Photo by Todd Hoskins
Episode 34: Landscapes of Being—External Territories and Internal Geographies
In this inaugural Landscapes episode, Marti traces the word's surprising origins from Dutch "land" and "ship," revealing how understanding of place began with fluid conversation between territories. The discussion moves from physical geographies to what Andean elders call "landscapes of the heart"—internal territories of relationship and meaning that shape who we become.
The conversation explores how Western separation from Nature impoverishes both external and internal landscapes, while original human wisdom traditions demonstrate belonging to the places we inhabit. Personal stories emerge of witnessing the healing of post-extraction lands in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and the electromagnetic pull of Arctic territories, showing how specific places can restore capacity for thriving.
The episode reveals how placing awareness outward into the world can create deeper connection than traditional meditation, and concludes with the understanding that integration emerges naturally when systems are well-functioning. For leaders navigating complexity without clear roadmaps, this offers a different approach to finding direction through relationship with the territories we're crossing.
Series: LANDSCAPES
In a time when many feel unmoored from both the natural world and their own sense of purpose, the Landscapes series offers essential navigation tools for finding your way. As global upheaval reshapes everything we thought we knew, the wisdom of belonging to place becomes vital for thriving.
This series challenges the Western illusion of separation that leaves us exhausted, anxious, and ineffective. Whether you're leading an organization through uncertainty, seeking personal direction, or simply trying to make sense of chaotic times, understanding how landscapes both external and internal shape consciousness provides pathways forward. We'll explore how becoming skillful wayfinders—learning to read the territories we're crossing and work with larger forces of change—can restore capacity to create abundance and evolve into states of thriving when traditional approaches have failed.
Photo by Pia Kealey
Timeline
00:54 Introducing the new Landscapes series
01:19 Marti explores the etymology of "landscape" - Dutch roots of "land" and "ship"
02:42 The fluid conversation between land and sea throughout history
03:35 Connection between landscape, pilgrimage, and human migration
04:30 Physical landscapes as interconnected living systems
05:50 Internal landscapes - "landscapes of the heart" from Andean elders
07:10 Western culture's poor relationship with awareness and landscapes
08:40 We are wayfinders who must work with, not fight, our landscapes
09:18 Todd explores the concept of "homing" vs. static home
10:12 Todd's connection to glaciated prairies and jungle forests
11:39 Judging different types of landscapes and their cultural value
12:09 Marti on how nature reflects our true nature
13:36 Making energetic connections with land
14:26 Refuse landscapes and you reject life itself
15:42 Todd discusses assumptions of separation from landscape
17:11 Living as part of the jungle, not separate from it
18:21 How landscapes change us and spark belonging
19:46 Todd's meditation journey from sitting to walking practice
22:19 Marti's suggestion to drop meditation and be open to environment
23:29 Marti on the incomplete Western understanding of contemplative traditions
26:27 Traditions that keep consciousness moving, not still
28:32 How we shape landscapes through invisible presence
30:28 Andean elders' practice of feeding the earth
33:20 Marti’s relationship with Arctic landscapes and electromagnetic fields
36:52 Todd's connection to Michigan's Upper Peninsula
41:27 Humans are wonderful when connected to their landscapes
43:39 Todd's Potentialities segment: "Integration Happens"
50:55 Takeaways
Quotes
“Landscapes are not just external physical geographies. They can also be internal.”— Marti Spiegelman
“The degree of awareness we bring to our participation is vital.” — Marti Spiegelman
“We are the wayfinders of our times. A skillful wayfinder does not fight the landscape he's crossing. He gets to know it. He works with it. He finds out how it grows and especially how it changes. He moves with the larger forces of change, making relationship with them, learning from them, because he knows those larger fluid forces are in the process of shaping a new territory where thriving can begin anew.” — Marti Spiegelman
“Think of ‘homing’ as movement towards home, rather than home being a static place.” — Todd Hoskins
“Coming alive to the world . . . you have to be comfortable with yourself. You have to come home to yourself and find a way to be at home wherever you are.” — Marti Spiegelman
“If my awareness is out into the world, if I am in that state, I am actually thinking less without trying to think less. The noise level of the internal landscape is less because I am connected to my environment.” — Todd Hoskins
“Consciousness is on the move all the time. Consciousness is flowing information through you. The universe is flowing energy and information through us so we can create and come into fulfillment and blossom over and over and over again. And you gotta be on the move for that.” — Marti Spiegelman
“The way to stop the [inner] dialogue is to get your awareness off it and out into the world—into something that is alive and on the move and growing and teaching you and showing you how to be in your brilliant fullness.” — Marti Spiegelman
“My presence has an impact on more than just the people and the pets around me. I am influencing and influenced by the landscape.” — Todd Hoskins
“The cycles of life flow one to the next. In shaping the land, we're shaping the fertility of the land. We're shaping the capacity of the land to be more abundant so we can be well fed, so we can be more creative.” — Marti Spiegelman
“There are visible results of the invisible exchange of our energies. We do shape the landscape and it does shape us in turn.” — Marti Spiegelman
“When we get to know those landscapes, that shapes the internal landscape. If you don't have the connection outwardly, then your internal landscape really suffers.” — Marti Spiegelman
“Most often when we hear about integration—whether it's in an organizational or personal growth context—the assumption is that there are puzzle pieces lying on the table and one or more of us need to put the puzzle together. In other words, work. Figure it out. But this is not how integration works in Nature.” — Todd Hoskins
“When we're integrated, we're flexible, adaptive, coherent, energized, and stable. When we lose integration, we fall into either chaotic disconnection or rigid over-control. This same pattern appears everywhere in Nature. In living systems, healthy function emerges when specialized parts maintain their uniqueness while staying dynamically connected. From quantum fields to ecosystems to consciousness, integration isn't something we do—it's what happens when systems are functioning well.” — Todd Hoskins
“integration happens when a system is well-functioning. It happens! We don't have to work at it. It's a process. It flows. Our cultural commitment to integrating—our need to figure it out, work it out, iron it out—is not actually how we're designed to flourish. Like many truths of how life works, we've tried to pull apart the inherent wholeness in order to give ourselves more control. Or so we think. But it's not working.” — Todd Hoskins
“When we step out of direct experience with life and get locked into that tiny compartment that only recognizes structure, we lose our fluidity. We lose our capacity to allow the larger consciousness to flow through us and inform us moment to moment.” — Todd Hoskins
“Integration isn't a task on your to-do list. It's what's available when you flow into the movement of life itself.” — Todd Hoskins
“Integration is an outcome. It's not something we do.” — Marti Spiegelman
Links
Talking to plants is beneficial
Credits
Theme music courtesy of Cloud Cult