Years ago, I took a class on improvisation at a local college with my friend Julide. It was fun and silly and informative, and waaay less intimidating than taking a class with people who had been improvising for years at the theatre where we were volunteering. Anyhow, as one of our homework assignments, we were asked to go for a nature walk and then write a piece about the experience. I don’t quite recall exactly HOW this exercise related to improvisation, but now that I think about it, it made about as much sense as the no-laughing-freeze-tag game that we played on another day.
In any case, later that week I went for a wintery walk with my wonderful dog Beckett, on a tiny island that was near my place. I was supposed to focus on what I was sensing during the experience (cold, cold, and more cold), and I ended up writing a poetic (and slightly pretentious, in retrospect) little tale about my journey. As I said, I have absolutely no idea how this exercise was related to the class, but for me personally, it started an interesting tradition. I’ll get to that in a minute – but first, a little back story.
An excerpt from my winter nature walk for improv class.
As a student of psychology, I am always looking for ways to delve into my own psyche and reveal the treasures and terrors within. I’ve played around with various Tarot-like decks, and have been pleasantly surprised with some of the answers I have received. While I tend towards a more “scientific” explanation for the seemingly serendipitous results (i.e. the general nature of the cards lets you interpret the results in whatever way your psyche needs you to), there have been more than a few occasions (like pulling the same card on 3 separate occasions when asking the same question at different times) when I have had to wonder if there is somehow, something more to it all. My current favourite are the Soul Cards decks that offer no established meanings, but leave it all open to your own interpretation. Beautiful, aren’t they?
Examples of the Soul Cards, by Deborah Koff-Chapin.
Fact of the matter is, it’s just not practical to be dragging all these cards around with you ever where you go – especially when you have a bag full to the brim with baby gear and the like already. Plus, what are you going to do – pull them out and do a spread while waiting for your doctor appointment? I think not. So, I’ve come to rely on what I call “Lessons From Nature” to help me out when I’m away from home, or don’t have the time to go off and be introspective, yet still have something heavy weighing on my mind.
Operating on the whole “everything you need to know already lies within you” premise, and based on the belief that I’m going to interpret things the way I need to anyhow, when in doubt I simply pause, take a good look around and ask “What is the lesson for today?” I have learned a great many things since that first auspicious walk on the island. About how even when it seems like the world is frozen and still, there is always something going on. About how the river only flows in one direction, even when the surface ripples try to convince you otherwise. About how this storm too shall pass. And much, much more. For that, I am grateful.
This weekend, as I was weeding my garden produce boxes, I took the time to inspect the apple trees. The Norland Apple was doing quite nicely, with several rosy apples already the size of large olives. There were, however, several pea-sized apples just starting out as well. If these tiny ones were left to grow, they would not reach maturity by harvest time (given our short growing season), and they would be stealing useful nutrients from the apples that would. So, off they came! Interestingly enough, the majority came off without much effort, almost as if they knew they shouldn’t really be there.
Growing apples in my garden.
I’d share with you my own, personal interpretation of this “Lesson From Nature”, but I’m more interested in what YOU come up with. Share with me, won’t you? 
Tags: apples, improvisation, intimidation, Lessons From Nature, nature, psyche, psychology, senses, Soul Cards
