The Tour - Day 1

The last past 5 days, I have been touring around Ontario with the Art of Mentoring ACORN team and Mark Morey. Mark is an amazing mentor to us and many many others, in building regenerative communities globally. He is a founder of three transformational organizations: Deep Wilds, Vermont Wilderness School, and The Institute for Natural Learning, and the co-founder of the 8 Shields Institute with Jon and Nicole Young.

When I went down to Buffalo to pick Mark up, I didn't realize just how transforming this whole tour would be for me. The tour was full of me coming to my edges and breaking through them and growing personally through the process while building strong bonds with the team. I would like to share some of my experiences from the tour and hope you are inspired, laugh a little and learn.

We started our tour in the Northern part of Ontario, Huntsville. On our way up, the regional team was taking a group of high-school students out to work on wilderness skills and nature experiences. While I was getting pulled over by the regional police for speeding along highway 400. All that was going through my head was.... "I shouldn't have jinxed myself and told Mark I have never gotten a speeding ticket."  All that Mark said was how this was a great lesson on slowing down and that he just had to use this in his talk tonight. Great, what a first impression eh?

But he was right, it was a great lesson to not be so rushed in our daily lives and slow down. How many times have I walked by something amazing out in nature, because I was focused on just getting to the destination. How many times have you done that?

And isn't just stopping and being in teh moment something we have lost in our culture? That we get so busy with the computer, the phones, work, errands, that we forget to just stop and be in a moment.

For instance. For those of you with children or around children, how many times have you had a child run up to you in excitement to either play with your or show you something and you shoo'd them away like a fly and said

"later, I am busy"?

I know I have, many times with my own children.

Now let's just switch that around for a second and practice that you stop and be in the moment with this child. Here is what it may look like....

CHILD: "Mom! Mom! Come here! I just found something.... what is it?"
MOM: Mom, drops what she is doing and comes over and gets down at the same level as the child.
"Oh WOW! I don't know..... what do you think it may be?" What does it feel like, smell it, what colour is it? etc questions questions questions.
You may even know what it is, but the discovery is waiting to explode out of the child.
CHILD: "cool, I found it over there under that tree! I think it is a nut"

And the child may continue to explore it, or that may be the end of it... and they are off! It could take a half an hour, or it may take a few seconds, but that moment with your child, you are sending a message that may stay with them for the rest of their life. A message of their importance.

What message do you want to give the children in your life? Or for that matter, the adults in your life as well. I found this video of a mother exploring snow with your child... you can see the importance of sharing this experience is to the child. Amazing CLICK HERE

That speeding ticket was a big one, one that definately made me slow down for the rest of the tour and keep an eye on my speedometer. A lesson that flowed out of the first day talk that I will practice into my life and with the people around me.

Take the time to be in the moment with the people and things around you. It is a start of changing the culture of disconnect to a culture of connection. A connection to each other, and to our surroundings.

Try it! And I would love to hear your own experiences. 

You may be interested in these links
5 Day Tour - Day 2
5 Day Tour - Day 3