A Conversation on Environment
The car that got me through Idaho winters, that turned into my sweet, all-season ride in Santa Barbara.
When I was in college I had a camouflage Volkswagen Thing -
You could see the road through the floorboards, the heater was fed by the gas tank, with the ever-present potential to combust, and the windows were plastic.
Why camo? It came into my life at a time and in a space where I felt unseen and had to find some way to express myself – to be seen. (Yes, I now see the irony of asking for a car paint that conceptually made me invisible).
In the coldest weather the plastic windows would crack, and any hill could only be ascended in first gear, the little engine behind me screaming in frustration. One long trip from northern to southern Idaho in winter left me with frostbite on my fingertips.
But, oh – when I moved to Santa Barbara, my little Thing with the top down, great gas mileage – it moved me, defined me. Gave me sweet pleasure in the sunshine and warmth, roared down the hills freed by gravity, in its top gear. It was elation.
Context is everything; it was the same car on the cold rolling hills of the northern Idaho Palouse as well and on the bright, sunny streets of Santa Barbara. I was much the same as well, however the context impacted me greatly. Like the little car, in one place I could thrive, in the other, more inhospitable space, it was all about surviving.
How does context impact our development? What does the environment do to our ability to learn and grow?
The human brain has plasticity – the ability to continue to make connections, literally until we die. It how those who have had brain damage or lost a limb can recover critical skills.
Or learn a new language, or pick up piano in retirement – or practice a new and precious kind of presence that allows us to be with self, grow self, know self.
When we feel safe, secure we are more open to experiences. When not, when our brain is in fight or flight, freeze or fawn, we lose our ability to critically think. Thriving versus surviving.
That is what Elate is about – step away from the context that keeps us in habit, in the cold, and bring ourselves into the warmth of human connection and mutual purpose.
