once.  Well, the cars were still going by, but the number of planes and leaf-blowers significantly decreased making conversation a lot easier.

I was pleased with my last night’s decision to have class inside today. It’s not that I don’t usually like having class outside- I do. But today I felt that I really needed to self advocate- it’s cold, I’m sick and I frankly I just didn’t want to expend the energy necessary to keep warm.

Another reason that I chose to have class inside today was I knew that we going to be continuing our discussion on The Lives of Animals, and I thought that it would be an interesting comparison to discuss talking about the same text inside and outside. I really enjoyed the book, and I enjoyed meeting outside last class, but I felt that I was able to concentrate better on our class discussion inside today. Last week I spent about 10 minutes staring at a family of deer that had come out of the woods and were standing by Russia House. Today I had no “natural” distractions that the outside offers and was able to fully immerse myself in the text. I think that I got more out of the reading inside than I did last class outside.

That being said, it is also possible that it was simply the change of location that allowed me to concentrate better. I suppose what I am trying to get at is that I believe that an Ecological Imaginings class should be held outside. Just maybe not when the temperature drops below 40 degrees. 

Thank you Professor for reminding me about doing this post. I had definitely forgotten

The day I decided we should be outside as a class, we studied Spretnak and mapped out the differences and similarities we saw in the terms "feminism," "environmentalism," and "ecofeminism." I much prefer being outside than inside for class. First of all, no matter how tired I am, I feel so much more awake when we have class outside than I would in other classes in the same state. I feel like the outside weather is not controlled, so I feel more alert as a result to the changes. When it started getting colder in class, and I had foolishly worn flip-flops, I had to figure out a way to stay warm, and I did so by sitting barefoot and cross-legged in my chair. I felt pretty focused; the only time I remember feeling differently was when Professor Dalke tossed the charts on the ground, and the surrounding leaves flew up around them. Then I recall paying attention to the different colors of the leaves for a long while before tuning in again to the task at hand, which was to write phrases that came to mind in reference to these terms. I also remember a part of the class in which we were talking and I could hear the rustling in the trees. I looked up and it was unspeakably beautiful; the trees are so so tall after all, and so many leaves came rushing down at once it was breathtaking, lump-in-throat inducing. I kept staring up and I remember that eventually we as a class stopped a minute to acknowledge the beauty around us, enjoy it, then discuss the topic at hand.

I think it is so neat to see part of what we are discussing while we are discussing, be present in part of the place we are concerned about. When discussing the decay of the environment around the world and faced with the immense beauty of the trees, especially then and now with the falling leaves, it strikes me that we should be working to prevent the harm from happening. Where will our seasons go if the world faces drastic climate change? Are we not counting our blessings? Who knows how much of what we are used to as seasons will actually stay if we continue living wastefully as we are? Caring about and valuing the earth is easier when you are exposed to it, given a reminder to be invested in it. I've always found I do better in classes when I have a personal vested interest in the subject matter and share a connection with the people and subjects being discussed, want to have an impact in the area of concern. Sitting outside, especially the site-sits, has reminded
me that whether we recognize it or not, we all as inhabitants of this earth are absolutely and ultimately affected by the earth, other living beings, the weather, all of these things. Even if our screens and our gadgets help us feel like we've escaped it temporarily, such escape is just that--temporary. Being outside reminds me of that, keeps me paying attention, reminds me to do basic things to survive (like staying warm).And if I could have that in every class, be able to see practically in front of me the subject matter I am considering and studying, this would kick up the amount I could get out of my classes. I can't exactly talk to ancient egyptians, or speak to the authors of old epics, but I can, in this class, listen, watch, feel the earth. I'd like to start doing more of that in the class, being aware of my surroundings while also involved in the discussion.

I also want to see if our classes can affect us similarly to our site-sits. This coming week of moving and learning  through Morris Woods and across campus should hopefully achieve that affect. I am very much looking forward to seeing what this movement brings to the class, whether we can meld the best of both the school world and the earthy/being outside experience. Excited to see.

Making the choice to have class outside on Monday was a challenging one, but one I don't regret making. I started feeling guilty in the morning, realizing how cold it truly was, as if winter had suddenly come. But  I was considering not just the importance to me of staying outside, but how others would react to this action as well. If we were going to meet outside, I wanted us all to be prepared, so we at least stood a fighting chance. And I think there was some kind of reward in it. At least to me, I know it was really nice to go inside afterward. But I also felt as ifour conversation became very heated and intense when we were considering everything so close around us. We were discussing not just a critique of our college system, which is home to many of us, but the natural world, pressing its cold self against us 

Rules I follow in school:

1. show up on time, ready to participate
2. think/talk/listen/question
3. leave when class is over
4. make things with what you find

Rules I follow in the woods:

1. show up when you’re ready
2. think/talk/listen/question
3. stay for as long as you like
4. make things with what you find

I keep harping on about rules because this class has crashed together two things that I think and care about a lot: being in school and being outside.  With the exception of the house where I grew up, my schools and my forests are the places that have shaped me the most.  On the most fundamental level, school has taught me how to make a list, do everything on it, and enjoy the process.  The woods have taught me how to not have an agenda and how to enjoy that process too.  It’s a good thing that I know how prioritize and get things done, and it’s also good thing that I know how to wander.  As I see it, the next level is figuring out when to use each strategy, though I suppose the next level could also be melding these two strategies together into one.  

When I look at the list of rules that I follow and expect others to follow in school vs. in the woods, I see that they are incompatible.  Incompatible because of time and place.  As students in school, one of our goals should be to finish so that we can start working to make things better.  Time sensitive goals like this certainly encourage short term productivity, and I believe that they also have the potential to drive long term progress if we take the right classes while we’re here.

When I am outside, I do not think about time sensitive goals like making the world a better place.  I think about who I am in relation to the other nouns around me.  Living in the moment is the ultimate goal.  This should not be the goal in school because then we would never learn how limited our understandings of the world are.  I trust myself to not be a bigot when I’m living in the moment precisely because I’ve spent so much time being critical of the moment in school.   

So, for me, this class is the ultimate conundrum.  We are outside and we are also in school.  What I’ve learned so far this semester is that it is impossible for me to be in two places at the same time.  I do not know how to be in the moment and also critical of it.  Do you?