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What can happen when the "monkey mind" of habitual conceptual thought is awakened to the more-than-human through attention to subtle energies and artmaking? Drawing on autoethnographic methods, we demonstrate how one graduate student's creative engagement with a tree brought animist theory to life. This paper illustrates how a combination of time-in-relation, the contemplative artmaking practice of Creative Nature Connection, and special attention to subtle energies--the dark matter being addressed in this paper--can enable experiencing a tree as a sentient autonomous being. We address implications for environmental education and introduce easily doable principles for shifting into connection and opening to the unseen energy that connects all life.
AbstractThis paper chronicles students? experiences of transformative sustainability learning through ?epistemological stretching? ? a pedagogical orientation which focuses on expanding the ways of knowing that someone respects, understands, and/or engages with. With a particular emphasis on decolonizing relations between humans and the more-than-human, epistemological stretching enables students to articulate and critically engage with the epistemologies of their academic fields, gain new(old) perspectives on relations with the more-than-human, and interact with Indigenous knowledges in more effective and ethical ways. Students in this study experienced powerful learning outcomes in the following areas: reconceptualization of relationships, acknowledgement and deconstruction of power, and worldview bridging. Some students also received validation for ways of knowing that they previously engaged in but were unsure about expressing in academic contexts.