Seeing your Place 2022

Get Ready

** This is a re-send of today’s post as some people didn’t get it. **

“Simple awareness is the seed of responsibility.” ~ Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

As we begin this new year, I plan to ground the lessons from Seeing Clearly 2021 in a new project - Seeing Your Place. I believe that the seeds of responsibility are best planted right where we are, in our own communities. But first, it requires that we have a deep relationship with and connection to our place. 

Each week, I’ll offer food for thought and a practice related to your place’s history, ecology, geology, climate, or culture. You’ll discover your place in new ways through walks, readings, observations, and encounters. Maybe even some art work. It’s up to you. There may be times when you’re away from home. In this case, do the practice wherever you are or save it for when you return home. The archive will always be available.

In her book, How to Do Nothing, Jenny Odell offers ways to resist the attention economy that pulls us away from where we are. By shifting attention to the world around you and listening deeply, you’ll see context and nuance, all necessary to know how to be a true inhabitant and citizen of your place.

Let’s pledge this year to take the time to get rooted in the places where we live, to see and listen to all of the voices in those communities - human and nonhuman. Our lives, communities, and even the planet may depend upon it.

How to Prepare

Your assignment for this week is to identify your place and to get ready.

First, determine your bioregion (click on link and scroll to Discover your Bioregion), a large area that extends beyond the borders of your town. I live in the Interior Plateau and Southern Great Lakes Forests. You can focus broadly, in terms of your bioregion, or narrow it down to a watershed, a city block, or your own backyard. Print out or save a map of your place.

Below are some additional suggestions for getting ready. I suggest you pick at least one, but just doing the weekly practices is also enough.

Keep a visual or written journal (digital or hard copy). Here’s mine.

Most of the practices will be active doings. You can cement the practice by doing reflective writing before and/or after the experience. Your journal can be used to record sightings of plants or animals, cultural events, weather reports, or moon phases. You could write poems or keep a daily visual journal of photographs or sketches. Write your intention at the beginning of the journal. For example, my intention is to set aside time every week to listen deeply without expectation when doing the practice.

Choose a spot to visit regularly, to listen deeply.

I once took a course in Earth Literacy, which emphasized the importance of developing a deep understanding of earth processes. One assignment was to pick a local spot (a park, a body of water, or a special tree) and visit it regularly over the course of a four month period. We were asked to sit and observe and then engage by drawing or writing or photographing or dancing. I wrote about that experience here.

Your goal in picking a spot will be to deepen your relationship with this particular location by observing it over time. Note all of the inhabitants of the place and any changes that occur. It could even be your own backyard if mobility is an issue. For me, the lake is my go to place and I’ve observed and photographed it over 36 seasons now. It’s never the same.

Sign up for a newsletter from a local organization that has to do with nature, culture, history, or environmental issues. 

These will provide you with hyper-local information and maybe ideas for places to visit or events to attend. Keep a list of these places as you discover them. Schedule weekly or monthly dates for outings to engage with these places.

Complement your experiences with reading or listening to a podcast.

Some of my favorite books on the subject of place (that I’ll refer to often), can be found on these lists from Bookshop and Amazon. 

Or, find a book that is specifically about your place, whether that’s history, ecology, or something of cultural significance; whatever you’re most interested in. Recently, I read Pierre Berton’s book about the history of Niagara Falls (10 pages per day) and it was so interesting, especially with regards to the development of hydroelectric power. The Falls just opened up a new attraction called The Power Plant, which also delves into this history. I’m sure when I visit, it will have more meaning after reading this book.

Here are a few podcasts I like - Cultivating Place, Bird Note Daily, For the Wild.

Whatever you experience through the practices might prompt your curiosity to learn more. This is great but don’t let intellectual knowledge take precedence over experience. Use it to enhance the experience. In his book, To Know the World, Mitchell Thomashow recommends balancing “the grasping quality of intellectual stimulation with a bolder penetration into glimpses of wonder."

Here’s to many glimpses of wonder in the days ahead. Please share in the comments where you’re from, any thoughts, ideas, or resources you plan to use for this project, and if you’re going to do a specific practice mentioned above. 

I’ll be back next week with our first practice.

Side Notes

Post your pictures on Instagram and add the hashtag #seeingyourplace2022. 

I once did a 365 day photo project of Indianapolis, the place where I was living at the time. This simple project deepened my relationship with this city (I wrote about it here). 

This project is heavily influenced by a publication called Exploring a Sense of Place: How to create your own local program for reconnecting with nature (2006). You can download a PDF from their site for free.