President Joe Biden is heading to Glasgow, Scotland, to attend the COP 26 climate summit over the next few days. He had hoped to share concrete legislative commitments and underscore his successful determination for the US to confront the climate crisis. Many of these policy ideas and investments focus on the expansion of renewable energy and the preparation of the country’s infrastructure to reduce carbon emissions, motivate a transition away from fossil fuels and adapt to increasingly extreme climate and weather conditions.
Yet while Biden struggles to ensure support from a majority, the challenge also persists to increase attention on the existential threat of climate change—from elected officials and the general public. In my view, that requires awakening or reawakening the sense of connection to the natural world and to our shared responsibility to limit environmental degradation and over-consumption of resources. That also means increasing a sense of empathy about the climate-related changes happening around the world and expanding the desire to do something.
When I was a young boy, living outside Chicago, I reveled in watching lighting and thunder storms. I relished the chance to hike in woods or sit by a river and watch the water trickle or rush by. I still do—particularly the opportunity nature gives to quiet down and listen. (The thought of some of those places disappearing due to drought or burned in wildfires is deeply upsetting.) What about you? Do you commune with nature? Where do you do it? And how does that chance to slow down affect your sense of connection?
As always, I look forward to reading your experiences and insights—and for the chance for this community to learn from each other.
I grew up in nature, hiking, fishing, camping.Then I went out into the confusing world of human civilization as a journalist, exciting, a high, but thoughtless and ultimately for me incomprehensible. Now I'm old, and I walk and run in nature. It's home. Alexa and my dogs keep me going. Nature and them seem reliable to me. Mankind, not so much.
I grew up with a hill big enough to roll down, with the softest, greenest grass and clover to smell, pick, and crown my head. The trees were big old spruce, sycamore, and beautiful oak. All amazing blessings that must be nurtured, respected, appreciated, in a thoughtful productive way.
I feel at peace in nature. As a "younger" adult (I'm now 76) I used to hike the Finger Lakes Trails, camp in the New York state parks and canoe wherever I could put my boat in. I belonged to the Adirondack Mountain Club so I could be with others who also appreciated nature. I got my knee replace seven weeks ago so I can once again climb into the parks near me. Treman and Watkins Glen State Parks here I come!
I live on an island and there is nature all around me daily. I am unbelievably fortunate. My backyard abuts woods with deer roaming, bunnies romping and my 4 hens doing their chicken things. Daily I walk with my dog sometimes going into the forest or on the beach. As an artist my internal life has to be connected to the spiritual which I often find in nature. What a wonderful question.
As a professional photographer and filmmaker I began shooting landscapes for my own creative sanity and am so glad I did. Published a book of my work I am very proud of and then found a way to turn my work into what I call HDSereneScapes films to bring people to the experience of nature into their everyday lives, that so many of us have lost touch with living in cities and having hectic lives.
I was always my hope that connecting people to nature can help them care more about Global Warming and what it is doing to the world around us.
I started doing these works decades ago as I was seeing so much of our world disappearing to urban growth and the trashing of our National & State parks. I wish I had more of an impact, yet I find for my own wellbeing, I must keep putting it out there for those who still care.
I wish the Democrats had more concerns in the area of Climate change because every day we fail to wage an all out war on carbon, moves us dangerously closer to societal collapse, let alone potential extinction events we will not be able to stop. I have long since given up on Republicans.
I follow Steve’s posts as his concerns and optometrist perspective align with mine.
If you wish to see my work, feel free to check them out:
I'd also like to recommend Manda Scott's podcast, Accidental Gods, which is on this topic. Uplifting, inspiring, helps with "what do I do to fix this?"
We absolutely need to reconnect with the other than human world, "all our relations." I believe the cutoff fro nature is where we went wrong as a civilization. I'm learning to listen to the natural world. I ask, "What do you need from me," and listen deeply.
We live next to the woods in NE Washington state and we commune with nature every day and time we walk out our front door. Nature was continuing to be in our face with the summer drought and fire season this year, which is a growing threat for the last several years. We work hard to “fire wise” around our home but we both realize we also have to be prepared to bug out if necessary. You can’t out run a fire storm! Fire season has ended and we look forward to winter with cross country skiing right out the front door, with miles of back roads for a winter break.
