Self-Awareness Leads to Care-Taking of Community and Environment
When people love and understand their local environments, they take care of them. Increasingly fewer people have any meaningful connection with their communities and the nature that surrounds and supports them. This is costing our ecosystems and our survival.
To restore environments around the globe, we need to begin with local initiatives to reconnect people with themselves, with their communities and with their Earth.
The Art of Mentoring is a week-long experience, immersing participants in a living, learning culture of nature and self-awareness. This workshop provides knowledge, tools and practices that enrich relationships and allow participants to create a powerful
culture of nature connection in all aspects of their life and community.
The Art of Mentoring builds a village to:
*Engage the gifts of our elders
*Create essential rites of passage for our teens
*Ensure that parents are supported and thriving
*Welcome babies into a world of open arms
*Feel deep gratitude and compassion for All Our Relations
*Understand your gifts, and how to apply them in service to the people.
Village Hearth Gathering, 2013 Ontario Art of Mentoring
The Situation:
To create this village takes resources, and these are paid for by participants. We do our best to have bursaries available, but this year there are shortfalls because of increased demand. We'd like to minimize the financial barriers to attending.
"I’m grateful for the opportunity to take in the beauty of this philosophy. I’m left with a full heart and an expanded sense of what is possible when we get in touch with who we really are and what is really important." - Judy Bath, 2010
participant
"I loved being out of doors for an entire week with a variety of people, who shared their own knowledge and experiences. I was particularly intrigued when I saw how nature connection could be directly related to indigenous teachings about cycles,
and health." - Bill Clarke, 2012
The Plan:
Bill the Bear has sore feet. But he really wants to help youth and families attend this year's Art of Mentoring. So he has already begun stocking up time barefoot, in the hopes that you will match his barefoot efforts with funds.
In his 64th year, Bill has spent most of his life out of doors, first as the eldest of an annual summer pack of cousins, and second as a career geologist, boy scout leader, and outdoor school educator. This will be his 3rd year volunteering in support of
Ontario's Art of Mentoring event. Jackie is the slightly-less-technologically-challenged "woman with whom he walks" (a translation of partner/ spouse from Ojibwa).
Please Donate!
Bill will walk for 1 minute, barefoot, out of doors, for every dollar you donate. In addition:
*If you donate $5, Bill will send you a personalized thank-you email.
*If you donate $20, Bill will email you a thank-you on a scanned, signed copy of his muddy footprint on a page (please specify if you would like right, or left).
*If you donate $50, Bill will send you all rewards at previous levels, plus an MP3 recording of him telling a first nations story.
*If you donate $100, Bill will send you all rewards at previous levels, plus he will create a YouTube video of all his bloopers and thank you by name in the credits.
*If you donate $200, Bill will send you all rewards at previous levels, plus he will get Jackie to film him portaging a canoe while singing every verse of Barret's Privateers, and send you the YouTube link, with gratitude to you in the credits.
*If you donate $500, Bill will send you all rewards at previous levels, plus he will give you a one hour, small group, Google Hangout about common edible and medicinal plants in Ontario.
*If you donate $1000, Bill will send you all rewards at previous levels, plus he will arrange for you to attend as a guest of honour on Friday, August 22nd at this year's Art of Mentoring event. If you are coming from more than a four hour drive away, someone
from the wilderness skills community will arrange to pick you up from and return you to Toronto (Pearson) International Airport or an airport closer to this year's event near Midland, Ontario.
Bill will keep you posted about bearfoot adventures and funds raised at https://www.facebook.com/william.s.clarke. Jackie
will do the same at https://www.facebook.com/JackieThrives
You can help us by sharing this project through social media, or sending this link to friends whom you think might be interested via email.
Thank you very much, Merci Beacoup, C'Chi Miigwech.
