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Expanding our Worldview of Nature Education: An Imperative for Our Times

Keynote Speaker, 2017 NYSOEA Annual Conference This year’s conference theme was “Watershed Moments: Connecting to Our Natural World”. What is a watershed moment? After a bit of research, I determined that it is the moment where the…
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Podcast! Part Two Mark Interviewed by Chris Martenson

"...There’s a lot of work to do, so I created this project called “We are Nature Rising,” where we connect and bond with nature as a part of who we are. This is what Joanna Macy says, that it’s not more information that we need. It’s…
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Lilliana’s Rite of Competence

Greetings everyone, Last year my family attended Art of Mentoring and it was a very transformative experience.  One of the most touching moments was the ceremony that was held to send off and receive the teens on their 3 day trip to the…
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Jasper’s Rite of Competence Ceremony

Hi all, I wanted to share the story of Jasper’s ceremony last weekend with those of you who couldn’t make it. It was a really fun day.  Jasper greeted everyone by putting animal cards on their backs for a guessing game. We gathered…
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Resilient Children (Part One)

Okay I could tell stories about this all day. For example, yesterday I was picking my daughter up from an afterschool sport, cross country running. The teacher had that close call look on her face, and as a parent of a woodsy girl, I expected…
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Maple Syrup: Making Sweet Connections

It's that time of year again.  The breeze is moist, the cardinals singing, and the snow is like mash potatoes.  I love the seasonal ritual.  It's a real rut-breaker.  It's not based on the clock or date on my calender.  To catch the…
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3 High Leverage Strategies for Increasing Resilience

  I've been looking into how being connected to nature increases resilience. And by resilience I mean: re·sil·ience (n.) 1. The ability to recover quickly from illness, change, or misfortune; buoyancy I think it's pretty…
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Sukkot on the Farm

I had a chance to be part of a creative return to earth based wisdom in Judaism last week. Wilderness Torah, who's mission is to Awaken and celebrate the earth-based traditions of Judaism to nourish the connections between self, community,…