Forest Educator Spotlight REPLAY: The Forest Educator's Secret Sauce

Welcome to the Forest Educator Podcast. I'm Ricardo Sierra. There's kind of an irony right now about the title of this episode because the secret for forest educators, which I'm calling the natural advantage, is something that... Many times when we're in the field as nature educators, as forest educators, as outdoor wilderness skills or guides or leaders or forest bathing experience directors.

Like, we are so busy just doing the day-to-day things that keep us moving, you know, keep our programs rolling. Keep things safe and all the materials and getting the site ready and training everyone and planning and coordinating. And then just trying to get a little bit of rest in between programs to maybe mow the lawn or do your laundry. I mean, it's...

It's exhausting. And we don't oftentimes have the luxury of, you know, days and days of time to think about the long-term impacts of what we're doing because we're just so in it right in the moment.

And I was lucky enough to be asked to do a TED Talk about six years ago, which was really all about nature deficit disorder and why we need nature and what can we do to support our children. in the upcoming generation to get the benefits of nature and all that. And the great thing about it was that it helped me to think this whole, our whole field and all of our efforts.

through a little bit more than I would. It gave me like that pause that I needed to say, all right, what is it that I really want to say? Because with a TED Talk, you only have like 12 minutes. And when you only have 12 minutes, man. You have to cut, cut, cut. So you have to just cut everything that is not absolutely necessary to making your point. And it's not a lot of time. And you can't do everything. So you have to kind of pick and choose something.

And so I chose to share some facts about it and, you know, some of the kind of larger meta details about our current state of where things are regarding our children and nature and all of that. And then I shared some stories that helped illustrate this. And then I introduced a concept that I came up with that was really important to me because it was like I sort of started putting it all together.

And I started to look at what I was doing, not in the sense of just go, go, go, but to really step back and say, You know, what are we really developing in the people that attend our programs, whether they're children, toddlers, teens or adults? You know, what is it? That is really something that stands out, that is accumulating or is a reason why they come back. And so it really came out of that, the natural advantage. And I don't want to get too detailed about it.

copying anything with my talk because you can always go there and, you know, type in Ricardo Sierra TED Talk and it'll come right up. And if you want to do that, great. But I will say that today I really want to talk more about the natural advantage because that definitely could use more than just 12 minutes. And honestly, I only really talked about it for maybe three minutes. So again, you're just cutting and cutting.

And what's so interesting is that when you have a concept like The Natural Advantage, it's really tempting to want to try to expand and stuff everything in. And you just can't. And what's also ironic is that this natural advantage concept, in some ways, when I say it's a forest educator secret, it's actually a forest educator secret from us.

Because we don't always really have time to reflect on what we're actually doing, except in a kind of in passing. You know, we might think about it while we're washing out dishes from our camp out or whatever. But for the most part, we're just trying to... So the idea here is that I want to expand upon this because this is one of the reasons I believe why our work is so powerful.

and so transformative. And just to recap, the natural advantage is a three piece of the pie. It's like a pie with three major pieces in it, if you will. And the first piece is all about nature. It's all about getting outside and building a connection. And that could be walking or swimming or biking or whatever you do outside.

gets you connected to the natural world. It's not necessarily just taking a walk and having nature as your background. It's about having an actual relationship where you're actually awake and paying attention to it a little bit. And don't get me wrong, just being outside is beneficial. You get incredible health benefits physiologically, mentally, just by being outside or even just having a big window that you can look out and see leaves in the trees and, you know, maybe hear some.

birds or coyotes at night or see some stars or whatever if you can just see nature that's beneficial but what i'm talking about is building building a kind of a conscious developed relationship with the world around you and having a little bit of interest in it. So that's the first piece. And the second piece.

is all what I call skills. That's the simplest way to say it, but it's really about life skills. It's about nature skills. It's about living. It's kind of a little bit about what do we need to know? or to improve on to better our lives, to build a good life for ourselves and our families. And so this idea is that...

Skills can really encompass almost anything. It can be knot tying. It can be going fishing. It can be gardening or woodworking. I mean, the list is just kind of endless. But the idea is that you're learning something. that you can do that helps you self-actualize, that helps you to build a sense of confidence and our ability to problem solve and to adapt and to, you know, solve.

the problems that we all deal with every day throughout our entire lives. And the better your skills are and your ability to do that really makes a difference on how you handle life down the road. Meaning if you don't have those skills, you're going to struggle. And so that, you know, those skills, very, very important. And then the third kind of piece of the pie is all about bonding.

