Survival Gear

Easy to spot - but how to distinguish between magic sticks, walking sticks, talking sticks, pointing sticks, tickling sticks, poking sticks, and selfie sticks? 
Well, as part of my residency at L'Observatoire in Singapore, I collected sticks in the nearby forest and made my own collection of survival gear for forest fantasies and other forestic affairs 🌳 
The false arm has followed me from a previous project years ago, always good to have an extra arm.

Exotic Botany

Let it be, let it be

...for a man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.

Thoreau (source: Walden; or, Life in the Woods" 1854)

Sense the Sighs!

Not tired

not dead

not drunk

but trying to

sense

the wind

that once

whispered

through the tree tops

Name That Thing!

"The practice of putting people into boxes and labeling things keeps us from knowing one another and the world as such. In fact that habit separates sister from brother. And totally dissolves the connection allowing us to know we are ONE."
I stumbled upon this statement from "the world wide self development department".

It might be true in some aspects, but when it comes to survival in the world wide wilderness - especially when foraging for wild mushrooms it is crucial to be able to label things:

 friend or foe.  

Brussels Sprouts Healing Therapy

Try Brussels Sprouts Healing Therapy - it cures almost everything on Earth: pickiness, low self esteem, down grown nails, irritating neighbours, stomach rumbling, parking fines ... you name it ... it cures it!

Tree Therapy

Do you suffer from hypertension and muscular tension?

Or are you just a bit stressed up?

Then TREE THERAPY might be something for you!

International studies from Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences conclude, that subjects exposed to the sight of a green and friendly woodland scenery will relax more easily and have fewer muscular tensions as well as a lower pulse and blood pressure.

The effect is not the same if people are exposed to fields, buildings or a naked winter landscape.

And also new studies from Rochester University reveals that nature makes us more compassionate and gives us a sense of being in contact with our authentic selves.

Yes, sure, yes - I love spending time sitting on a tree stump alone in wildish nature (as long as my stomach is full, I am not soaking wet and no wolves, brown bears, bugs or maniacs are bothering me) - but I wonder if it applies to all - I have noticed that many young urbans don't seem to appreciate nature the same way. On contrary they seem to get bored and stressed out at once when being exposed to nature out there for REAL. I wonder if these kind of young people are included in the studies ....
And I recall passages from Eating, What we eat and why it matters by Peter Singer addressing how we are getting more and more used to artificial meat, artificial vegetables etc. - which means we can no longer distinguish properly between "nature" and nature - in fact the majority prefer "nature" to nature nowadays.

Danish author Keld Hansen is similarly writing about how we are getting more and more accustomed to "forests", which in fact does not deserve the title "forest" but should rather be called "intensively cultivated plantations".

So I personally question the deeper values, when we go green to beat the blues and are opting for nature therapy, eco therapy, wilderness therapy, healing gardens, green therapy or you name it ......

In a way we have still chosen the artificial in favour of the natural.

But no doubt, the longing for the lost wilderness is present and has to be taken seriously - the most simple step is to go out there in the nearest woody thing, called a forest or not, and find one's own NATURAL place ...while it's still there and for free... and start d r e a m i n g.

Wild Woman

This summer I came across a book series called The Ringing Cedars of Russia. It is written by a Russian businessman - now turned spiritual writer and businessman (over 10 million copies sold in 20 languages!) - and is about his acquaintance with a young Russian woman, Anastasia who lives as a recluse in the depths of the Siberian Taiga.
In some respects the series reminds me of the books by Carlos Castaneda about his encounter with the Mexican shaman don Juan Matus. But somehow this Russian series is even further away from "normal" reality, and personally I don't buy most of the content.
However, I picked bits here and there that I liked - and what I REALly do like is, that it seems to have inspired loads of people all over the world, particularly in Siberia, to create their own eco-villages and to becoming aware of the power of plants, especially the power of homegrown plants.
I am already preparing my garden in order to be ready for spring and a journey into The Secret Teachings of Plants.