Trumpeter (1997)
ISSN: 0832-6193
Situating a Subjective Project:
A Radical Ecologist's Interpretation of Wellness
TIM BOSTON is a graduate student in the Department of Environment and Resource Studies, Faculty of Environmental Studies at the University of Waterloo. He would like to thank Susan Wismer for her support and constructive suggestions.
This essay provides an analysis of wellness as a subjective project. It examines wellness not as a concept which can be defined and framed in a uniform and restricted manner, but as a life practice and theory situated according to the diverse needs of inherently complex people and communities.1 In recognition of this context, I propose my own situated interpretation of wellness. I maintain that a deep, loving and spiritual connection with nature can be a form of wellness. Moreover, I argue that being active in socioecological justice issues can be an expression of wellness. It is also suggested that wellness can reflect a harmony that exists within and between the mind, body and soul of oneself, a people and the natural world. Finally, it is noted that while different aspects of wellness have been represented as sections in this paper, these divisions are purely arbitrary, and are by no means meant to suggest that the stated facets of wellness are independent of one another.
Situating Wellness: Towards a Diversity of Wellnesses
A day like today I realise what I've told you a hundred different times- that there is nothing wrong with the world. What's wrong is our way of looking at it Henry Miller 2
Wellness is not an established concept which can be defined in a detached, universal and technical fashion. It is a philosophy and life practice that is situated within particular personal and ecocultural contexts3. As these contexts change, wellness also changes, constantly transforming itself to different situations, and being altered by unique biophysical, spiritual, social and psychological influences. Unfortunately, wellness has a tradition of being defined and shaped in a generic manner. For example, Rosalind Reed and Thomas A. Lang argue that:
Wellness is the notion that health can be improved beyond the mere absence of disease. Wellness is symbolised by increased alertness, energy, and self-confidence and by relative freedom from depression and alienation as well as from diseases. In general, it involves an increased capacity to involve ourselves in and to enjoy life.4
Lester Breslow of the University of California at Los Angeles claims that wellness:
focuses attention on the living state rather than on categories of disease that may cause morbidity (disease) or mortality (death). It recognises that life, at least in some parts of the world, has extended to the point where its finer differentiation deserves attention- not merely its existence and freedom from gross specific diseases. Sometimes called "positive" [wellness] to distinguish it from the "negative" or pathologic concept, the emerging view is a generic one expressed in the WHO (World Health Organisation) definition.5
A slightly more progressive definition of wellness is as follows:
High level wellness is a necessary condition for levels of performance. It involves a balanced, controlled approach to each of the six dimensions of wellness: physical, spiritual, intellectual, occupational, emotional and social. The success that one achieves in each of these areas is determined by choosing behaviours that enhance the quality of daily life and eliminates destructive behaviour. By making informed choices one can take charge and maintain control of one's life. Wellness has the potential to encourage progress, success and happiness in personal life.6
Ultimately, the aforementioned definitions are problematic. They speak nothing of the differentiation of wellness praxis that exists, for example, along lines of race, class and gender. In addition, they suggest that well-being is a motionless image rather than a continually changing process. While some might argue that they are largely holistic, alternative and visionary, they by definition reinforce monocultures of wellness that are fixed, deterministic and limited in scope. Wellness should not be didactically defined; nor should it be understood as an invariable concept. For to speak otherwise is to embrace a dominant approach that is reductionist, sanctions intellectual colonisation and reinforces what Vandana Shiva calls the `politics of disappearance':
By elevating itself above society and other knowledge systems [i.e. indigenous and women's praxis] and by simultaneously excluding other knowledge systems from the domain of [acceptable] knowledge, the dominant [approach] creates its exclusive monopoly. Paradoxically, it is the knowledge systems which are considered most open, that are, in reality, closed to scrutiny and evaluation.7
There is a need for truly holistic, emancipatory and situated `wellnesses'. These wellnesses would bring to bear the distinctive character of wellness found in each person and community. Such wellness epistemologies would be vibrant, ecoculturally relative and in continual transformation. Each vision of wellness would be valued as unique, and based on life experience. Such an approach would attempt to avoid a totalising wellness praxis. Donna Haraway argues that all knowledge should be situated according to the complexity and detail that lies within life experience. According to Haraway: "there is no unmediated photograph or passive camera obscura in [examinations] of bodies and machines; there are only highly specific visual possibilities, each with a wonderfully detailed, active, partial way of organising worlds".8 In essence, the greater fabric of wellness embodies a complex kaleidoscope of personal and ecocultural patterns which shift over time and space.
