With our lives growing ever busier and so many items on our list of ‘things to do’ we sometimes forget that all life doesn’t race along at this pace. Being busy is a constant distraction and can often mean that a lot goes on beneath our awareness. One of the important values that we try and impress upon the young people that are under our care each week is the benefits of a keen sense of observation. When we stop and look and focus on the world immediately around us we can be taken out of our obsession with our own lives and begin to see that there are extraordinary events taking place all the time, sometimes right under our noses.
On the farm, life is being constantly renewed, and we see great examples of the kind of ‘fresh start’ that is always a part of the natural cycle. (If you look closely at our logo you will see the fresh start in young people’s lives represented by the caterpillar morphing into a butterfly.) But we need to develop these skills to notice and be aware of what happens around us. It’s particularly tough for young people who are always being reminded of how hard life can be. But there is the possibility of a shift in thinking if a young person is presented with examples of nature renewing, rebuilding and recreating itself all around them. On the farm, a keen sense of observation is sometimes all that is needed to head off a potential problem, such as a sick animal before the necessity arises to call a vet.
Observation of the weather.
The flowering of various plants.
The arrival of different animals.
This was how Aboriginal people successfully managed and cared for their environment.
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Photos here include:
Our goats in the setting sun at A Taste of Paradise
Flowering hibiscus
Flowering gum
Caterpillar in a Chrysalis
Black Cockatoo
