Thru my 20s and 30s I was into youth work, mountain biking, and martial arts. As a urban-based youth worker, I eventually noticed that the greatest benefit occurred when we were abiding in wild natural environments. The wilder the better. So I delved into working as a wilderness guide, helping people feel at home in nature as they found ways to dispel intensities. I kept at it til my own kids came along, and family life called me to put down roots somewhere. So Sadie and I settled into a little farm house up Cowichan Valley; and here we still our with our boys Isaiah and Rhys. I can’t complain…
A big part of the guiding life was creating shelter. Tipis, lean-to’s, sometimes nothing more than a tarp and some rope; and occasionally less than that, building debris huts with only whatever one could find on the land. The other key element was making a hearth fire to gather round and cook with. So long as we could keep warm via movement, metabolism, and an external heat-source, we experienced great com-fort (with-strength). And the abundant qi/chi/prana of wild nature was ours to absorb without hindrance.
As my guiding days wound down, Sadie and I first moved into a little cob cabin with a rumford fireplace I had helped build. The first few mornings of waking up in the cabin I felt great, but something about it had me baffled. I was feeling refreshed in much the same way I felt when sleeping in the great outdoors. But I was now surrounded by 4 walls and a roof. Here I was in a warm comfortable home, feeling virtually all of the vibrant energy I usually only felt outdoors. This was an altogether new experience, leading to a major ‘AHAAA’. Being around such health enhancing materials helps us tune into the subtleties of nature – indoors or out….
That moment of realization was over 23 years ago, and I have been building dwellings and wood-fired heaters from natural materials ever since…