And so it's really in a nutshell about do you have access to people in your life that you can build a connection to and bond with them in a way that actually helps you understand. And know in no uncertain terms that you are valued, that you are loved, that you are appreciated, and that someone sees you and sees how hard you're trying, sees that you're going through some stuff. And that you can confide in and communicate your really deep, authentic experiences with that person.

Now, it doesn't necessarily mean that it has to come from your parents. It could be from another, an aunt or uncle. It could be from your brother. Most people try to have something because if you don't have that bonding from somebody, it's really traumatic. This bonding part is really key because this is where you share your stories about what you've been doing for the last two months.

what you're going through now or what happened five years ago. Like it's just a place for you to be able to connect and then to listen to other folks and find out what their deal is. And to just feel good, feel connected, because we're really tribal people. I know we're not supposed to really use the word tribal, and I apologize.

I'm thinking about this from the sense of, you know, we are adapted for thousands of years to be in small groups of people, small family groups, and to feel connected to them. There really were no... solitary people just living out in the wilderness. And anytime I see stories of someone who's like lived for 40 years in a cabin out in Alaska or something like that, there's a part of people that want to go like,

Isn't that so cool? And when I hear that, I'm just like, man, that sounds really lonely and depressing and does not feel right to me. And still impressive that they could do that. But on a, you know, setting aside the skills they need to do that just for them to feel not to have anyone to really share their stories that they must have thousands of stories just feels sad to me. And anyway, bonding is like your third piece of pie.

So really, when I put all this out there as this natural advantage idea, one of the things that really came to me as I was developing this understanding was this idea of what are we building in? the people that come to our programs? What is it that is happening for them when you begin to combine all three of these things in like a week-long summer camp or a three-day retreat or...

you know, a seven-day tracking or 10-day tracking experience. Like, what is it that is happening for you as a person? And it's what I call building the inner foundation. And the inner foundation is kind of like our central core. It's like our identity. It's our source of power. Ability to do things, to grow, to connect, to create, and to build a good life. And it's totally dependent on...

having experiences that build up your ability to do those things. And that inner foundation is just probably, for me, the most important thing that we can do for another human being, whether it's a child. an adult, a teen, a college-age person, or really at any age, we can still continue to build our inner foundation. And the thing about it is that you really... have to have this and if you're missing something as part of your inner foundation

It usually will be reflected in areas of your life in which you're struggling. So it's fairly easy to start tracking this if you actually are thinking about it in terms of these three things, these three. If one of those is missing or is severely constricted, you're going to struggle. And this is one of the reasons why. I believe that most nature programs that also help build skills for children and have adults or people leading them who have the ability to connect with you.

and listen to your stories and bond it that's this is why it's just incredibly incredibly beneficial because it just it's like hitting all cylinders so to speak and

When these things are missing, and they can be missing for a lot of reasons. There are times where parents are working. They're working two jobs, three jobs, just trying to keep things going, stay afloat, pay the bills, put food on the table, the whole thing. And when you're doing all that and trying to like clean the house, do laundry and everything, your ability to bond is severely impacted. I would say poverty is the number one reason why people fail to build an inner foundation.

or struggle, and that is for all of these reasons. And it's not just poverty, because you can still miss things for other reasons as well, but it definitely adds. And, you know, sometimes people, you know, in a family or in a community, they oftentimes will have reasons where they can't bond with you or spend time with you or build these skills or.

just even get out in nature. Sometimes it's mental illness, sometimes it's depression, or it could be addiction, or it could just be that they have had some type of trauma. that has led to them feeling too afraid to really open up to others and to really be able to be accessible. And so we almost all know people in our lives who struggle in that area.

And so when that's happened or happening, it's very difficult if those people are your caregivers, you know? And if you're a child, you don't really have a lot of choice because you're just in it. You're just like, I was born and I'm here. You don't get a lot of choices with this. And that's why I think that having access to a lot of different types of mentors and kinds of people gives us more opportunities. So it is really helpful to have.

extended family and friends and people that we know and trust and care about us and that we care about them, to have them in our lives to help us create the village, if you will, of what people say is, how do we... How can we raise our children without having it all fall on the backs of just a mother and a father?

you know, two moms, two dads, whatever it is, whatever that family unit is. It just is really helpful if that's an expanded experience. So one of the ways this shows up is in our individual relationships to...

parents or our friends or our brothers and sisters. But it also shows up with, if we're a parent, we're trying to do this. If you as a parent don't have a connection to the natural world, you know, a strong one. then you don't know, like, is it okay to go outside in the cold? Is it okay? What happens if we get wet? What happens if there's a tick? What happens if there's a snake? Like, there's a lot of fears that can hold us back because...

