Get to Know Nature

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Keeping a nature journal can be a relaxing and rewarding experience. See the other images in this gallery for ideas on how to approach your own journal. Clare Walker Leslie

In today’s accelerated world, it’s important to take time to breathe. Literally, of course, but also to breathe in the sights, scents and sounds of nature: to watch a sunset, walk through a park or get away from the city lights so you can really see the stars shine. Such examples are easy ways to refresh and energize your body and mind. Also, by keeping a journal and practicing a few simple techniques, you can discover a stronger connection to nature. Not only will you observe unique events, you’ll feel more alive — awake to the world around you and attuned to your connections to it.

That we are drawn to and can be inspired by the natural world should come as no surprise. Because human beings evolved in nature, we have an “instinctive love of living things,” according to Edward O. Wilson, the renowned biologist known as “the father of biodiversity.” Wilson calls this instinct biophilia, and says our inherent capacity to “draw deep excitement and pleasure” from nature has been and always will be essential to our survival.

David Petersen, a former Mother Earth News editor and author of On the Wild Edge: In Search of a Natural Life, concurs with nature’s importance to our past, present and future. “The human species evolved alongside fellow animals of every fur and feather,” he says. “Without our fellow animals, we would not be human. Animals and what remains of the wild, natural world are central to our emotional as well as biological well-being.”

What follows are ideas to help you explore your own instinctive responses to nature and become an amateur naturalist. All you need is an open mind, a journal and a commitment to spend time outdoors. Other inexpensive tools could include books, field guides, watercolors and an assortment of colored pens and pencils.

Find a place

In his book A Sense of Place, artist and conservationist Alan Gussow says, “As humans we require support for our spirits, and this is what certain kinds of places provide. A place is a piece of whole environment that has been claimed by feeling.” Choose a place to study that touches your heart and mind — one that piques your interest and evokes a feeling of connection. Depending on where you live, your back yard may be the nearest option. Other possibilities can be almost anywhere and may surprise you — a rooftop garden or a secluded nook at a city park, for example.