#Earthschooling365: Day Sixty-Four
Inner Work Meditation (Heart): My two favorite captured moments today were of deer resting in the woods. Even though they don’t have a lot of space (they live in a thin green strip along a bike trail through town) they have managed to find little private spaces where they feel safe and relaxed. Even though I can see them from the walking trail and they are still exposed to noise and people there is something about the spots they choose that is special to them. The deer resting by the creek probably chose that spot because they know that nobody walks along the creek. The deer under the trees probably chose that spot because it is surrounded on all sides and makes a little “shelter” for her. Take some time today to make sure that you have a spot that you feel safe in and that each of the people you spend the day with do, too (children, students, spouse, etc…). This spot could be a room, a bed, a desk or even simply a chair. It is important that people respect this spot and that the person who has chosen it is allowed to feel safe in their chosen ‘safe spot’.
‘Safe spots’ can be enhanced with a favorite book, stuffed animal, memory item, blanket, pillow, or quilt. When my children were little we had a little quiet spot set up that was covered in netting to make a little tent.
Nature Walk Idea (Head): Today’s nature walk project is to make a little shelter out of sticks and/or leaves. Depending on the resources you have you can make a “fairy-size” shelter or a human size shelter. It is usually best to start by finding a fallen pile of sticks or branches or a tree that is already shaped a bit like a shelter. Once you have your base you can build onto that base by putting sticks into place around the base frame. Once you have larger sticks in place and your frame is completed you can fill in the frame by adding branches with leaves, piles of leaves and vines.
Photography Notes (Hands): Today we have two photos of deer resting. In the first photo of the deer resting by the creek there is a branch right in front of the deer’s nose. I did try to find the best angle for this photo – the deer looked so lovely resting by the creek. However, sometimes, there are so many things in your way that you will not be able to find an unobstructed photo. In such cases you have a few choices. I first try everything I can to find the best angle. As long as the face of the person or animal you are shooting is not blocked the photo will be good. If it is impossible to find a good angle I will often not take the photo at all. However, in some cases I will take the photo anyway because the moment is so unusual. For example, this is the first (and only time) I’ve seen the deer all stretched out by the creek. In the second photo I moved around to avoid obstructions and even managed to find a nice angle where the deer was framed by the branches. Today’s assignment for you is to be more aware of obstructions as you shoot your photos today. Sometimes we can be so caught up in what we are shooting a picture of that we don’t even notice something in the foreground or background is distracting from the photo itself.
Verse: The Fawn’s Bassinet
Copyright Kristie Burns
Silky moss cradle
Under leafy canopy
Zephyr lullaby
*Haiku: A Japanese verse form of three unrhyming lines in five, seven, and five syllables
*These poems have been created for many purposes – from early childhood circle time verses to inspirational or expressive. They vary from day to day so you may find the way you use them or enjoy them also varies. If you would like to set these poems to music consider our tutorial: Creating Your Ow Waldorf Verses or Finding Your Inner Voice.
Please send your friends to www.BEarthBlog.com so they can join in too!
What is #Earthschooling365?
This series takes you through an entire year of our nature walks and is part of our non-profit project #Earthschooling365 at www.Earthschooling.org. The photos and posts in this series are all copyrighted. Please do not share or re-print them. Instead, share the link to this blog with your friends.
Along the way I will be sharing our favorite photo of the day, an inner work meditation for the day, photography assignment/tip for the day, nature walk theme for the day and a short verse for circle time (children) or meditation (teens/adults). We invite you to “walk along with us” this year, take some time to use the inner work meditation, be inspired by the nature walk theme of the day and perhaps even start a photo series of your own. To join the community on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram please tag your photos #Earthschooling365. To receive these inspirations in your e-mail inbox daily please subscribe to our blog alerts HERE. Don’t worry about missing days – you can join us as many days as you want this year!
Every day we will post one day. We will leave up 2 weeks of nature walks at a time. At the end of two weeks each nature walk will be transferred to the Lifetime Member’s Only Blog and will be accessible only to Lifetime Earthschooling Members. If you want to own the entire series without enrolling a an Earthschooling Lifetime Package Member you can purchase the entire series for only $35.00 (for the entire year!)
Support Our 365 Day Project by making a $5.00 Donation
(That’s less than 42 cents a month)
Did you miss days or don’t want to worry about missing days? Would you like a keepsake book so you can use this program over and over even when we take each post offline after two weeks?
Buy all 365 Days for only $35.00
(That’s less than $3.00 a month)
You can start your journey any day. You do not have to follow our schedule.
Leave a Reply