Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Practice of the Wild

I've been digging through my notes to get the context of that Gary Snyder comment on walking. It is from "The Practice of the Wild," page 18: "Out here one is in constant engagement with countless plants and animals. To be well educated is to have learned the songs, proverbs, stories, sayings, myths (and technologies) that come with this experiencing of the nonhuman members of the local ecological community. Practice in the field, "open country," is foremost. Walking is the great adventure, the first meditation, a practice of hardiness and soul primary to human kind. Walking is the exact balance of spirit and humility. Out walking, one notices where there is food." Snyder is talking about wild country, but engagement with the nonhuman community and the search for wild food can also be carried out in ordinary neighborhoods.

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