Today I have decided to pick litter on my walk, then I think in a few weeks I might repeat the same walk and compare the litter with today’s bagful. Lots of decisions to make.. Discarded plastic bags? Yes. Discarded tied plastic bags of dog excrement? No.. at least not if im storing them. I come across an empty beer can. As I lift it I notice something inside by the opening, a snail that seems to have made the can its home, and to my eye looks too big to exit. Hmm, may be already being recycled, so I decide to leave it.
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As an afterthought to my challenge of ‘spending an hour in Nature every day’ I have added ‘with my phone off’. On setting off this immediately flummoxes me as I now don’t know how to measure an hour, and it quickly becomes a much bigger challenge than walking outside to resist the instinct to check for messages, or take photos, or look something up.
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From the corner of my eye I see the flit of black and white feathers and brace myself to spit then say the rhyme to protect me from the bad luck portended by a solitary magpie, «Hallo Mr Magpie, how’s your wife?», however my superstition does not kick in until the bird actually lands, so I watch its flight path to a spot perhaps fifty yards away, down, down, I take a breath.. then as it lands it seems to become two, and I notice it has alighted next to another one. I breathe out in relief – one for sorrow, two for joy! Then I notice a third behind them – three for a girl – and another – four for a boy! And another – five for silver.. I only know the rhyme up to seven – for a secret never to be told – and not being able to search it up on my phone am starting to worry what happens after that, surely not back to one? Perhaps what happens is the secret never to be told? I don’t remember ever seeing seven magpies at once. Since when did superstitious rhymes make me so alert to Nature?
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cCHANGE Team commented on Day 20: Day 1 – reflections 2 years ago
Hi Michael, Leonie from cCHANGE here. Thanks for the great update and reflections. Congratulations on stretching to switching your phone off too. Impressive! As you mention, so much of what we do these days is connected to our phones, including looking at the time and being able to look up facts and things we are wondering about! Have you found a way to work out if an hour has passed without checking it, or do you hold on as long as you can and then check the phone? :) We have become so reliant on phones in a short space of time. In some ways they have de-materialized our lives e.g. CDs, records, DVDs, and books - can now all be watched, listened to, or read on a phone. But there are other pros/cons to using them across the practical, cultural, and systemic spheres. We have been talking about systems in our coaching posts lately. How do you see the systems around your challenge? You have littering, connecting with nature, and our use of screens all in this one challenge. It's very interesting. It was also interesting to read where you draw the line or how you are thinking about what you will pick up. Insights into your values. Such great reflections, thanks! Looking forward to reading more, if you have the time. Best, Leonie Respond
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Michael Rumbelow commented on Day 20: Day 1 – reflections 2 years ago
Thanks Leonie, yes the systems around challenges like this are interesting I agree. Even physically where Im walking seems to cross through systems, ecosystems, road systems, recycling systems. I have been thinking about sun alignment to measure an hour, aware of seeing sunlight and shadows in different ways. Respond
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cCHANGE Team commented on Day 20: Day 1 – reflections 2 years ago
Hi Michael, Leonie here. Day 30! Congratulations! How has your challenge been going in the last 10 days? It would be wonderful if you could give us a final update now at the end of the 30 days. What did you learn about yourself? About making change? It doesn't have to be long and it doesn't have to be perfect, if things didn't go to plan. Thanks for joining the challenge and reflecting on what it takes to make sustainable and equitable change. Hope to see you at the wrap up on Friday. Warm wishes, Leonie Respond
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