I went to Crater Lake National Park this early morning to do some more ecopsychological field work, and it was an epic experience! Skied all the way over to the north side of the lake and ended up at the Cleetwood Cove Trail, which is a 1.1 mile trail from the rim down to the water. Apparently the water is 39.6 degrees F, and I can attest to its frigidity! I actually got in the water, but only for a few seconds at a time. I started out skiing just after sunrise and decided to take an emergent approach to the days field work. Meaning, just go out into the field and see what comes up. Well, besides someones Samsung smart phone, which I found emerging out of the snowpack, the theme of rewilding the human spirit definitely emerged for me. As I got about half-way down the trail, towards the lakes edge, I became overwhelmed with the joy of actually getting down to the water, which is something I aways feel compelled to do when Im at Crater Lake. I felt like a ten-year old boy being released from class to go play at recess, and I couldnt get down to the water fast enough! Well, the skinny dipping didnt last long, but it sure was fun just being naked out in the wild. The warm weather made this return to the wild very easy. There are some very interesting connections between our cultural oppression of the naked body, and how we treat the natural environment. It would appear that we are conditioned to be ashamed of our wild nature and view it as a type of savagery. Ironically, the oppression of the naked body is actually quite uncivilized. Is our cultures oppression of the naked body a symptom of a systemic disconnect with the nature world? I think so.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 06:03:53 +0000
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