I live next to a very busy street. Live within walking distance of 2 parks that are quiet. One is on a hill and has amazing views. The other is family oriented and is lush, has trees and nice walking areas.
When I was 4 or 5, friends of my parents lived at the end of a narrow lane in Beech Creek, PA near Lock Haven. On the other side of the road was a small lazily flowing stream , a pretty blue color with occasional white ripples, but clear enough to see the color of stones at its bottom and occasionally, a fish would glide by. While the adults visited, I sat by the water's edge endlessly, listening to it, throwing the occasional skipping stone, enjoying the occasional bird call flying past, and even at that age, feeling calmed and serene. There was a large stand of pine trees beyond their driveway where two of their dogs were buried, each with a little tombstone. One, I remember, said Sandy. I would gather moss, pine cones, and stolen flowers from their garden, and I would decorate the little graves. My grandparents were real, old fashioned farmers, my dad always had a garden, favoring cucumbers which Mother made into pickles, and she loved flowers, esp. morning glories. I take after her, loving plants and flowers and walks to collect same to dry and make pictures. My brother always said we were all just a bunch of farmers at heart. Now, I live in FL, a development which is perfectly manicured by landscapers, pretty but completely uninteresting, not a pretty leaf or weed to pick, one squirrel without a mate, and it is usually too hot to take a walk.
I grew up in North Jersey before it exploded with Industry. We used to go to a place called Bear Mountain where it was just breathtaking. When I grew up, I moved to Florida where everything was flat and it was ok but nothing to feel excited about. Living in Florida for over 30 yrs., I saw changes that I never expected to see in my lifetime. Buildings went up all over and the natural habitat was slowly going away. Gators wound up in pools. Also it got hotter. A lot hotter. The kids couldn’t play outside unless they were playing in a pool. Then 16 yrs ago I moved to rural North Georgia and live in the middle of no where, where we do have deer, wolves, bear, wild turkeys, raccoons, and it’s amazing. I love where I live bc I get to actually mingle with all of Gods creatures. Our County commission passed an ordinance to keep our quaint little town quaint and I thank them for that. I live where the Trail of Tears started and I just love where I live.
I, like you, grew up outside of Chicago. We played outside all summer long until 9 pm. We saw fireflies, bees. We climbed trees and forts out of boxes. We had rain and thunder and lightning. We went to summer camp and hiked, swam, made hideous crafts. In the winter it snowed, with drifts up to the second story windows. It was just great. Of course, I’m looking across many years and memories tend to be rose-colored. These days I walk and look at the trees and streams ( that are generally dry) until rainy season. I have lived in California for over 50 years and love the mountains, the hills and the ocean. The Pacific Ocean is comfort zone - I go there to breathe in the air, stare at the waves and just relax.
I totally agree! With the reports I have read about our national parks being overwhelmed by visitors, I would say many Americans feel the same way.
Thanks to Oprah, many more Americans have access to the outdoors near where they live. We need to identify the entities that are paying our Congress to stop meaningful changes that will stop the destruction of our planet.
Ahh yes. A "commune with nature". Is it a "religious experience?"
Raised in a very small town in western N. Carolina, nature was just a normal piece of life when I was a kid six decades ago. Roaming the woods, fishing the creeks/lakes and climbing the close- by, smaller cliffs were after school and weekend entertainment for me & a few other boys. Most, if not all, of the land was privately owned, but no one seemed to mind if you traversed their property or even fished in the creeks that flowed through.
I remember, more than once, walking to a meadow near my house where my Grandmother would pick "wild" strawberries. I would continue across the open space to a pine forest just on the other side. Under the tall trees was a blanket of nettles and not much undergrowth. I would find a spot where I could see the sky and would lie on my back so I could watch clouds drift slowly along. It seemed then I would be there for hours (usually 30 minutes or so before Grandma called for me to come along) listening to the sound of a breeze through the trees or just silence. Occasionally a cloud would cover the sun and the forest would be dimly lit & perhaps even scary to a lone child. (Bear with me, I am getting closer to the "religious experience).
