Southwestern College Santa Fe, NM
In the Visionary Practice & Regenerative Leadership PhD Program at Southwestern College, we understand the natural world and more-than-human beings are partners in our learning. Of course, nature is not simply an external construct, human beings are nature, embedded in natural systems and cycles, and are themselves expressions of Earth systems. Through our doctoral program we seek to challenge the pattern of objectifying nature, seeing it only as a utilitarian resource to be extracted and used for profit. Instead we contest this limiting view and invite students to learn directly from the entire world around and within them. New doctoral student, Nena Martinez Anaya, shares how her direct engagement with a tree, the arroyo, and a butterfly created a life-changing experience for her during the recent fall doctoral residency. The photo-portrait of the tree and the sketch of the land are also her creations.
“The experiential activity of being in nature to independently and honestly reflect on my vision-seed deepened my understanding of the Visionary Practice and Regenerative Leadership program and my journey ahead. It altered my perspectives regarding natural connections in my life. Hugging a tree and being one with the earth was life-changing for me. I felt the tree’s strength from its roots, the height of the branches, the texture of the bark on my face, and the enormity of its presence in my arms. I was minimal compared to its existence and very immature compared to its hundreds of years of wisdom. How have my senses and knowing been absent from this connection with the trees that touch the sky and embed themselves in the deep earth? I’ve been in nature and live in nature, but I never felt nature in this blessed, powerful, connected way.
“Walking down the arroyo, I saw footprints from humans and animals in the sand and knew that whoever they were, they had the privilege of feeling and seeing what was now in front of me. I sat on a rock and drew the landscape before me. The stream, the peace, and the water made me feel new, like the beginning of the rest of my life, a life-changing awakening.
“A butterfly danced in front of me, and I knew this was my ancestor. I felt my grandmother greeting me, letting me know she was with me now and on my new journey ahead. As Canty (2017) described, ‘The essence of transformative learning is when an adult permanently alters her or his worldview’ (p. 26). My experiential journey absolutely changed my worldview, knowing that ecologically humans and nature have always and will forever be interconnected.”
Reference
Canty, Jeanine M. (2017). Seeing clearly through cracked lenses. In Jeanine M. Canty (Ed.), Ecological and social healing: Multicultural women’s voices (pp. 23-44). Routledge.
About the Moderator
