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What am I on this planet for?
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Why am I here?
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What is life really about or for any way?
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These and associated questions have been asked millions of times.
 Bush Venture has grown from the belief that the answers are not that hard to find and that the quest of our time on this Earth is to find happiness from a place within rather than by reacting to the outside environment. In short, happiness is a real possibility and therein lies success and meaning.
How we journey on our quest in the outer World very much reflects the journey within in the way we relate to others, cope with the challenge of change and the attendant fear, being extended beyond comfort zones, approach our families, and develop our careers. This journey within is where ‘it is really at’. It is here that we ask ‘Who am I?’, ‘Who is running this show.....me.....my ego.....fate....who?’, ‘Am I OK?’, ‘What do I think and feel about me and what is the truth here?’, and so on.
Thus the journey of life is driven by an inner journey. It is in this context, that it becomes vital to know where we are within, where we want to go and how we intend to get there. This knowing is self knowledge and is very much akin to preparing for a bush walk where we confirm where we are, identify where we want to go, check for the obstacles and obstructions that may occur, plan an appropriate route which maximises our safety and enjoyment of the journey while offering efficiency in getting to our destination, measure the territory to be covered, the distances involved, and the directions required. From this comes a sense of purpose and from that comes positive motivation. Thus we can measure leadership by morale from a positive vision and purpose and management by efficiency in reaching our destination.
To put flesh onto this metaphor, Bush Venture presents camps in the bush for corporates and youth, as well as seminars, and country based retreats.
The use of the bush allows a link with Australian Anzac heritage, accelerated learning from being in an unfamiliar environment, and the facilitation of transformation by allowing Mother Nature to teach.
In the first 20 years after Federation, Australia was known as a World leader in pioneering such issues as universal suffrage, development and practical use of new technology (eg. in cinema, air travel etc.), and excellence in amateur sport. It was also the era of the famed Anzac values.
Today, Australia leads the World in youth suicide rate and per capita crime rates indicating poor leadership despite some good management.
Australians can again be leaders in the field in being free and complete human beings and set standards of social justice and innovation combining toughness with sensitivity through the practicality and compassion that can be our special contribution.
Bush Venture leads in the facilitation of people to shape happy lives.
Some Background
 In 1975, were alarmed at the statistics of suicide, drug abuse and crime surrounding young people in particular and the Australian public in general. These symptoms spoke of a level of despair that seemed to have no place in a country like this one. This caused them to research and to formulate a plan for the conduct of wilderness based training to develop self-knowledge, self-reliance and self-esteem through competence in being one with the bush. In 1985, Bush Venture was formed and the first courses conducted.
John Guy's focus is on leadership training and this is based on over forty years of practical and professional experience. His career has led him to develop some unique and empowering techniques for personal development based on the conclusion that effective and good leaders are men and women of courage, honour and service. He is a public speaker, lecturer, facilitator of experiential training in the outdoors and author. He has a degree from the University of Adelaide majoring in Psychology and Philosophy. He has postgraduate qualifications in leadership from the Australian Command and Staff College, Fort Queenscliff, Victoria. He has also spent extensive periods working and studying in other countries living with other cultures and speaking other languages in such places as Papua New Guinea, Vietnam (with the SAS), Hong Kong, Malaysia, Cyprus, U.K. (leading Gurkha soldiers), Denmark, Pakistan (North West Frontier) and Nepal.
Micheline has provided the feminine balance to the masculine aspects from John’s background. She married John in 1972 when he was serving with the British Gurkhas in UK and she has not had a ‘normal’ way of life since! She has provided a key team element in the formulation of the dream that became Bush Venture and which is now branching out into more broad fields. She has mothered the staff and program participants on wilderness based courses, retreats and workshops making the environment homely and secure to assist in the confrontation of challenge. The Brisbane Broncos still remember her cooking when they trained with Bush Venture in torrential rain. She has nurtured two sons who are now adult with families of their own.
Transformation rather than Information
John and Micheline have been moved by the image of a tree and, on reflection, they see it as a means of understanding how the mind works. For them, the image says this:
The Leaves.
The leaves of the tree seem to predominate giving the view that a forest is green. Yet closer examination demonstrates that the leaves comprise a very small proportion (10% or less) of the mass of the tree. This is much like our conscious mind that seems to predominate in our daily awareness. The conscious mind constitutes about 10% of our mind power and we use less than 1% of that! It is this part of the mind that operates with language and logic. It is this part that reaches out to ideas and ideals like the leaves reach for the sun for the energy used in photosynthesis. It is here that we find mental energy and motivation to plan and move ahead.
 The Trunk.
The tree trunk connects the leaves to the root system and is like the sub conscious as it links the results of photosynthesis (energy) in the leaves and the absorption of the sustenance of the earth by the roots. Our awareness here is in feelings, imagery and dreams. The experience of gut feeling, inspiration, and the results of ‘sleeping on the problem’ all come from here. This part never sleeps and constitutes about 45% of mind power.