Such a knotty, mysterious and tangled collection of wellnesses bring into question the prospects for one select objective interpretation of well-being. As Jim Cheney explains the acknowledgement of `situatedness' uses everyday insight and experience to initiate a complicated, active conversation about home and spirit that calls into question the notion of a coherent, historically continuous, stable mass identity.9 An all-encompassing, generalised and unsituated picture of wellness must be superseded by a multiplicity of wellnesses that reflect personal and ecocultural complexities.
The succeeding vision of wellness attempts to be sensitive to context and the philosophy of situated knowledge. It is by its very nature intuitive, partial and unconventional in approach and position. In essence, it is my vision and not the vision of wellness. It is both intimate and born out of the community in which I am situated. My vision of wellness is not meant to be complete, and is likely to change according to specific place and occasion. It would be foolish to believe (or have others believe) otherwise. If the terms `I', `me' and `my' are used in the preceding portions of this essay, they are not meant to be interpreted as individualistic concepts which reinforce egoism, but rather as terms that help `situate' my vision of wellness.
For the Love of Nature: Embracing a Natural Wellness
There are mountains hidden in jewels, there are mountains hidden in marshes, mountains hidden in the sky; there are mountains hidden in mountains. There is a study of mountains hidden in hiddenness. Dogen, Zen Master 10
When I was eight years old, I did something that was quite odd by most conventional standards. I was at my godmother's cottage in Northeastern, Quebec, and I tried to save a fly from being swatted to death. My godmother had a reputation for being an expert swatter, and I had every intention to challenge her self-acquired profession. Needless to say, I did not get very far with my challenge, and as a result she swiftly swatted what I believed to be a friendly and harmless insect. At the time, I saw no purpose to the killing. I firmly believed that the insect had a right to live. Now, for the unusual part of the story. As a result of what I perceived as the senseless slaying of an insect, I decided to bury the bug in the front garden. It was nothing short of a fly funeral. I remember looking at the fly just before I placed it in its final resting place, and feeling sad about the insect's passing. According to dominant assumptions, I should not have felt sadness over such a loss.
The anthropocentric dominant system reinforces the belief that nature in whole or in part has no intrinsic value. Nonhuman nature becomes something to be restructured in accord with human intention, a collection of resources to be `developed' for human use.11 Nonhuman beings are treated as instrumental `things' to be dominated, controlled and managed. As Anne Bell writes:
The strength of [this] resourcist position is no mystery really, for it represents a view of nature which is completely compatible with the expansionist, exploitative project of modern society. Max Oelschlaeger explains that like industrialism it is based on an utilitarian philosophy which denies natural entities any "end or justification in and of themselves". All values are reduced to one, the one being perceived human benefit. The resourcist story thus removes any ethical obstacles to the continued exploitation of nature. Priorities can be quickly and pragmatically determined...12
An alternative vision indicates that it is possible to understand, love and cherish nature. This vision suggests that to be well is to physically and mentally feel, touch and experience nature's wonders. It includes feeling sympathy and mourning for another species. And, yes this includes the humble fly. Moreover, it is being able to intuitively bond with an interconnected and interdependent web of life regardless of the place, time and situation.