We've never had to encounter them and we don't really know how other people have handled that. So there's a lot of trepidation with that. And I've seen this a lot with what I call millennial parents, people who are, you know, in their... you know, early to mid thirties who have children and that many of them just have not had as many experiences, camping, gardening, woodworking or anything.

And they are very reluctant to just sort of forge ahead and just go for it. They really are always like, hey, Ricardo, can you help me? Hey, what should I do? Is this right? because they just want to get it right. They don't want to mess it up. And it feels like a lot of pressure. And that's, you know, when you add that pressure to a natural experience or a skill building experience or a bonding thing, it just...

complicates it and can get in the way. And so it's a problem. And one of the reasons that I wanted to talk about this is to say, well, let's see, how can we begin to address that or to... get that not only for our children or the people around us, but also for ourselves.

if we're going to be doing this and you're decided like you know what i really want to build this i want to i want to dive in i want to get these advantages and i want that self-confidence, I want to feel good, I want to feel connected, all those good things. There's a tendency sometimes for people to look at something like this, listen to a podcast like this, read an article, read a book, whatever, and then to go, I'm going to get, you know.

I'm a type A person. I'm going to get into hustle. I'm going to set myself up. I'm going to do a 10-mile run every day, and then I'm going to talk to my kids in the car for six hours, and then I'm going to build. We're going to build our own cabin or whatever. Like, you know, you just put these unrealistic high expectations on you that you can probably never really manifest unless you are either, you know, obsessed, which has its own problems.

Or you have the means to do it with the free time and the extra money and all that. But most people will fail or will struggle, and then eventually it'll just be one more thing they feel guilty about that they didn't do.

So try to scratch that if that's your plan, okay? Because it doesn't really work too well and you don't need to do that. The natural advantage... in the best way is something that happens over an extended period of time you know over months and months or years and years it's not something you just get by going and saying oh we're going to go do three hikes

And we're going to change a bicycle tire and we're going to plant some peas and we're going to tell some story. Like it's a cumulative thing. So you just ideally want to start by piggybacking on certain things.

that you're already doing so for example if you already go exercising you already take walks in the park so one way to add more nature connection is to say, hey, I'm going on my power walk, which is like boom, boom, boom. I'm going to get out there. I've got 40 minutes to get to my three miles in or whatever it is. You're just cranking. And one of the ways to get more nature is to just slow down a little bit for...

five minutes at one or two points in your walk and just really maybe observe something. Maybe you stop and look at a flower or a plant or, you know, I do this a lot because I carry my camera with me and I see the way the light is reflected in a puddle. I see some element of nature. And I just spend a few 30 seconds, two minutes with that. And I just listen. I open my senses. I just try to breathe.

And really just take in that moment. And that moment is a really nice way to begin to connect. And then that's it. You just keep going. So you might add 10 minutes to your hike. but you've added maybe two or three moments that build a deeper connection. That's a big help. Sometimes when I'm on walks or hikes, I'll also just ask a question. I'll say, hey, let me just see.

if I see any animal tracks. Let me just pay attention to that. The next time I go, I'm going to just see how many bird nests I can see in the trees along my walk. Another time might be something where I might ask myself five or six questions about the weather.

Hey, I wonder what temperature it is right now. I wonder which way the wind is blowing. Oh, it's blowing in my face. Okay, which way am I facing? I don't know. So you kind of try to figure that out. What kind of clouds are these? Are they cirrus clouds or are they... cumulus clouds are they nimbus cloud you know what is going on though just asking those kinds of questions just gets you thinking and it lets you to kind of connect with

what's going on in your environment. So you're no longer just kind of in your head going on your walk, but you're actually taking a few minutes to connect. Doesn't take a lot of time. So the skill part of this

is always a little bit tricky if you're starting brand new. But one of the things that you can do is to just look at people. Hey, you can find them on Facebook or your friends on Instagram.