The Roots.
The roots connect the leaves through the trunk to the nutrients of the soil and to do this they must explore from the surface right down into the depths. These depths are black and mysterious and so they can engender fear in their human equivalent, the unconscious. It is here that we find the shadow of ego-based compulsions. These come from memories and patterning not necessarily evident in our conscious of a time when, as infants, we survived from an ego centred place and did an enormous amount of learning as we adjusted to the world outside the womb. Here also resides the collective unconscious and memories from previous lives. As people seeking pro-active behaviours rather than reactive ones, this shadow area and dark place needs to be visited and some learning revised. It is here that we must love our enemy (our shadow) in a special way as a basis for love of self and this allows genuine love our neighbour.
In sum, mind power is made up of three major components. These are the conscious, the sub conscious and the unconscious. It is divided into these three areas in approximately the proportions 10: 45: 45. It can be seen that the bulk of the mind (90%) lies in the sub and unconscious areas. The complication of this is that, unlike the conscious mind, this section is non-verbal and communicates in feelings, imagery, and dreams requiring that we understand the field of symbolism and the practice of silence and listening. As leaders, we need to concentrate energy in this area and understand and move in the language of symbolism while moving back and forth between verbal and non-verbal brain function. For our integrity (Latin for wholeness), we need to use all three parts of our mind. In this process, we learn to love and care for the human essence if not some human behaviour.
In this process, we take the new seed that is the essence of our selves and first dry it in the sun to die to the dominance of ego. We are then ready for planting in the soil where we are put into the dark space to sprout roots and trunk. The unconscious and subconscious begin to grow. Eventually we break the ground and reach up to the Sun with arms outstretched and palms exposed to energising radiance. Our conscious then grows and gives direction and energy to the remainder.
The roots remain and grow in a place in the ground that is dark and mysterious and yet that is where nutrient or toxin will determine the extent of growth and life. The unconscious is the place of radical truth (radix is Latin for root) as it is the anchoring place for our roots and the source of sustenance in minerals and humus. It is here that we turn our pain into our compost or alternatively leave it to become our toxin like many are doing. Staying in the light all the time does not allow this process to happen and we know what occurs to trees without strong root and trunk systems when the storm comes.
The Values that Evolved for the ‘Code of Conduct’
 When we find people who are free to be themselves and are truly human, there are some core values that become apparent. These are:
Courage.
Courage comes from the Latin ‘cor agere’ and means to come from the heart. This means to be life centred and giving in all facets of living. This is the connection to the light of the Universe. Here people seem to have the courage to not just ‘follow the herd’ and submit to peer pressure but to hear their own drum and follow it come what may. They come from an inner locus of control. They have named their fear of death in all its forms and have confronted it with a faith in life and light.
Honour.
Honour means to respect self, others and the environment at a spiritual level. This comes from learning to respect both the shadow and light sides of self. It comes from a healthy connection with the depths of the root system and the ability to process pain into the compost needed for strength and growth. These are people who are not stunted by the toxin of unprocessed pain and who thus those who take responsibility for their own lives and who therefore ignore the victim state and the temptation to blame. They honour others even when they do not respect their behaviour.
Service.
People with courage and honour are unconditionally caring. In ancient times, they were called gentle men and gentle women (later ‘ladies’). ‘Gentle’ in old English means to ennoble. Thus gentle folk enrich, empower and ennoble the situations around them. They give without counting cost or the need for return or ‘kick back’.
Thus the simple training and education requirement lies in facilitating visionary and ethical leadership where the template for all behaviour and attitudes is set on courage, honour and service.
Joy from a deep inner place with little dependence on the superficial and the outer stimuli is a real and lasting happiness. The finding of this place is special and unique to each individual. It is the privilege of staff to facilitate this discovery through walking with the program participants through inner and outer forests, valleys, mountains, bush fires, sunsets, highs and lows ... all the real things on life's journey in the spirit of joy in the practice of learning in simplicity. The result is an output of pro-active, positive, principle centred and effective leaders for a great World!
Vision for the Future
 In the first 20 years after Federation, Australia was known as a World leader in pioneering such issues as universal suffrage, development and practical use of new technology (eg. in cinema, air travel etc.), and excellence in amateur sport.
Today, we lead the World in the suicide rate in 15 to 25 year olds. In many areas we follow trends from foreign lands. We must realise that we can again lead the World in areas where our culture, natural environment and independent thinking give us a unique edge. The Bush Venture ideal is about setting a standard in the relationship with the Universe through Nature that denies our mediocrity. In doing this, the ideal, as well as growing throughout this land, will grow overseas.
Australians can lead the field in being free and complete human beings world wide and set standards of social justice and innovation combining toughness with sensitivity through the practicality and compassion that can be our special contribution.
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