... to experience this interconnectedness, we need no moral exhortation to adjust our behaviours and our policies in the direction of ecological responsibility. As [Arne] Naess points out, if we "broaden and deepen" our sense of self, then the Earth flows through us and we act naturally to care for it. In Emmanuel Kant's terms, we then engage in "beautiful acts" rather than "moral acts", motivated not by our moral duty to do what is right but rather acting out of positive inclination and pleasure. By noticing our essential relatedness to the rest of nature, we may increase our appreciation of the unity of humanity with the rest of nature.13
Essentially, loving the Earth becomes less of an altruistic exercise and more of a natural inclination.
A natural wellness can be achieved through enlivening the senses. Siting on an ocean shore and listening to the waves, experiencing the presence of a Trillium or the Mountain Hemlock, hearing the wind blowing in a forest, tasting a wild berry, listening to birds whistling on a warm April morning can elicit feelings of well-being. Nature is filled with delicate sounds, magnificent sights, varied textures and unique smells. This awakening of the senses, or perhaps better stated, "coming to our senses," can be a subtly powerful part of feeling well.14
Being well can be tied to the experience of being part of an interconnected organic whole. Feeling well can be based on an appreciation of the ecosphere's self-renewing complexity and beauty. It can be associated with the respect for another being. Even a so-called `insignificant' being such as a fly deserves nothing less. As Ian Barbour writes:
There is an underlying unity behind the world of ten thousand things. Nothing exists in isolation; the parts of the whole are interpenetrating and interfused. Every particular being is a manifestation of the Tao, the nameless unity that exists before differentiation into multiplicity. The human is part of a wider cosmic order. To achieve a harmonious relationship to the natural world, we must respect it and adjust to its demands. The path to the recovery of harmony and wholeness is surrender, tranquillity, nonattachment, the ability to let things be.15
Ecological Soul Searching: Experiencing Spiritual Ecological Wellness
...Spirit that hears each one of us, Hears all that is- Listens, listens, hears us out- Inspire us now! Our own pulse beats in every stranger's throat, And also there within the flowered ground beneath our feet, And-teach us to listen!- We can hear it in water, in wood, and even in stone. We are earth of this earth, and we are bone of its bone. This is a prayer I sing, for we have forgotten this and so The earth is perishing Barbara Deming 16
A natural wellness can ultimately develop into a spiritual ecological wellness. This sense of spiritual ecological well-being can be expressed through a reverence of nature's rhythms and processes. It can be realised through a heavenly harmony that exists between and lies within humanity and nature, as well as, the forces which come from other worlds. Such a sense of well-being can reflect a willingness to seek meaning and purpose in life and to appreciate the intangibles which cannot be readily labelled or understood. It can cultivate intuitive reflection, qualitative thought and transpersonal awareness.
Chants, spells and rituals which call upon people to participate in the cycling of the ancient elements i.e. earth, air, fire and water can generate feelings of well-being.17 Such chants, spells and rituals act as a foundation to allow people to share thoughts and feelings with each other, the earth and the supernatural. They provide the means for people to "sing or scream, howl ecstatically or furiously, play, or keep a solemn silence".18
Recognising the cyclical changes that are evident in nature and the supernatural through growth, decay and rebirth can be a sign of spiritual ecological well-being. Wellness can reflect an ability to synthesise the natural and supernatural, animate and inanimate, body and spirit in order to more fully reveal a natural world that is inspirited and sensate. It can be based on the mystique of magic, the romance of ritual and the simplicity of an earlier way of life. It can be realised by connecting with the root, the heart and the source of existence.
However, while a spiritual ecological wellness can heal the soul, it also can be potentially destructive. The rituals and practices that help foster spiritual ecological healing, can also encourage isolationism. There is the danger of losing touch with the mainstream, not for political reasons, but because of a preoccupation with psychic dimensions of experience that are not generally recognised in dominant society.19 It is partly for this reason that spiritual ecological healing should be grounded.
