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ERIC Number: EJ1443960
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2514-5347
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
"Inner and Outer Weather": Creative Practice as Contemplative Ecological Inquiry
Zuzana Vasko
Prism: Casting New Light on Learning, Theory & Practice, v3 n1 p40-52 2020
Ecological crises exist not only in the external environment; they have their source within us -- in the mind and in personal and cultural values (Bai, 2012; Stoknes, 2018). Arts-based and contemplative inquiry are helpful in opening the self and the senses to the natural world and its elemental dynamics of weather. Creative contemplative practice also creates room for inner exploration about how we relate to other species and to the larger cosmos. This article describes a drawing project that was undertaken in an endeavour to build these connections, both within and without. Through the process of walking and making drawings of the bark of trees in a local ecosystem, attention was given also to the dynamics of weather and how we might be more conscious of its role in everyday life, with the belief that such caring attentiveness is necessary in a time of critical climate change. From a perspective that values interconnectivity, this exploration puts forth that the elements of air and water are within us too, and that our inner weather -- our shifting psycho spiritual states -- is affected by earth's dynamics, just as, more importantly, and our more long-term values and psycho-spiritual perspectives have significant effects on ecological health.
Liverpool John Moores University. Student Life Building, 10 Copperas Hill, Liverpool, L3 5AH, UK. Tel: +44-151-231-4648; Web site: https://openjournals.ljmu.ac.uk/index.php/prism/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A