Fast forward a few decades, university, a job, a family, a profession, a business, living near the ocean, still fishing/enjoying the beauty of the mountain trout streams of Carolina, adding a small skiff and 25 years of learning the waters, mangroves, cuts & channels of the Lower Florida Keys and a small portion of the Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge...and a conversation with one of my long time and favorite customers. (All being faves in their own way). This man I will describe as a non-traditional minister. He loved to chat, ask questions and seemed always to be probing (perhaps & as it turned out) to see if there was a spiritual side hiding. From many conversations he knew of my fondness of fishing both tiny mountain streams and the vast openness of the Florida Key's waters and was curious why and for what reasons I revered BOTH.
I explained the feelings I had when, alone, I was deep in a forest fishing a creek or a mile or two into the "backcountry" of the Florida Keys. Both were/are beautiful, quiet, calming, heightens one's senses of hearing, smell, vision and both lend a slight sense of foreboding in that you are in a vast area, you are alone and you are actually quite small in that setting. I related these feelings to the feelings I had as a child "alone" in the pine forest enjoying the beauty, sounds, smells of nature, but having similar foreboding thoughts. His face brightened, eyes widened, he smiled and gave me two thumbs up. He had his answer. "Those, sir, are religious experiences you just described!"
Whether I am having "religious experiences" or "communes" with nature, all I know is, I want them to continue. We must protect the beauty of what remains of our natural spaces!
I grew up in nature, hiking, fishing, camping.Then I went out into the confusing world of human civilization as a journalist, exciting, a high, but thoughtless and ultimately for me incomprehensible. Now I'm old, and I walk and run in nature. It's home. Alexa and my dogs keep me going. Nature and them seem reliable to me. Mankind, not so much.
I grew up with a hill big enough to roll down, with the softest, greenest grass and clover to smell, pick, and crown my head. The trees were big old spruce, sycamore, and beautiful oak. All amazing blessings that must be nurtured, respected, appreciated, in a thoughtful productive way.
I feel at peace in nature. As a "younger" adult (I'm now 76) I used to hike the Finger Lakes Trails, camp in the New York state parks and canoe wherever I could put my boat in. I belonged to the Adirondack Mountain Club so I could be with others who also appreciated nature. I got my knee replace seven weeks ago so I can once again climb into the parks near me. Treman and Watkins Glen State Parks here I come!
I live on an island and there is nature all around me daily. I am unbelievably fortunate. My backyard abuts woods with deer roaming, bunnies romping and my 4 hens doing their chicken things. Daily I walk with my dog sometimes going into the forest or on the beach. As an artist my internal life has to be connected to the spiritual which I often find in nature. What a wonderful question.
What a wonderful setting for reflection.
I am filled with gratitude.
Agreed Steven, we must do all we can on what ever level we can. Thanks for the compliment too.
As a professional photographer and filmmaker I began shooting landscapes for my own creative sanity and am so glad I did. Published a book of my work I am very proud of and then found a way to turn my work into what I call HDSereneScapes films to bring people to the experience of nature into their everyday lives, that so many of us have lost touch with living in cities and having hectic lives.
I was always my hope that connecting people to nature can help them care more about Global Warming and what it is doing to the world around us.
I started doing these works decades ago as I was seeing so much of our world disappearing to urban growth and the trashing of our National & State parks. I wish I had more of an impact, yet I find for my own wellbeing, I must keep putting it out there for those who still care.
I wish the Democrats had more concerns in the area of Climate change because every day we fail to wage an all out war on carbon, moves us dangerously closer to societal collapse, let alone potential extinction events we will not be able to stop. I have long since given up on Republicans.
I follow Steve’s posts as his concerns and optometrist perspective align with mine.
If you wish to see my work, feel free to check them out:
Films at HDSereneScapes.com
WayneWilliamsStudio.com and click the landscapers link.
Beautiful work. Keep sharing. I don’t think there’s one way to have impact. It takes multiple storytelling modes that connect with people.
I'd also like to recommend Manda Scott's podcast, Accidental Gods, which is on this topic. Uplifting, inspiring, helps with "what do I do to fix this?"
Thanks for that. I’ll check it out.
Me too. Thanks Amy for sharing.
We absolutely need to reconnect with the other than human world, "all our relations." I believe the cutoff fro nature is where we went wrong as a civilization. I'm learning to listen to the natural world. I ask, "What do you need from me," and listen deeply.
