{"id":33070,"date":"2023-09-15T14:58:55","date_gmt":"2023-09-15T21:58:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=33070"},"modified":"2023-09-15T14:58:55","modified_gmt":"2023-09-15T21:58:55","slug":"one-with-the-land-how-nature-can-lead-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/one-with-the-land-how-nature-can-lead-us\/","title":{"rendered":"One with the Land, how nature can lead us!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m not sure I am drawn to Nelson Mandela\u2019s model of leadership because I am about to embark on Advance number 2 which brings up memories of South Africa, or if it\u2019s because I really appreciate his style.\u00a0 I am drawn to consensual leadership as mentioned in Simon Walker\u2019s book Leading with Nothing to Lose, Training in the exercise of power. <\/em>\u00a0As I am writing this blog, I am sitting in a hotel in one of the most beautiful places on Earth, Iceland.\u00a0 What I am most drawn to is the unspoiled beauty\u2026so much land, so small the population.\u00a0 When speaking as President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela spoke to what could unify the land. \u201dOne of the key themes to which Mandela returned throughout his own presidency was the country South Africans of all colours had been given to share. The unity of the nation was based on their common relationship with the land that lay beneath their feet.\u201d[1]<\/a>\u00a0 What is it about the land we sit on that creates such beauty, and yet such turmoil.\u00a0 How many wars in the time of men have we fought over \u201cland\u201d.\u00a0 My husband and I fell in love when we saw the music video \u201cHolocene\u201d by Bon Iver.<\/p>\n

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https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Bon+Iver+Halocene&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8<\/a><\/p>\n

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If you have not seen this video, I highly recommend watching the link included.\u00a0 God\u2019s complete splendor on this tiny island.\u00a0 Iceland has a crisis on hand, that started after another crisis. \u00a0\u201cIn 2008, the Islandic nation was plunged into a nightmare of epic proportion. It\u2019s three commercial banks collapsed in quick succession, the Icelandic Kr\u00f8na plummeted in value, and the country teetered on the edge of national bankruptcy.\u201d [2]<\/a>\u00a0 What saved the country was tourism.\u00a0 I am here today because the most affordable flight to London for me from Portland was Icelandair which allows you to have up to 6-day layover with no extra fees!\u00a0Brilliant!\u00a0 My husband and I have traveled all over the south coast and did a 7-step ritual at the \u201cSky Lagoon\u201d[3]<\/a> in Reykjavik.\u00a0 The land and its beauty have refreshed us and united us.\u00a0 At the Sky Lagoon, heated naturally by the islands geothermal water.\u00a0 We participated in an ancient ritual from Iceland called \u201cthe Seven Step\u201d ritual. A soak in the lagoon, 10 seconds in a ice bath, a dry heat sauna, rinse in a cool mist, body salt scrub, steam room then another shower then back to lagoon.\u00a0 \u00a0I entered the lagoon last night, jet-lagged, stressed and tight muscled and left a completely different person.\u00a0 It\u2019s as if a100 lbs were shaken off!\u00a0 In this ritual I see such connection to the land here.\u00a0 Iceland also faces another crisis now\u2026.tourists.\u00a0 The very thing that saved Iceland has now put it at risk.\u00a0 It is atrociously expensive, and when this book was written there were \u201c120,00 inhabitants in Reykjavik and 3100 airbnbs\u201d \u00a0[4]<\/a>This means many young adults either live with their parents or leave Iceland.\u00a0 While we are here I saw at least more then 10 large building being erected.\u00a0 Where could Nelson Mandela\u2019s consensual strategy help?<\/p>\n

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Let\u2019s do an imaginary experiment of pretending we are part of the Icelandic Parliament and apply the strategy.<\/p>\n

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  1. \u201cWork to overcome divisions and build trust\u201d. [5]<\/a> Now I don\u2019t know where Iceland is at this time, but I can guarantee there is distrust in the government to come up with a good solution other then build more in one of the most beautiful natural landscapes on earth.\u00a0 In fact, I read in a newspaper that there was a survey about how locals viewed tourists and there was a large percentage who felt there were too many tour buses driving around.\u00a0 How would Iceland make peace with the industry that feeds it and perhaps build trust again and with whom? \u00a0I would suppose with each other, but also with the tourists.\u00a0 What responsibility do we have? (Not trampling off the paths in their landmarks would be a good start\uf04a.<\/li>\n
  2. \u201cCreate a sense of belonging and mutual commitment\u201d[6]<\/a> Mutual commitment is a must in Iceland\u2019s case. This Little book of Tourists in Iceland was a super helpful read before going as it gave me a sense of the history and recommendations of Iceland, as it should, but it also gave an honest review of how locals viewed tourists and what behaviors tourists have that makes them angry.\u00a0 It empowered me to be very aware of my surroundings, of my own behavior as well as not taking for granted what a complete blessing this island is to have shared a bit of it with me.<\/li>\n
  3. \u201cEstablish, model and nurture a collaborative learning environment\u201d[7]<\/a> Our tour guide today was nice, as he should be if he is going to be successful in a job like this, but come to find out as we stood at a sign at a Geysir (actually the Geysir all Geysirs get their name from) and looking very obviously touristy (although everyone else was too). He gave a small amount of information and as we moved on I heard the next tour guide say \u201cGreat I have to follow him, he\u2019s an actual geologist\u201d. So, he is more than a tour guide, he is an expert in the field.\u00a0 I really enjoyed hearing all the details of this amazing landscape.\u00a0\u00a0 As we stood at the large Geysir that has not gone off in over 20 years, it was explained to us that the water levels were too high above the pipe that goes down to the boiling level which means the heat has to be much hotter to get the water to explode out.\u00a0 They actually have a smaller geyser where they lowered the water levels to ensure explosion, but the government has decided to let nature be nature and not mess with the big geysir.\u00a0 In my mind I instantly thought, if we were in America, it wouldn\u2019t even be a hesitation.\u00a0 What a beautiful collaboration the Icelandic people have with their nature.<\/li>\n
  4. Deliberately incorporate some activities that require collaborative thinking or work\u201d [8]<\/a> I have a feeling Iceland is going to be okay, because they have such a deep love of their land.\u00a0 Nature could be a unifying force for us all.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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    Thank you Iceland, it\u2019s been surreal<\/p>\n

    [1]<\/a> Walker, Simon P Leading with Nothing to Lose, Training in the Exercise of Power.<\/em> (Carlisle, UK, Piquant Editions Ltd, 2007)\u00a0 107.<\/p>\n

    [2]<\/a> Sigmundsdottir, Alda. The Little Book of Tourists in Iceland, Tips, Tricks and what the Icelanders really think of you. <\/em>(Reykjavik, IS Little Book Publishing, 2017) 16.<\/p>\n

    [3]<\/a> www.skylagoon.com<\/p>\n

    [4]<\/a> Sigmundsdottir, Alda, pg. 20.<\/p>\n

    [5]<\/a> Walker, Simon P. Pg 115<\/p>\n

    [6]<\/a> Ibid, 115<\/p>\n

    [7]<\/a> Ibid 115<\/p>\n

    [8]<\/a> Ibid, 116<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I\u2019m not sure I am drawn to Nelson Mandela\u2019s model of leadership because I am about to embark on Advance number 2 which brings up memories of South Africa, or if it\u2019s because I really appreciate his style.\u00a0 I am drawn to consensual leadership as mentioned in Simon Walker\u2019s book Leading with Nothing to Lose, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2489,2833],"class_list":["post-33070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp02","tag-walker-iceland","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/187"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33070"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33071,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33070\/revisions\/33071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}