INTRODUCTION 41
inform and complement each other and serve as a starting point for
an integrative theory of nature-based expressive arts.
CHAPTER TWO: STORIES FROM THE ARTS
In this chapter we examine cultural and historical contexts of our
contemporary ideas about art and aesthetics. We explore stories
about the relationship of beauty, aesthetic response and responsibility
and practices of sustainability, and we suggest how these stories
can contribute to ways of living that promote personal and
planetary wellbeing.
Part III: Insearch
CHAPTER THREE: STORIES FROM ECOLOGICAL SCIENCE
All of life moves within the powerful rhythms of the Earth and the
cosmos. In this chapter we discuss the world as process, as systems
within systems of dynamic interrelationships. We review stories from
contemporary environmental science of systems and patterns of
interconnection and we explore the metaphorical understanding
of the Earth as a living system.
CHAPTER FOUR: STORIES FROM
ECOLOGICAL PHILOSOPHY
In recent years many environmentally conscious thinkers have
written about their concerns for the Earth and for the place of
humans within the Earth. In this chapter we review ideas from
several contemporary nature-oriented philosophers that inform the
theoretical underpinnings of our work. These stories suggest ways
of thinking and possible ways of living in the present time with
compassion and hope.
CHAPTER FIVE: STORIES FROM INDIGENOUS CULTURES
In this chapter we offer relevant teachings from personal experience
with philosophies and living practices of several indigenous cultures
in which the arts and nature are integrated into daily life. These