As a magical technique, grounding involves a state of mind in which one regards oneself as a conduit for energies that reside in the earth or the deeper levels of consciousness and must ultimately be returned to the depths from which they have been raised. But grounding also represents an attitude to life in which a consciousness of magical or psychic dimensions is rooted in an awareness of everyday reality.20
It is of fundamental importance to keep spiritual ecological values grounded in a pragmatic approach to life. Maintaining some equilibrium between everyday reality and the intangible universe of mystic forces is crucial. A public activity such as socioecological activism can help keep a person grounded.
Making a Difference: Adopting an Empowered Sense of Well-Being
On first impressions, the notion of wellness does not conjure up images of letter-writing, marches and protests. It does not evoke symbols of socioecological activism. On the contrary, I think it is fair to say that there are people who would classify such activities under the category of `deviant' and `impudent' behaviour. However, in my mind, wellness is an expression of involvement in efforts to achieve socioecological justice- efforts that are driven by persistence, non-aggressive dissidence, passion and dedication. Being concerned about the coercive relations, the inequalities and inequities that exist in this world can be an expression of wellness. A sense of well-being can be fostered through questioning the values, priorities and interests championed by the prevailing order. It can involve challenging a patriarchal, technocratic and expansionist order which perceives humanity (primarily along lines of race, class and gender) and nonhuman nature as a storehouse of resources to be exploited for vested interests.
Furthermore, wellness can be an illustration of people power. It is important to encourage both citizen participation that approximates democratic ideals and that involves ecoculturally appropriate decentralised decision-making processes in the social, economic and political spheres.22 This can be contrasted with structural power that is a dominant and patriarchal form of power based on top down command systems of social, political and economic organisation. This is not the case with people power, which is much more fluid, synergistic, cooperative and indirect.23
Well-being can also be expressed through socioecological resistance. A key element of socioecological resistance is the conviction that diversity is necessary, but threatened by `monocultures of the mind'. Socioecological resistance means the protection of this diversity through non-violent actions, education, public speaking, the use of lawsuits, shifting public opinion and informing politicians as well as key decision makers about the need for progressive social change.24 Amongst the stated options, non-violent actions are perhaps the most controversial and confrontational form of social protest. As such, there has been some question as to whether this form of protest should be encouraged. However, peaceful direct actions capture media and public attention, and can in turn elicit interest for socioecological justice. Martin Luther King has commented on the topic of nonviolent direct action:
When the underprivileged or those who speak for justice demand freedom, the privileged first react with bitterness and resistance. Even when the demands are couched in nonviolent terms, the initial response is the same, so the nonviolent approach does not immediately change the heart of the oppressor. It first does something to the hearts and souls of those committed to it. It gives them a new self-respect; it calls up resources of strength and courage they didn't know they had. Finally, it reaches opponents and alters their conscience to such a point that reconciliation becomes a reality.25
A commitment to various human and non-human rights can be a sign of wellness. A greater sense of well-being can be achieved through helping people and communities bring about progressive change including ecocentric praxis, world peace and equity. A state of wellness can be achieved by looking in the face of injustice, mobilising for justice and awakening what is arguably a sleepy, apathetic dominant culture. All in all, I find it rather difficult to imagine wellness as a life practice divorced from activism. I feel that in order to be well, one must feel active, involved and empowered. Such an active form of wellness is essential in achieving sustainability. I believe that to consider otherwise is to fall victim to victimisation:
The course of action most likely to lead to environmental disaster [and social chaos] is to do nothing, to carry on as though nothing is amiss. Things are very amiss. But though it is still a long way off, a faint green light glimmers at the end of the tunnel.26
A Content Heart: Seeking Emotional Wellness
I find it difficult to imagine being an unemotional activist. Indeed, I cannot imagine a dispassionate, glacial and dry activism. Yet, I have been told numerous times by logic-driven activists that emotion is an obstruction to cogent activist strategies and tactics. I have been told that `touchy-feely' activism is problematic. Such positivist interpretations of emotion are more than prevalent. The masculinist dominant system seeks to sanctify science, and condition people to believe that logic and `rationality' are inherently good and emotions are merely mental baggage. It encourages people and communities to perceive reality as solely objective, analytical and rational and not subjective, synthesising and intuitive. I find this dominant view highly questionable. According to Fritjof Capra, this emphasis supported by the dominance of sensate culture during the past three centuries, has led to a profound cultural imbalance which lies at the very root of the current socioecological crisis- an imbalance in thoughts and feelings, values and attitudes, and social, economic and political structures.28 Ultimately, in my mind, to be emotional is not only natural, but is essential to one's sense of well-being.
