Project Proposal

For my Lived Ethics project, I plan on spending at least a continuous hour each day in a natural setting. During that time I will incorporate meditation, self-reflection, and appropriate naturalist readings. The specific type of natural setting is not very important to me. However, I will try to find spaces that are less influenced by humans or human infrastructure. If time or weather does not permit this, I will still spend at least a continuous hour each day somewhere outdoors.

I will begin my time outside each day with meditation. My personal meditation practice stems from Buddhism, and is used to observe anthropocentrism and develop appreciation for my environment. Buddhist meditation is also meant to develop wholesome virtues, values, or faculty of mind. These are definitely applicable from an environmental virtue ethicists’ perspective.

I will also find appropriate readings regarding the natural world in order to supplement my experience. My first days will be spent reading Henry David Thoreau. This part of the project was inspired by Philip Cafaro’s paper “Thoreau, Leopold, and Carson”, which shows that outside perspectives are crucial in creating an environmental ethical frameworks to follow.

Lastly, some time will also be spent outside simply doing regular homework. I believe that developing the habit of spending as much time outdoors, including productive time, is very beneficial for personal development.

This project was inspired by my experiences in nature throughout my life. The times I have felt the closest aligned with my wholesome virtues have been during and after spending quality time in nature hiking, teaching, fishing, or backpacking. These times spent in nature have also inspired my life goal to protect the natural environment. By spending quality time outside I will be able to continually remind myself of these goals - especially when my coursework keeps me indoors for so long.

I don’t spend as much time outside as I would like to. This project is a wonderful vehicle to more seamlessly incorporate a personal environmental ethic into my lifestyle. I recently spent the entirety of my last spring break backcountry backpacking for nine full nights. Coming back to CC meant coming back to a very different way of life filled with lots of human interaction, endless amenities, and a much more flexible yet scheduled lifestyle. I didn’t want to entirely let go of my backpacking experience. This project will allow me to bring the relevant and useful parts of my spring break back into my daily life.

A significant challenge I see myself facing throughout this project is feeling pressed for time during each hour in nature. Most of my days are a struggle of balancing school work, volunteer work, hobbies, and social time. Subtracting an hour from that equation will not make things easier. However, it is my hope that spending reflective time in nature will in fact increase my daily productivity, by slowing down and reflecting on what is truly important in the bigger picture of my life.

Over the course of the project, I hope for my perspective on spending time outdoors to change from a burden to something necessary for my own well being. I plan to open new avenues of experiencing and understanding nature through meditation and readings. I am also open to the prospect of unexpected effects and revelations from this experiment. I enter this project with excitement, curious to see what outcomes will occur by setting my intention to be outside.