Those who’ve been following this blog until now will know the importance I place on introducing children to the outdoors, hopefully generating a love for the natural world and confidence in their own self-sufficiency.
Last week I spent four days hiking with my 10-year-old daughter, climbing to the summit of Frenchmans Cap, one of the most prominent mountains in Tasmania. I then took my eight-year-old son for a three-day hike around Freycinet Peninsula, circuiting its beaches and crossing the summit of Mt Graham.
Heading for the summit of Frenchmans Cap
All the while I was carrying and reading a book called On Looking, by Alexandra Horowitz. In it, Horowitz examines our natural tendency to no longer see the ordinary things around us as we walk. We file them away as familiar and, thus, automatically overlook them. Horowitz, a cognitive scientist, wrote about her subject by walking through New York with a range of people to observe their different perspectives and the things that caught their eye. Her subjects ranged from a geologist to a typographer, but also her own young child. I was struck by her take on how a child perceives a walk:
“It has nothing to do with points A, B or the getting from one to the other. It barely has anything to do with planting one’s feet in a straight line. A walk is, instead, an investigatory exercise that begins with energy and ends when (and only when) exhausted.
“A walk is exploring surfaces and textures with finger, toe and – yuck – tongue; standing still and seeing who or what comes by; trying out different forms of locomotion. It is archaeology: exploring the bit of discarded candy wrapper; collecting a fistful of pebbles and a twig and a torn corner of a paperback; swishing dirt back and forth along the ground. It is stopping to admire the murmuring of the breeze in the trees; locating the source of the bird’s song; pointing. It is a time of sharing.”
I realised that, like most parents, I have until now been pushing my kids to walk like me when I should probably be learning to walk like them again. Over the week I tried to cut down on the calls of “C’mon” or “We really should push on” (while remaining mindful of time and the need to reach camp at a reasonable hour each day). I tried to let them walk their own way.
On the summit of Mt Graham, Freycinet Peninsula
Though my children are years older than Horowitz’s son, the hikes for them still seemed to be just the frame around a bunch of distinct, individual experiences. There were the different forms of locomotion – walking, running, going out of your way to scramble over rocks, squelching through mud and then turning around to squelch back through it again… and again.
They saw bugs I didn’t notice, and they stopped dozens of times to set off trigger plants. A mountain of stones was skimmed, and the plot lines of about three different book series were narrated to me. My son gathered walking sticks from among the leaf litter – first one stick, then two, then three, until he finally decided that three sticks and two arms somehow didn’t compute. My daughter stashed her own various walking sticks at strategic points, wanting to see if they’d still be there on our walk out. There were other sticks that could be used to scoop up bits of bark as you walked, tossing them over your head.
I’d thought we were simply going for a couple of hikes, but instead we were touching and feeling the world, seeing how the natural puzzle pieces fitted together. I experienced impatience, frustration and, ultimately, great joy. And for all that, we rarely arrived in camp any later than I’d anticipated. It seems that wasting time isn’t always wasting time.
Andrew, I am increasingly wishing not only that I was younger – but that you were my father! That might sound really weird, but I’m sure you know what I mean! Loving seeing the world through your children’s eyes. I reckon there’s a book in this somewhere for you.
Putting aside the image of me as your father, Lee… thanks. I get as much from these experiences as the kids, so it’s a two-way street.
What an amazing experience for your kids. You get the Awesome Dad Award for sure.
Thanks Sue. They’re great outings for me as well as the kids.
Beautiful writing, AB, and beautifully observed. Love your work.
Thanks Lou – I had plenty of time to observe as I waited…
Thanks for this! A few more years til I get my daughter out there!
Thanks annathrax. Start her young and slow and you may get a walking partner for life.
Great post. I don’t have children, but I’ve experienced this difference in myself when I walk for the end/ purpose versus when I walk for joy, wandering, stopping, noticing and connecting with the world around instead of being so focused on arriving. Of course this is a great metaphor for living. I’ll take the kid’s version any day! Brad
Thanks Brad. Kids remind you that we see a world clouded by our other thoughts, so it’s always instructive to see it again through their eyes – it’s like instinctive mindfulness to them.
Yes, they’re great reminders and teachers.
Lucky lucky kids!
Thanks Michele. I’m sure there were moments they didn’t feel so lucky…
Reblogged this on World Youth Adventures blog and commented:
Australian journalist Andrew Bain is one of our favourite writers.
His insightful blog, Adventure before Avarice, touches on many topics related to the wonderful world of adventure, however this one struck us as particularly worth sharing through our own blog.
Kids see the world much differently to adults and perhaps something can be learned from them, rather than the other way around.
Enjoy the read – it’s well worth taking a moment to absorb the very valid thought.
Nice work AB, hope you don’t mind the lazy reblog to our site – it’s well worth sharing.
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A good reminder as we head out for the weekend! Thanks.