To be emotionally well is to be able to accept and be aware of a wide range of feelings that are evident in oneself, humanity and non-human nature. Emotional well-being can involve appropriately discharged expressions of fear, anxiety, anger, resentment and/or sadness. It has been argued that when these and other similar emotions are repressed, emotional energy transforms into a diverse mix of physical and behavioral distresses. Conversely, emotional well-being can entail a sense of enthusiasm, excitement, and encouragement about life and the surreal. It can be seen as that which encourages laughter, joy, love, contentment and honesty in life. Such an uplifting emotional wellness can also include the following: 1) Practicality- there lies meaning in being able to alter paths or outlooks in light of practical interpretations of circumstances; 2) Propriety- propriety finds no reward in egotistical domination over other people or some aspect of nature; 3) Tolerance- a tolerant person does not expect others to fit within a narrow limit of beliefs and behaviors. It is important to appreciate a diversity of ecocultural behaviors; 4) Openness- being open to different experiences can also be an expression of wellness. Even experiences that result in anguish, failure or devastation can be seen as possibilities for renewal and revival.
On a different level, emotional wellness can embody the notion of `being'. Being is an expressive state that is not restricted by the concept of time. Western societies have traditionally viewed time as a commodity which can be spent, managed and mechanically separated accordingly. `Time can be spent' in activities related to having and/or doing. Having involves a time which is preoccupied with the accumulation of goods, rewards and achievements. Doing suggests some form of enterprise i.e. writing papers, working on committees or organising conferences. Being is not constrained by the Western model of time. It is pure reflection which involves activities which do not produce `concrete' returns in life. Being is connected to observation and the part of the universe that can be appreciated through the senses. It can also be a mediative state of rest, in which the body is well tuned and the mind is free of noise.29 Essentially, being embodies peace. To experience peace, anxiety must be emptied from one's soul. To choose a life that promotes peace demands the choice of peaceful activities, people and events.30 One does not have to learn to do without something, but merely to choose to live in peace.31 Ultimately, walking along a beach involves doing. Reflecting on the tranquillity and significance of the experience involves being.
Finally, emotional wellness can also be tied to relationships. Participation in formal and informal interactions with other people is a fundamental part of my own sense of well-being. Relationships with family, friends and acquaintances, with particular emphasis on intimate relationships can be an essential component of emotional well-being. While some people have a more active social life than others, it is safe to say that most people need some form of social interaction. Social isolation is known to cause human suffering, from marasmus to alienation, creating social and emotional distress.32 The dominant system reinforces personal independence. It encourages the individual to embrace competition over cooperation, atomistic individualism over interconnectedness and reductionism over holism. It suggests that individuals can function as parts separate from the communal sphere. However, it is difficult to see how anyone could be well without some form of social network. All in all, to be able to love and feel loved is an important component of emotional well-being. As Daniel A. Girdano and Dorothy E. Dusk write:
We [i.e. those living in dominant Western cultures] are taught to be independent and inner directed, but we cannot operate alone, disregarding our social system. Whether we are conscious of it or not, much of our behaviour is influenced by the need to be accepted by others. Feeling loved and accepted by others is a critical milestone in achieving a high quality of life. Those who do not feel loved and accepted, many times express this [emptiness] by negative social behaviours [i.e. violence] or by turning inward in self-punishment, often expressed through negative health behaviours.33
Awakening the Body: Achieving Physical Well-Being
I believe that any discussion on emotional well-being needs to be accompanied by a discussion about physical wellness, and visa versa. Descartes argued that "there is nothing included in the concept of body that belongs to the mind; and nothing in that of mind that belongs to the body".35 He believed that mind and body were two equivalent but intrinsically distinct domains that could be considered without reference to one another. He argued that the mind was free and unceasing, and independent of the body which in turn was a machine governed by mechanical laws. I take issue with Descartes' perspective. I see mind and body as one and the same. If I consume too much sugar, I become agitated. If I worry too much, my physical well-being deteriorates. In short, emotional well-being by necessity is interconnected with physical wellness.
