Tryin' On Clothes

When I was traveling around in Ireland I thought I would leave the delicious-food-and-Jamesons-filled confines of the Dublin couchsurfing ambassador's house to head over to stay for a few days on a nudist colony. - After chatting with the people at the nudist colony through CS a few times it made me think that it is not my scene. Plus Ireland is really too cold and rainy to be naked all day long, even in summer.

Anyway, I read this poem by Shel Silverstein at the time called 'Tryin' On Clothes' and thought of it as a silly nudist poem. Today I rather see it as a deep ecology poem about a true and close relationship between humans and nature. - The amazing diversity of outward expressions of identity and culture sometimes help us to have a deeper sense of place (i.e. indigenous clothing) but the majority of it seems to be about ego and consumerism (see 'the story of stuff'). - So it I see this as a poem about 'Tryin' On Clothes' in a deep ecology sense and perhaps allowing a kind of nudity of the ego and of outward expression in deference and connection to a true natural self and place.

I tried on the farmer's hat,
Didn't fit...
A little too small -- just a bit
Too floppy.
Couldn't get used to it,
Took it off.
Tried on the dancer's shoes,
A little too loose.
Not the kind you could use
For walkin'.
Didn't feel right in 'em,
Kicked 'em off.
I tried on the summer sun,
Felt good.
Nice and warm -- knew it would.
Tried the grass beneath bare feet,
Felt neat.
Finally, finally felt well dressed,
Nature's clothes fit me best.

Deep Ecology and Conservation

Deep ecology is another mechanism for conservation Stephanie Caza explains that Gary Snyder and his poetry following Han Shan 'Cold Mountain' and the ancient mountain poetry of China and Japan lead to Deep Ecology as a domain of the Environmental Movement.

Deep Ecology (like many indigenous groups, Engaged Buddhism and the Permaculture movement) does not see humans as separate from nature, it holds that there is a need and instinct to be compassionate to all living beings and looks to the health of the natural world as it relates to the health of the self and the health of community. In a way, it is about healing the relationship of humans and nature through a dialogue.

Caza says we must learn to speak, or at least respect the language of nature, a language that mycologist Paul Stamets has said we cannot understand and therefore we disregard. Caza calls for a look to Joanna R. Macy and the idea of the ecological self, which she says is similar to what HH Dalai Lama calls the universal self. It is also similar to EO Wilson's Eco Philia (i.e. nature helps people stay healthy and to heal, they get better in hospitals when the have plants and when they see plants, also true in prisons).

A Poem by Han Shan translated by Gary Snyder

Clambering up the Cold Mountain path,
The Cold Mountain trail goes on and on:
The long gorge choked with scree and boulders,
The wide creek, the mist-blurred grass.
The moss is slippery, though there's been no rain
The pine sings, but there's no wind.

Who can leap the world's ties
And sit with me among the white clouds?