Why the outdoor style of therapy? It’s not just children, these days, that are affected by the lack of natural experience; it’s also adults. It’s not difficult to recognize the direction in which many corporate builders, retailers, and manufacturers are taking us within the western part of the world, especially America. We are all being drafted into the city, where the heart of industry and technology lies. Is it evil? I do not think that it is evil in itself, but it is certainly detouring us from the natural way of life that has been giving us mental and spiritual stability throughout history.
There is a community/museum just north of Phoenix, Arizona, called Arcosanti. It’s a pretty impressive infrastructure that was first developed by an Italian philosopher, Paolo Soleri, who believed modernity had taken its final sprint. When you walk into the welcome building, you are faced with a video screen showing the effects of the automobile and other recent inventions on humanity. In this video, Paolo Soleri shows how community has changed and how this new industrial stream brings stress to our souls.
There is ultimately little to nothing we can do to stop the “great beast” of modernity. This, I think, is an evolution of science that has its own strength and momentum. It’s almost as if something is merely unfolding upon us. The question that it begs us, is, how does it affect our lives and the lives of our children?
For families that are stable in finance and spirituality, the effects of modernity can be minimal in comparison to those families that are not stable. Those families that are not stable (especially the children), may default/fall into modernity’s current. They might even chase after her with all they have within themselves. It’s as if they have nothing to identify with or live for, so they seek this new kind of instant gratification…yes, more instant than ever before…simply grab the closest screen and open up the internet, etc.
It’s not just the internet, thought, that is manipulating us. As Paolo Soleri (who lived prior to the internet) points out, modern distraction is all around us, from automobiles to the basic structures of society. Perhaps, the Amish are not all that crazy, right? Seriously, it may not be an option for most of us to take on an extreme like the Amish. Technology and the new era of industry have many advantages. The problem, again, is what it might detour us both to and from.
Children that have come from traumatic environments need to be brought back to their natural rhythm they were first born into. The default current of modernity needs to be somehow interrupted with a lifesaving element…not just the lifesaving element itself, but an entirely new path so as not to lose them back to the same current. They must be far enough away from the current in order to begin swimming freely.
What I think the new era of industry actually does to a child remains a topic for another discussion, if not several. But for now, I will say that it simply prevents the child from exercising not only their creativity, but also their physiology. If an autistic current of some sort is embraced by the child early enough, it will not only stick psychologically, but also physiologically. Nature is relatively unpredictable, which I think breaks up the current and forces the child to be much more flexible within their heart and soul. Too much “predictable”, sedentary time spent in front of the screen - and I might even argue against too much book time- is unnatural and can draft the child into one of these currents/ruts. There is so much for us all to discover in this era. As the pandemic culture increases, I think we will begin to see more obvious cases and hopefully more obvious ways to heal.