My own sense of physical wellness is primarily related to body function, sound nutrition and organic living. Pursuing activities which increase physical flexibility and endurance such as regular aerobic exercise (i.e. walking, running or cycling) can nurture physical well-being. As M. Robin DiMatteo suggests, regular aerobic exercise:
- helps to lower high blood pressure.
- raises high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, which is protective against atherosclerotic disease (arterial plaque).
- strengthens a person's cardiovascular system, making the heart and lungs work more effectively and efficiently, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease...
- makes everyday activities easier in terms of their stress and strain on the body.
- helps to delay the onset of debilitation from chronic disease, and increases both active-life expectancy and life expectancy itself...36
Recognising the connection between general ill-health and diet can also lead to improved physical well-being. Clinical ecologists claim that such widely disparate health problems such as allergies, heart problems and mental illnesses can be triggered by food and the kind of residues and additives it contains.37 Indeed, it is becoming increasingly evident that there is a relationship between diet and cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, intestinal problems and other degenerative diseases. A diet containing whole grains, fruits and vegetables which are rich in minerals, phytochemicals and antioxidant vitamins can delay the onset of disease and enhance physical wellness.38
Consuming organic produce can also lead to physical well-being. Unlike conventional produce, organically grown food is not produced with artificial fertilisers, chemical pesticides or growth hormones. It is more nutritious than conventional produce, and helps reduce the amount of harmful chemicals and pollutants entering the human body and the greater biophysical environment. In discussing the merits of organic food, John Button writes:
[Organic farming builds] up a healthy and balanced ecosystem which can provide nutrient-rich food for many years to come... Crops are grown on healthy soils built up using natural composts and manures... The problems of soil depletion, pesticide residues and nitrate pollution are showing ever more dramatically that intensive farming is unhealthy for us and for the land.39
Ultimately, organic produce supports genetic, species and ecosystem diversity, reduces soil erosion and helps reduce human and non-human pollution levels.
Wellness as Sustainability: From 'Individual' to Socioecological Well-Being
I find it difficult to draw boundaries between physical wellness let alone overall 'individual' wellness and socioecological well-being. Yet, the dominant system in its attempt to compartmentalise reality legitimises and reinforces this separation. Specialisation and disciplinary analysis are praised, and the study of the relationship of the individual to the greater whole is scarcely mentioned. Individual and socioecological well-being are treated as mechanical constructs, to be analysed in terms of their parts. Traditional North American aboriginal people have difficulty understanding how these two terms can be separated. They believe that to harm the land, the oceans and the sky is a painful attack on their own souls, bodies and minds. The following quotation from the Haudenosaunee expresses this sense of socioecological extensionism:
In the beginning, we were told that the human beings who walk about on the earth have been provided with all the things necessary of life. We were instructed to carry a love for one another, and to show a great respect for all the beings of this earth. We are shown that our life exists with the tree life, that our well-being depends on the well-being of the vegetable life, that we are close relatives of the four legged-beings... The original instructions direct that we who walk about on the earth are to express a great respect, an affection, and a gratitude toward all the spirits which create and support life. We give a greeting and thanksgiving to the many supporters of our own lives - the corn, beans, squash, the winds, the sun. When people cease to respect and express gratitude for these many things, then all life will be destroyed, and human life on this planet will come to an end...41