Find people that are doing something fun and cool and then just go, hey, could I come over and help you? Maybe you're not a gardener, but you go, hey, are you doing a garden? Hey, would you need any help over there? I'm happy to weed. I'm happy to move the wheelbarrow. I just want to try my hand at it and just see what it's like.

I'll help you. I'll turn over the compost. I'll do whatever you want me to do. I just want to learn. Somebody's over there and they're doing some replacing the siding on their house. You go, hey, can I help you out? I mean, sometimes it's... Those things will get in the way. If you're totally brand new, it can slow the other person down. But oftentimes people are happy to help. And it doesn't matter what it is. Just look, start looking for those opportunities.

to grow your skill set. You can definitely jump on how to on YouTube and find a ton of stuff and ton of ideas, but I do it all the time. where I'll just look it up on YouTube when I need to fix something. Oh, my washing machine's not working. I can go on YouTube and look at 20 videos and then go out and try to figure something out. And when I get that washing machine fixed, you know how good that feels? Because A,

I'm saving myself like $200 having another person come out who basically is just going to say, yeah, you probably should just get a new one. And now you just blew $200 that you could have put onto a new one. Or, you know, just. having to even deal with the hassle of like waiting for them and having them come out or whatever. It's so, so awesome. But everything is awesome. When you start doing these skills, it feels really good. So you just look for those opportunities to try to do something.

Even a skill like cooking, right? We all need to eat. So it's just like, hey, once a week, once every two weeks, find a recipe and try something new. Follow that recipe. Learn something about it. You know, I know people like to sometimes just look at the recipe and they hate the blog part where the person tells the story of that meal. But I would urge you to not do that. Learn the history of tamales.

Learn some stories about how this person learned how to make bread or sourdough bread. Like get a chance to kind of sink into the traditions and, you know, ask somebody. I mean, everybody knows someone who cooks something really well. Like I know for me, I didn't really know how to make Thai food about 10 years ago. And so I, my sister who lives in Boston was coming out one time and I said, Hey, will you come out and teach me how to do Thai food? She was excited to do that. She drove out here.

She had a big jar of like fish sauce, a bottle of that. She gave me like three different kinds of, you know, these huge tubs of like red curry, green curry, a bunch of other stuff. And she proceeded to teach me like two or three different ways to make curries and to make Thai food. And man, it was awesome. It was awesome to learn from my sister. It only took us like, I don't know, an hour and a half or whatever. We had the greatest time.

People will share what they know with you if you are eager to learn, if you ask. I mean, it helps if you have a relationship with them a little bit. But for the most part, people want to share because they're excited about what they know. So that's a really good way.

to start building these skills. And then bonding. You know, bonding is something that is a feeling, and it's really about just being really present with yourself and with your... whoever you're with. And you can bond with people no matter what. I mean, you know, obviously if you're in the supermarket line that it can get real awkward and some people think it's creepy. So be careful. Just throwing that out there.

But honestly, you can bond with people by just being present and available and be able to just feel how that feels inside you and to think. the best of the people around you and to ask questions and ask how was your day or you know you don't have to necessarily go in and say hey how was your childhood and tell me a story about you know something

20 years ago, it's hard to catch up on stuff and it's not good to put people on the spot. So it's usually better to just be in that open, ready, accepting, or I guess opening, open state is really the best way to say it. But you want to be in a state that's very receptive and just invite that to happen. And sometimes by doing that, you can just share something for yourself. You can just model sharing a story and then remembering to.

be quiet and listen to the other person and give them a chance to say whatever they need to say. I talk a lot, so that's one thing that I oftentimes will go back and go, oh, why didn't I shut up and listen to this person?

And so that's a thing I've been working on my whole life. I think I'm getting better, but I will say that we all need work in some way. Some people are the opposite. They don't share anything. And they're like, why didn't I say something? I could have. So the idea is just to invite and open those spaces. and see what happens and to share things that you like about that person you know so like this is a good way to get started is to remember that you know it takes like

Five to seven to, I mean, obviously, the higher you go, the better. It takes five to seven really positive interactions with a person to make a person feel like they want to be in a relationship with you. If you're negative or not necessarily to that person, but just negative in general, oftentimes people will begin to migrate away from you because they really want to have, everybody wants to feel good. And so the more positive you are.

And I don't mean fake positive, but the more you're actually interested and available and present and not in a kind of a dour, sour mood, people will be attracted to what you're putting out there. And so the reason I'm telling you this is that It really helps to be able to go in and see somebody in your family and your friends and your work and to go, hey, I really like that jacket. Or, hey, yesterday, that was really helpful what you did by putting your clothes away.

