Copyright 2002
Wilderness Drum, Inc.
All rights reserved

Closer to the Earth
Steve Beyer

Introduction Before you leave home Fears and prohibitions Beliefs Your senses Asking permission Sensory powers Camera walk Being something else Changing perspective "Artist Unknown" Thinking about nature On not naming things Gratitude Gifts from the wilderness Writing about nature Getting close Watching quietly One creature Decomposers Wilderness symphony Competency

Your Senses

Getting closer to nature involves using your senses. Many of the experiments in the following pages involve the senses, often in self-consciously novel ways. Here we can begin by thinking about our senses and how we use them. Start out by making a grid like this:

Sight Sound Taste Touch Smell Activity

Fill in the grid by listing, under each heading, ten sensory experiences you have had, of all types – pleasurable, stressful, strange, familiar, strong, or subtle. The result might begin to look something like this:

Sight Sound Taste Touch Smell Activity Flowers Sunset Campfire   Waterfall Car alarm Laughter Almonds Hot chili Ice cream Hug Foot rub Sandpaper Skunk Clean baby Hot bread Dancing Movies Reading

Now do the same thing, except this time list sensory experiences that you think you are going to have during your stay in the wilderness. Put this list aside. When you return, again make a list, but this time of the experiences you in fact had. How do the lists compare? Are there any surprises?

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