Ultimately, caring for the earth and its communities is analogous to caring for oneself. Conversely, to pollute, degrade and destroy the earth and its communities is like hurting one's physical, psychological and spiritual well-being. In fact, they are the same, since some part of almost everything in nature inevitably influences human beings.42 This view is argued for by Baird Callicott and John Cobb:
Callicott argues that self and nature are one. Clearly, this position entails that whatever is wrong to do to yourself is wrong to do to nature and that whatever is wrong to do to nature is wrong to do to yourself. Cobb argues that no line can be drawn between self and nature.43
Individual and socioecological well-being can be seen as having the same root syllable. Ultimately, wellness can be based on an essential responsibility to bond whole individual selves and communal selves to the Earth. Wellness can be a term meaning larger self- a Self that is in constant transition. Freya Mathews argues that this expanded sense of self avoids atomism, and is by its very nature holistic. She writes: "each element, being constituted by its relations with the other elements, is conditioned by the whole".44 Alan Drengson writes that there exists "the capacity to connect with a much larger sense of self, transcending ego, by extending [the] sense of identification beyond the usual narrow focus on ego to a wider sphere of relationships".45 As Jeanette Armstrong an aboriginal activist writes: "Without this self we are not human, we are incomplete and in need to learn our place as land pieces".46 Ultimately, wellness can be based on a larger sense of Self-identification. An inclusive and expanded wellness recognises Self-identification and interrelatedness as the central theme of a situation, and thus directs attention to the larger context.
Conclusion
I must conclude by emphasising that I do not see any divisions within the previously situated branches of wellness. I perceive wellness as it is cultivated through activism as being interconnected with physical and emotional well-being. I interpret spiritual ecological wellness as an extension of natural well-being. There is an essential interrelatedness and interdependence of all phenomena. To suggest, for example, that physical and emotional wellness are at opposite ends of a one-dimensional continuum is quite misleading. Physical wellness may be balanced by emotional nourishment and in turn influenced by socioecological support, so that the overall state is one of well-being. On the other hand, emotional problems or socioecological isolation can make a person feel sick in spite of physical fitness.47 The various dimensions of wellness will interact with one another (sometimes in unpredictable ways), and the most intense feelings of well-being can become apparent when they are interconnected and juxtaposed with one another.
Notes
1 "Community refers to a context of human relationships which are mutually supporting and complementary... Associations and corporate relationships are impersonal and governed by regulations and formal structures, systems of control and power, whereas communities are based on accepting everyone as they are, and relationships are personal and face to face, not based on regulations or systems of control. It is difficult to realise ourselves morally and spiritually outside the context of community. Aldo Leopold proposed expanding the idea of community to include the other beings with whom we share a place." From Drengson, A. (1994). An Ecophilosopher's Dictionary: Basic Concepts for Ecocentric Exploration. Victoria, BC: LightStar Press., p.8.
2 Hammond, H. (1992). Seeing the Forest Among the Trees. Vancouver, BC: Polestar Press, p.195.
3 I have used the concept `ecocultural' as opposed to the term `cultural' in order to avoid some of the dangers associated with cultural relativism, post-modernism and social constructionism. To use the word `cultural' is to indirectly argue for not only the indigenous and life-affirming culture but for the modern, expansionist and industrial culture. Thus, I have used the term `ecocultural' in order to position culture in ecological/biophysical reality.
4 Reed, R. & Lang, T. (1987). Health Behaviours. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Company.
5 Edlin, G. & Golanty, E. (1992). Health and Wellness: A Holistic Approach. London, UK: Jones and Bartlett Publishers International., p.5.
6 Health Services. (1991). The Wellness Booklet and Self-Care Manual. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria Health Services.
