What Can We Learn From a Man Educated By An Octopus?

A wild dolphin swims beside me.  The unrelenting grief that felt like someone ripped my heart out not only instantly disappears, but it is replaced by a euphoria that I have never experienced before.
 
His eye looks into mine as he swims past me, tilted to one side.  He circles, and on his second pass, Winston, a male captive beluga whale, tilts his entire body and flashes me a huge erection!
 
Molly, a wild raccoon my mother named and fed dinner scraps to every night when we were kids, allowed her kits to venture down the hill to meet us. My siblings and I sit on the bottom stair and hand-feed the youngins as Molly watches them from the top of the hill. When she decides they have had enough, at least that is how we interpret it, Molly screeches repeatedly, and her kids scurry up the hill to her side.
 
Experiences like this are hard to describe. The relationships and feelings accompanying these non-human encounters are not easy to translate into words that capture the breath, emotions, and energy transference. So, when I find humans who have not only had similar experiences but can put words to describe what contact with non-humans felt to them, I am elated! Someone else gets it!  
 
Legendary podcaster and content creator Tim Ferris hosted Craig Foster, most known for his film My Octopus Teacher, for a recent deep discussion on his experiences and relationships with nature. Ferris, known for doing deep diligence information gathering on the guests he thoughtfully hosts, presented Foster with a series of questions that led to an intriguing conversation.
 
Without giving away all of the insightful knowledge that comes with spending significant time in the wild, a few highlights resonated with me as a nature lover myself.
 
Foster vulnerably shares how his intimate relationship with the natural world has dramatically benefitted his mental and emotional health.  Nature connection is supported by science to help humans relieve stress, improve sleep, and improve our creativity, to name a few documented benefits. Foster’s hypothesis that nature abundant in biodiversity allows the greatest neuroregulation in our bodies, which can last for months after exposure, because intuitively, we feel safe and have access to our most primal needs is interesting.
 
Throughout the conversation, Foster described a feeling of ‘oneness’ with the natural world—being with nature rather than being in nature. He goes so far as to say that cultivating an intimate relationship with the natural world decreases our need to be with other people. It is socially and emotionally satisfying.  Something I have blogged about in the past, describing nature as an unconditional friend.  Always available, always able to hold the sacred space and hear our thoughts, and a place to play.
The two explore other delights in the great outdoors, such as wilderness rapture, a sense of extraordinary joy that comes from being deeply embedded in the natural world, and song-catching. Of course, no discussion about nature these days can be had without the topic of climate change and our impact on our environment.  Like many other nature connection champions, Foster offers encouragement and ways for us to deepen our knowing of nature and how this healthy, reverent relationship can help us enhance our environment and save ourselves.  Acknowledgment is also often given to the extraordinary ways Indigenous people co-exist with nature throughout the interview.
 
The podcast piqued my curiosity enough that I pre-ordered Foster’s new book, Amphibious Soul: Finding the Wild in a Tame World.  You can listen to (or watch) the discussion on Tim Ferris’s podcast here: https://youtu.be/_tBrxckIwJw?si=ehwl_1nw2yHh2IGD
 
Have you had an extraordinary encounter in the natural world?  Please share it in the comments below.
 
Interested in deepening your relationship with nature? Download: Get In Step With Nature: The How and Why Walking With Nature Enhances Our Holistic Health and the Health of Our Planet.