If you're talking to somebody in your family or whatever it is, appreciate something they did. I try to stay away from being like, oh, you're pretty or something like that, unless it's like your actual partner, because it can get creepy even though it's well-intended. But it's really important.

to say, you know, something that recognizes that they are doing whatever they're doing and that you see them. And it doesn't have to be this big deal. It's not something you spend an hour doing, but it's just a quick acknowledgement. Hey, thanks a lot for your help yesterday. I really appreciate it. It made my meeting go really awesome. Thank you so much. Boom. Hey, you know what? You've been on time every time. You're never late. Man, how do you do it? I'm late all the time.

How do you do that? What's your secret? Like just asking people and talking and then going, hey, did you have parents that really made it a point to not be late? Or did you have somebody who was late all the time and now you're compensating and saying, I'm never going to be that person?

Like the idea here is to have these conversations, but just having them in a positive way and in a way that really lets you listen. And when they finish talking, one of the secrets is to not immediately then tell you. them everything you were thinking while they were telling you that but is to stop for a second and ask a follow-up question and to go oh yeah what was that like for you or oh okay yeah well how

You know, how did that work? How did that impact you? Whatever it can be, a follow-up question really sends the message home that they actually do care. Because many people will say something kind of quick. They say something fast just to kind of get that positive thing out, which is good. And they mean it, but they're not necessarily available to go deeper. They're not necessarily putting the energy or effort.

or attention and when someone does it feels really good if you go back in your mind and think of the last person that you had a really good conversation with i guarantee you they they did something like that that really helped you and made you feel good

And it's very subtle. And this isn't a manipulation thing. This is just something to say, hey, I'm available to bond and I want to connect. What's going on with you? Here's what's going on with me. And I'm going to be quiet and listen to you. If you can start doing that. And not saying you don't already do it, but if you can do that or get a little bit better at it, you will start to have deeper, more meaningful relationships, which is what that bonding is all about.

And you're also going to be helping them to feel connected. And when we feel connected, man, it's like being on cloud nine. It's so good. I mean, you're getting all the good chemicals, right? The oxytocin or the serotonin, whatever it is. I know that. They have different theories of which brain chemicals are, you know, as a result of like hugging your dog or, you know, completing a task or whatever. But all of these things, nature skills and bonding.

basically hits all of those good chemicals that make you feel good. And they keep you going and they help you to have a better life. And so I really urge you to see this and to just do these little things. to help build that natural advantage for you and your community and your family, you know, your chosen family, your adopted family, whatever your family looks like for you.

But to do that and to really expand on, you know, and see what that impact is. And if you have young children, oh my gosh, you are in luck because if you start doing this with those younger children and do it. consistently if you show up consistently with them you are going to be in for so much fun because kids when they get these things they are fantastic when they don't get these things they

They don't really know what to do when they don't get these. They don't really know how to ask for that. So when something's missing. They will oftentimes just go, I don't really know what's wrong. I just know that I don't, something doesn't feel right. Something isn't working right. And you know, when you don't have, when you get enough dopamine, you do weird things, right? You know, you do, you do things looking for dopamine and dopamine.

can get from arguing and you can get it from connecting so even an argument is a is getting somebody present and yelling with you and arguing it gives you dopamine because it charges your brain when ideally you'd want to get your dopamine by having a positive experience. So younger children or students, they oftentimes are exhibiting behavior that literally is the result of not getting enough of one of those feel-good hormones or whatever.

I really am urging you to do the best you can with this and to really look at everyone around you in a compassionate and kind way. And when you start looking through that lens. of who's sitting in front of you who's in your group and who who of them is maybe missing some of these things and not like they're missing it like oh there's something wrong with them but just that maybe they didn't get enough of that or they're struggling with something try

Try any of these. Try any of these things. I guarantee you, you will at least have a chance if you try one of these three pieces of pie. And you can always just try pie too. Hey, you get dopamine from eating, so.

You're going to win one way or another. But the idea here is also to say that if you're an educator, these things are often built into our programs. Number one, we're a nature program. So where are we? We're outside. all the time. So right off the bat, we're getting the physiological benefits, the mental health, the wellbeing, the wind is working on us every minute. Even if it's a cold wind, it's waking our body up and it's like stimulating all these cool things.