7 Shiva, V. (1993). "Monocultures of the Mind", The Trumpeter. Vol. 10, No. 4, p.132.
8 Haraway, D. (1991). Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Women. New York, NY: Routledge., p.190.
9 Hanson, L. (1995). "Turning Rivals into Allies", Alternatives Journal. Vol. 21, No. 3.
10 Drengson, A. & Inoune, Y. (1995). The Deep Ecology Movement: An Introductory Anthology. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books., p. v.
11 McLaughlin, A. (1993). Regarding Nature: Industrialism and Deep Ecology. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press., p.68.
12 Bell, A. (1995). "Conservation Stories", The Trumpeter. Vol.12, No.2., p.89.
13 Roszak, T., Gomes, M.E. & Kanner, A.D. (1995). Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books, p.164.
14 Ibid.
15 Barbour, I. (1980). Technology, Environment, and Human Values. New York, NY: Praeger Publishers.
16 Seed, J., Macy, J., Fleming, P. & Naess, A. (1988). Thinking like a Mountain: Towards a Council of All Beings. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.
17 Merchant, C. (1992). Radical Ecology: the Search for a Livable World. New York, NY: Routledge.
18 Ibid.
19 Marron, K. (1990). Witches, Pagans, & Magic in the New Age. Toronto: McClelland-Bantam Inc.
20 Ibid., p.117.
21 McLaren, J. & Brown, H. (1993). Raging Grannies Songbook. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers., p.67.
22 Feagan, R. (1994). "Expanding Worldviews: Social Movement Backgrounds Bring a Deeper Analysis to the Environmental Movement", Alternatives Journal. Vol.20, No.2.
23 Shields, K. (1994). In the Tiger's Mouth: An Empowerment Guide for Social Action. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.
24 Devall, B. & Sessions, G. (1985). Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith.
25 Ibid.
26 Button, J. (1989). How to be Green. London, UK: Century Hutchinson Ltd.
27 Boston, T. (1993). "The Great Prison", The Essence. Vol. 12, No.1., p.13.
28 Capra, F. (1988). The Turning Point: Science, Society, and the Rising Culture. Toronto, ON: Bantam Books.
29 Drengson, A. (1983). Shifting Paradigms: From Technocrat to Planetary Person. Victoria, BC: LightStar Press.
30 Girdano, D. & Dusek, D. (1988). Changing Health Behaviour. Scottsdale, AZ: Gorsuch Scarisbrick Publishers.
31 Ibid., p.24.
32 Ibid., p.25.
33 Ibid., p.25.
34 Robbins, J. (1987). Diet for a New America. Walpole, NH: Stillpoint Publishing., p. 170.
35 Hooker, M., ed. (1978). Descartes. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
36 DiMatteo, R. (1991). The Psychology of Health, Illness, and Medical Care. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company., p.72.
37 Bunyard, P. & Morgan-Grenville, F. (1987). The Green Alternative: Guide to Good Living. London, UK: Methuen London Ltd.
38 Diamond, M. (1987). Fit for Life. New York, NY: Warner Books, Inc.
39 Button, J. How to be Green., p.72.
40 Chisholm-Smith, A. (1995). "Poem". UnderCurrents. Vol.7, No.1., p.33.
41 Andruss, V., Plant, C., Plant, J., Wright, E. & Mills, S. (1990). Home! a Bioregional Reader. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers, p.147.
42 LaBossiere, M. (1994). "Body and Environment", Environmental Ethics. Vol.16, No.4.
43 Ibid.
44 Mathews, F. (1988). "Conservation and Self-Realisation: A Deep Ecology Perspective", Environmental Ethics. Vol. 10, No.3., p.349.
45 Drengson, A. (1995). "The Deep Ecology Movement", The Trumpeter. Vol.12, No.3., p.144.
46 Roszak, T., Gomes, M.E. & Kanner, A.D. Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind.
47 Capra, F. The Turning Point: Science, Society, and the Rising Culture., p.322.
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PID: http://hdl.handle.net/10515/sy5hq3sb0
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