Big Picture: Thinking Like A Hawk

One of my favorite things about hawks is their amazing eyesight. They soar hundreds of feet in the air, riding thermal currents and get the big picture of the land, the animals, the clouds and their tiny prey far below. Their sudden plummeting dives are power and grace in motion.

Metaphorically, I like to think like a hawk, too. I like looking at issues, ideas and situations from high above, seeing connections, obstacles, ope

nings and multiple perspectives. I enjoy thinking from this place not just in the here and now, but also generationally, seeing how the past has influenced our present moment and how our actions or reactions will affect our future. Seven generations is a long time, but many native cultures thought all major decisions in tribal life to include the impact that their actions would have seven generations later. That is a lot of foresight!

It begs the question: Would our current economic, environmental, agricultural, medical, human rights and social issues be different if our community and political leaders thought with this long range perspective?

Seeing like a hawk, and thinking like a native, I know that we are planting seeds for the future. The work we do with youth, with children, with families and adults provide skills and experiences that will sprout, root and grow throughout the lifetime of each individual, and affect their decisions, actions and thoughts. Contact with the natural world, with each other free from electronic clutter, around the campfire, we open up to ourselves in a profound way. Listening, feeling, thinking, imagining- all of these things are part of the experiences at our camps and programs.

When I really get the big picture, when I fly or travel through major cities and across the country, I am humbled by how incredibly immense our world is, and how many people we have in this country alone. Does it matter what we do, then, with our small program and speck of green?

I think it does. Maybe more than ever.

When I started Hawk Circle, in 1989, we were one of the first exclusive camps offering wilderness skills and nature awareness skills to children and youth. There was no internet

then, so it is hard to say we were first, but the number of camps and programs was very small. Now, there are probably several hundred programs out there, in this country, in Europe and Canada, doing work year around, in schools homeschooling groups, at nature centers and mini workshops. This is all in just twenty one years! I know that our tiny movement will continue to grow as the years pass, and we will see the seeds we have planted bear much fruit for our grandchildren... for all children everywhere!

Do you see the big picture in what you do? Do you feel energized by the challenge of creating a better world for our children, or is it sometimes too much to handle? What makes you feel good about being part of the ongoing change?

Feel free to leave a message, and keep soaring on those thermals, people!

Inspiration: The Ongoing Battle Continues

It's easy to get inspired. I mean, anyone can catch the inspiration bug, by reading something, or watching something or hearing someone share a story.

It's staying inspired that is tough.

Inspiration is a tricky thing, because it is elusive. It can evaporate in the face of reality. In the presence of the health department, or a board of directors, or a financial statement, it might hit the trail, or leave you with a rock in your stomach, your tongue in knots. It can sometimes make you wish you had never been inspired!

I am not saying this because I am down on inspiration. Far from it! I am saying this because it is important and it is a reality. For every inspired person that attempts to learn to make a fire, or a bow or to track animals, there must be close to ten who never get off of the couch, or go outside.

On the other hand, inspiration gets us going, and keeps us going when the chips are down. It touches us deep in our souls, in our heart's desire.

I have written about how I started Hawk Circle, our origin story and more, in previous blog entries, but when I saw this video, I really liked it. It arrived typically, in a moment where I really needed a boost, and it touched me. It is so simple, so short, but it was effective in reaching that part of me that is connected to my vision and mission. I won't spoil or paraphrase it to let you enjoy it's full impact, and you might not even be touched by it. It doesn't matter. We all have our own ways of connecting.

But it made me remember that it takes constant effort, year after year after year, day after day, to keep going. Because it is tiring to walk a vision, to push and work and think and plan.

Doing Hawk Circle is full time, every second of every day, it seems, sometimes. For Trista, for myself, for our staff and friends and supporters. We are constantly seeking and finding new ways of doing this work to try to make it better, to reach people, to grow in impact, if not in numbers, and to grow it the right way, whatever that is. We also find ourselves searching for our own inner strength, to keep going.

It helps to remember that we are doing this for love, for the children in the photo, to give them the skills they need to survive whatever might come down the road for them.

We are doing these things for love of nature, to help the people of the world be more connected it it, to share it in such a way that they feel close to it and understand it, and can help all life here on this earth.

We do it for our families, our communities and for ourselves....

I wish you the best in your daily search for inspiration! One step at a time....