The Soulful Landscape Philosophy
Introducing Erica: Kristin DeBoer, Executive Director, Kestrel Land Trust, Amherst, MA
I believe we all have stories of place and belonging, stories of connection that help us remember who we truly are. We may just never have called them that before. They're what define our 'sense of place.'
I call these stories of personal connection soulfully connecting to place.
It's the distinction between that which makes up a place being inanimate, just an object or a resource, and a place having a feeling that resonates with your soul. Often when we visit or learn about place we are given lots of facts and information.
The goal of my programs is to offer tools and experiences that help people integrate what they know and what they feel---together this makes up their 'sense of place.'
For many people, the arts are a doorway. A point of access where facts and feelings become integrated. Expressing what a place makes us feel can make a real difference on the fate of that place. From Thoreau to John Muir, and from Rachel Carson to Terry Tempest Williams, having a deep kinship with a place and being able to express the meaning of that relationship has inspired and transformed lives and helped to protect many places.
In his classic 1949 book "A Sand County Almanac" Aldo Leopold wrote "When we begin to see the land as a community to which we belong that we will begin to treat it with love and respect." For most of us, that time couldn't come soon enough.
Ultimately, the decision to take care of a places is a combination of information and emotion. Especially today in our challenging economic environment, it might not make 'sense' to protect or conserve a place. It might only make sense because we love that place.
Behind every place that's ever been protected or conserved there is a love story. A love story of an individual, or group of people who cared, and had the skills to articulate that caring, evoke caring in others, and put that caring into action.
What's your love story? Your ‘sense of place’ and belonging?
It would be my honor to help you find it, create it, express it, and inspire you to live soulfully connected to place.
I call these stories of personal connection soulfully connecting to place.
It's the distinction between that which makes up a place being inanimate, just an object or a resource, and a place having a feeling that resonates with your soul. Often when we visit or learn about place we are given lots of facts and information.
The goal of my programs is to offer tools and experiences that help people integrate what they know and what they feel---together this makes up their 'sense of place.'
The Arts and Conservation
"We cannot win this battle to save species and environments without forging an emotional bond between ourselves and nature as well--- for we will not fight to save what we do not love." Stephen Jay Gould, author and scientist- How do we inspire more people to care, and act on their caring to protect places for today and future generations?
- How can we help people make choices that are more sustainable for all life on this planet?
- How can we help people gain not just physical access to places, but emotional access as well?
For many people, the arts are a doorway. A point of access where facts and feelings become integrated. Expressing what a place makes us feel can make a real difference on the fate of that place. From Thoreau to John Muir, and from Rachel Carson to Terry Tempest Williams, having a deep kinship with a place and being able to express the meaning of that relationship has inspired and transformed lives and helped to protect many places.
In his classic 1949 book "A Sand County Almanac" Aldo Leopold wrote "When we begin to see the land as a community to which we belong that we will begin to treat it with love and respect." For most of us, that time couldn't come soon enough.
Ultimately, the decision to take care of a places is a combination of information and emotion. Especially today in our challenging economic environment, it might not make 'sense' to protect or conserve a place. It might only make sense because we love that place.
Behind every place that's ever been protected or conserved there is a love story. A love story of an individual, or group of people who cared, and had the skills to articulate that caring, evoke caring in others, and put that caring into action.
Connecting People and Place
Today, everyone's love story is needed. Especially during these challenging times. We need all the inspiration we can get.What's your love story? Your ‘sense of place’ and belonging?
It would be my honor to help you find it, create it, express it, and inspire you to live soulfully connected to place.