The ground under your feet and, you know, gathering firewood and like seeing all these different cool things in nature is creating all these like natural pattern disruptors that are like breaking up how we think the world is. and helping us to be really present and to just get different patterns inside of us. Super awesome. And then...

Many times in a nature program, we're learning a skill of some kind. And if you're learning a skill, I'm not talking about, you know, how to use a chainsaw, getting all intellectual or whatever, learning how to solve a Rubik's cube or something. But just saying like, hey, we're going to be carving or we're going to do modeling clay or, you know, you can kind of pick your skill of choice based on who you're working with and what their interests are.

But if you start working on things, and many times they're very, very simple, they're incredibly helpful for a lot of reasons. One is that when you start working with your hands, it's a very, what they call self-soothing. It's a dynamic meditation. So a lot of times people will knit or crochet or do like weaving belts or braiding or...

making little friendship bracelets or whatever it is. Those are all things that, you know, it doesn't take a lot of brain power to make like a series of knots over and over and over again, like a friendship bracelet or a lanyard, right? But the idea is that you're self-soothing.

And you're making something beautiful. And you're also just feeling productive. And all three of those things are awesome. And then let alone if you have a problem, like if you're making a basket and all of a sudden the basket's not working out right. And then you have to solve that and go, well, why is this happening?

And then you solve it, then you feel really good. So those things with the skill are usually happening in some way in our programs. You know, it might be learning how to paddle down a class three rapids or something. But whatever it is, that's where that shows up. And then the bonding part is just because we're all hanging out around a campfire at night or by the stream filtering our water or we're gathering firewood or we're setting up our tent or whatever it is.

And we're in a place where we're not distracted. We're not staring at screens. We're not scrolling and watching Netflix at the same time and kind of being just split attention. We're actually... being present with each other and going through our things. And when that starts happening, it makes us more available and in the proximity of other people who have both time and space to connect.

And when we do that, that bonding, and that happens even at just a very, very small... amount it is transformative especially if you don't have a chance to do that for most people in your lives like it is it's brutal out there folks like there's a lot of people working at jobs where they don't feel connected to anybody at the job and they

You know, they'll say, oh, I call my mom at the end of the day, and my mom is the only one that's really listening to me sometimes. And then, you know, they're like, okay, I love my dog. My dog is being present, but my dog isn't necessarily asking about how my day was. Did I solve that problem with whatever project you're working on? And so, you know, pets are really important and awesome. But when we do get a chance to bond, it feels really good and it hits in a certain way.

And so I will say that attending a nature education type program, a forest program, is really helpful. You know, nature adventure, whatever it is, you pick from the palette of all these cool things. Whatever you do, just know that you're going to get a combination of those things from those experiences. And that can sometimes help jumpstart you, whether it's working with your family and younger children.

whether it's working just for yourself or for your friends or your community. It's a really good way to do that. I mean, in fact, if you're an employer and you have a team of people that's working for you. please, please, please do this with your employees in some way. Like just incorporate some of these elements if you can. Figure it out. I don't know what your situation is, but figure out how to do.

a retreat where maybe they're not like just going and hearing about another sales technique or something, but maybe just get a chance for people to connect a little bit here and there, not in a forced way, but just having around food or doing something fun. But give people a chance to have authentic experiences. Help them build a couple new skills. Get them outside as much as you can. It's going to pay off. It always pays off because we're designed to do this.

from the get-go. Like, this is built into our DNA. I 100% believe that that is true. Because, I mean, I don't know if there's a study that backs this up, but oh my gosh, the research just backs it up.

left and right about nature about skills and and about bonding like it's you know it hasn't put it all together in this natural advantage plan like what i have that i've seen but i'm really urging you don't be afraid to attend a program pick the one that's at the comfort level you want if you don't want to be sleeping in a tent or on the ground go to one that has cabins or a hotel or whatever a lodge

Like just, or maybe it's a day program, but just pick some things, learn some new things, have a good time and do that. The natural advantage is so important and it really is our secret weapon because, and most of us don't even know it. It's a secret even to us. That's my... Kind of the deep irony of this whole post or this episode is this idea of how we all just go, I don't know, like I have instructors that I've worked with for years.

And I'll say, hey, so what made you be an instructor? And they're like, I don't really know. I just feel really good when I'm teaching people how to make baskets and we're walking around. And then we go down to the river and we soak these, you know, the grass and we do this and we do that. And they just.

