Know your place.

I'm reading Game of Thrones (George R. R. Martin) on my 16-year-old's suggestion. What I notice time and time again is the idea of the 'Seat.' 'The House.' The Land. And this gets me thinking about 'place' and knowing a place—being connected to the landscape of a place so that you love that place.

Imagine if we loved a landscape so dearly, so deeply. If we made it our intention to know every nook and cranny of that land and be surprised by it, over and over again. 

We would know what grew wild, we would identify what was native, where the mushrooms clustered, the best coffee shop and bookstore in town, the freshest tomatoes to pick, where to buy wool socks. 

We would recognize the birds and insects and animals that inhabit the land all year round and those that are passing through on their way to other climes. The enchanting places to watch a sun rise, a sun set, to listen to the wind calling at night to gaze at rippling water and shimmering leaves or splash in the rain puddles would all be known to us. 

We would be aware of the history that made this place special to us.

We would care about the fate of that piece of the world, our piece of that world. Our home.

This place would give us strength and courage when we are weary. When we closed our eyes at night we could imagine that place and feel a sense of peace and ease. When our lives on this earth were over, we could draw upon the memory of our place, our seat to see us off on our new journey.

I think that children who are growing up without school have a unique opportunity to become attached to a place, their place in the way that I have described. In a sense they have the time in which to linger in that place, and to explore and to discover and to appreciate our interconnected to this land and the air and the water and the stars in a most profound way.

Children growing up without school can learn about the unity that is life on earth in a way that can bring about a deeper sense of not only respect for our planet, but too, individual self-awareness.

I believe  we could draw upon that love of 'our' physical land which would lead us to have the courage to act in defence of that land; and by extension our beautiful treasure, our life support, our planet. 

What about you? have you found your place? If so, where is it?

** Photo credits go to my very talented husband, Randy Kay!