Bird Droppings May 13, 2012

Finding Foxfire in the Kalahari

 

“Not only the present, but the future depends on a constant reinterpretation of history and a re-examination of the state and nature of human consciousness. Both these processes are profoundly and mysteriously interdependent and doomed to failure without a continuous search after self-knowledge, since we and our awareness are inevitably the main instruments of the interpretation.” Laurens Van der Post,

 

As the story goes Laurens Van der Post was witness to the last days of man. It has been several months maybe even a year since I last picked up a Von der Post book. Somehow in an article many years ago I went looking for this author and a prolific author he was. As I researched and went to Amazon.com there were sixty one pages of his books and variations and edited versions and translation are available. He died in 1996 at the age of ninety and, he had been everywhere and done everything. He was Prince William of Great Britain’s God father, the only non-royal ever to be so honored. He had been knighted by Queen Elizabeth many years ago. His writings while many covered his travels worldwide, he is best known for his stories of the African bush. A Far Away Place, was made into a family movie one of children and their trek in the African wilds. But permeating all his writing a fascination with a nearly lost people, the African Bushman, or the Sans as they call themselves.  

 

“The depth of darkness to which you can descend and still live is an exact measure of the height to which you can aspire to reach.” Laurens Von der Post

 

“Painful as it may be, a significant emotional event can be the catalyst for choosing a direction that serves us–and those around us — more effectively. Look for the learning.” Eric Allemburgh

 

Yesterday I was thinking in several directions, on one hand I was discussing education in theUSwith several friends and pros and cons of public education somehow came into that discussion. I interjected a comment about indigenous peoples ofSouth Americaand how Amazonian Native peoples will often want to experience civilization. I mentioned a unique program in Brazil as well, of protecting indigenous peoples from civilization where land is kept intact and rain forest left alone when a new tribe is found, literally keeping civilization out.

In that course of thought I went the direction of the Bushman and Van der Post.  Last night I stood in the dark a bit longer than I usually do when I take the dog out. The sky was streaked with clouds almost covered over and a very tiny piece of moon was peeking through. I was standing on the porch listening to the night, almost silent yet a chorus of grey tree frogs swelled. I went back out another time a bit later into the morning and by now the entire sky was covered in clouds and it was beginning to rain. My back has been bothering me and I laid back down putting my writing off till a bit later in the morning.  So often in my days, a student who has an issue and then a series of events, I often use the term coincidence trying to explain this.

 

 “When you come to a roadblock, take a detour.” Mary Kay Ash

 

“It’s easier to go down a hill than up it but the view is much better at the top.” Arnold Bennet

 

Several days ago I received an email from a person to be added to my morning meanderings. I added this person to my list and yesterday received another email here in my rushing to get a Bird Droppings out I had written exactly what this person needed.

 

“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” Taylor Benson

 

“Adversity draws men together and produces beauty and harmony in life’s relationships, just as the cold of winter produces ice-flowers on the window-panes, which vanish with the warmth.” Soren Kierkegaard

 

As I sit thinking about the drawing together of thoughts the past few days and ideas I come back to my involvement in Foxfire teaching techniques. As I thought while reading several passages this morning, in a Van der Post’s book, The Lost world of the Kalahari.  There is a comment about witnessing the last of the Bushmen painters. It seems there was a point in time when the Bushmen stopped there primitive art on the rocks of the Kalahari. The last painter was killed in a genocide attack and no one knew how to take over.

As I looked at students walking the halls today and the discussions we have had over the past months on the internet it really dawned on me I was where I was to be, and doing what I was to do, offering at least a little piece of more than what is normally available. That could be hope, or it could be wisdom, It could be that talking about a bushmen ostrich egg with red neck kids in Georgia and interestingly enough preserving pieces of old Georgia in essays and photos and PowerPoint projects as we go. Van der Post in his book went in search of the last of the Bushman and found himself.   

 

“Coincidences have never been idle for me, instinctively, but as meaningful as I was to find they were to Jung. I have always had a hunch that they are a manifestation of a law of life of which we are inadequately aware and which in terms of our short life are unfortunately incapable of total definition, and yet however partial the meaning we can extract from them, we ignore it, I believe, at our peril. For as well as promoting some cosmic law, coincidences, I suspect, are some sort of indication to what extent the evolution of our lives is obedient or not obedient to the symmetry of the universe.”  Laurens Van der Post reflecting on Carl Jung’s work

 

For many years now I have read and pondered Jung’s words and ideas. Back almost fifteen or so years ago an author James Redfield, wrote about coincidence in a fictional story of a lost manuscript The Celestine Prophecy. Redfield was trying to explain what he saw and felt happening in his own life. Carl Jung in the early 1900’s coined the word synchronicity. I simplify and say I am at the right place at the right moment. What is amazing is when you look at life that way and you begin to see events unfold before you rather than just seeing through hindsight or foresight.

 

“A continuous search after self-knowledge, since we and our awareness are inevitably the main instruments of the interpretation” Laurens Van der Post

 

 On the internet, to borrow from the Foxfire website the following:

 

“In the Foxfire Approach, learning environments are characterized by student involvement and action, by thoughtful reflection and rigorous assessment, by imagination and problem solving, by applications beyond the classroom for what is learned, and by meaningful connections to the community. In these classrooms, students build the ability to work collaboratively and assume responsibility for their own learning processes.” Foxfire

 

Where and how does theKalahari Desertand Bushmen and Foxfire and coincidence all tie in. An easy explanation can be seen borrowing from a core practice in the Foxfire teaching process

 

“Reflection is an essential activity that takes place at key points throughout the work. Teachers and learners engage in conscious and thoughtful consideration of the work and the process. It is this reflective activity that evokes insight and gives rise to revisions and refinements.” Foxfire

 

We build through reflection and we grow through reflection.

 

“Not only the present, but the future depends on a constant reinterpretation of history and a re-examination of the state and nature of human consciousness.” Laurens Van der Post

 

            I think reflection could be inserted just as easy into Von der Posts quote; we all need to take time to see where we are and then participate actively as we go in life. Please keep all in harm’s way on your mind in and in your heart and to always give thanks.

namaste

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