I just love it. And I love sitting around talking to people around the fire. And I'm like, you just said the natural advantage in every aspect of the word. And they're like, yeah, in the campfires and listening to the coyotes and seeing the stars. And they just. They just nailed it. They're like, the natural advantage feels good and I want to keep doing it. That's why they became instructors. And that is...

To me, it's phenomenal. And the world today, I think, sadly, is sometimes has a lot of people that are in what I call the wasteland where they're really struggling to make these connections and they're struggling to. put it all together, especially when it's like trying to assemble some complicated thing from IKEA without the instructions.

or half the tools, or half the bolts and parts. That's how it feels. It's just frustrating, and something's missing, and you know it, but you don't know what to do about it. So the things that we do as educators is restorative. It's just incredible growth. That inner foundation is the key. And if you can really see your program in that way as to what you're doing in that regard, it changes it a little bit. It's no longer about...

just making a basket and trying to have everyone finish their basket by the end of the weekend. It's really about getting the benefit of all those things. And there's so many times I've been running a workshop where I thought it was about the basket or about... the buckskin or about the fire making and i remember sometimes just looking and there'd be a person that paid a lot of money to come and hang out with me for three days or a month or whatever it is and they paid a ton of money and

I would just be like, man, I feel like I'm not giving you enough because you're not obsessively working on your fire skills or whatever. And I've had those same people turn around and say, you don't know what my life is like, man. This is just so incredible. I'm just soaking it all in. I don't even care if I make the basket. I don't care if I make fire. I just love being here with all of you good people.

and being in nature and i've already learned 10 times more than i ever expected this is just soothing and filling my soul and that's you know like and that would be eye-opening to me because i just kept being thinking it was the skill and and so Looking back on this, it's so obvious, but I really hope that you can see what we do as parents, what we do as grandparents, what we do as educators and teachers and nature program directors is so important.

And it's so needed today. And what's so beautiful about it, I almost forgot to say this. What's so beautiful about it is that it happens so naturally that we don't actually need to sit there and go, hey, you know, hey, Bill. Your inner foundation looks like it has major gaps. You must be really lonely and depressed and struggling and overwhelmed and all these things that are the byproducts of not having this. Boy.

That must suck to be you. You don't need to say anything about it. You can just do this thing and do your program and let them just... enjoy that. And it doesn't have to be a conscious thing. And so many times I've had kids in my programs that went, when I got here, I thought I was going to hate it. And the whole time my parents were telling me we have to come.

And I knew it was going to suck because I don't like this and I don't like that. You know, they had this whole monologue going about how they don't like whatever it is that we're doing. They were living in that future mode of this is going to suck. And then they got here, they got to the place and just realized, oh, no one's really pushing anything. And people are okay with me not being into it, and they're okay with whatever, and they're trying to make me comfortable.

And hey, this s'more tastes really good. And boy, it feels good to sit by the campfire. And oh yeah, campfires smell really good. And so all of a sudden their senses are engaged. Their taste is engaged. They're starting to laugh at the jokes of this kid that they don't even know.

three people away from them telling a really funny joke. And then all of a sudden, two days, three days later, they're like, I'm having a really good time. And they'll come over to me and say, I thought this was going to suck. And I'm having really fun time. And because...

You can't really resist this easily. You can resist having a good time or admitting that you're having a good time if you put a lot of effort in. But I'll tell you, for most people, they can't sustain it, especially if it's more than two or three days.

They will sink into it as long as they have a good experience, right? Obviously, if they get poison ivy or they have some other thing, it's going to be trickier. But I really hope you got something out of this. If you have something that you'd like to add to this conversation. you know, a point that you think I missed or something that you just feel like inspired to share. I'm always open to that. You can find me on Instagram. You can find me on Facebook. You can find me.

on my website so go ahead jump on there send me an email through my contact or whatever i'm happy to connect and hear what you have to say thank you for doing all the good things you're doing with yourself and your family and your your community And I will see you next time. And until then, get outside and get that natural advantage. Have a good one. Thanks for listening to today's episode and for all...

the things that you do to help build a world that is connected to nature. You can get access to the bonus episodes. my Forest Educator nature journals and curriculum, as well as other useful content by subscribing to my Patreon page where you can support us at any level. You can find the link. in the show notes for that and my website and social media as well. And I will see you outside.