We live next to the woods in NE Washington state and we commune with nature every day and time we walk out our front door. Nature was continuing to be in our face with the summer drought and fire season this year, which is a growing threat for the last several years. We work hard to “fire wise” around our home but we both realize we also have to be prepared to bug out if necessary. You can’t out run a fire storm! Fire season has ended and we look forward to winter with cross country skiing right out the front door, with miles of back roads for a winter break.
I live next to a very busy street. Live within walking distance of 2 parks that are quiet. One is on a hill and has amazing views. The other is family oriented and is lush, has trees and nice walking areas.
When I was 4 or 5, friends of my parents lived at the end of a narrow lane in Beech Creek, PA near Lock Haven. On the other side of the road was a small lazily flowing stream , a pretty blue color with occasional white ripples, but clear enough to see the color of stones at its bottom and occasionally, a fish would glide by. While the adults visited, I sat by the water's edge endlessly, listening to it, throwing the occasional skipping stone, enjoying the occasional bird call flying past, and even at that age, feeling calmed and serene. There was a large stand of pine trees beyond their driveway where two of their dogs were buried, each with a little tombstone. One, I remember, said Sandy. I would gather moss, pine cones, and stolen flowers from their garden, and I would decorate the little graves. My grandparents were real, old fashioned farmers, my dad always had a garden, favoring cucumbers which Mother made into pickles, and she loved flowers, esp. morning glories. I take after her, loving plants and flowers and walks to collect same to dry and make pictures. My brother always said we were all just a bunch of farmers at heart. Now, I live in FL, a development which is perfectly manicured by landscapers, pretty but completely uninteresting, not a pretty leaf or weed to pick, one squirrel without a mate, and it is usually too hot to take a walk.
Thanks for sharing, Rita.
I grew up in North Jersey before it exploded with Industry. We used to go to a place called Bear Mountain where it was just breathtaking. When I grew up, I moved to Florida where everything was flat and it was ok but nothing to feel excited about. Living in Florida for over 30 yrs., I saw changes that I never expected to see in my lifetime. Buildings went up all over and the natural habitat was slowly going away. Gators wound up in pools. Also it got hotter. A lot hotter. The kids couldn’t play outside unless they were playing in a pool. Then 16 yrs ago I moved to rural North Georgia and live in the middle of no where, where we do have deer, wolves, bear, wild turkeys, raccoons, and it’s amazing. I love where I live bc I get to actually mingle with all of Gods creatures. Our County commission passed an ordinance to keep our quaint little town quaint and I thank them for that. I live where the Trail of Tears started and I just love where I live.
I, like you, grew up outside of Chicago. We played outside all summer long until 9 pm. We saw fireflies, bees. We climbed trees and forts out of boxes. We had rain and thunder and lightning. We went to summer camp and hiked, swam, made hideous crafts. In the winter it snowed, with drifts up to the second story windows. It was just great. Of course, I’m looking across many years and memories tend to be rose-colored. These days I walk and look at the trees and streams ( that are generally dry) until rainy season. I have lived in California for over 50 years and love the mountains, the hills and the ocean. The Pacific Ocean is comfort zone - I go there to breathe in the air, stare at the waves and just relax.
I totally agree! With the reports I have read about our national parks being overwhelmed by visitors, I would say many Americans feel the same way.
Thanks to Oprah, many more Americans have access to the outdoors near where they live. We need to identify the entities that are paying our Congress to stop meaningful changes that will stop the destruction of our planet.
Sharon Pugh
Very much so. https://www.outdoors.org/resources/amc-outdoors/conservation-and-climate/why-i-advocate-how-a-lifetime-outdoors-turned-me-into-a-conservationist/
Ahh yes. A "commune with nature". Is it a "religious experience?"
Raised in a very small town in western N. Carolina, nature was just a normal piece of life when I was a kid six decades ago. Roaming the woods, fishing the creeks/lakes and climbing the close- by, smaller cliffs were after school and weekend entertainment for me & a few other boys. Most, if not all, of the land was privately owned, but no one seemed to mind if you traversed their property or even fished in the creeks that flowed through.
I remember, more than once, walking to a meadow near my house where my Grandmother would pick "wild" strawberries. I would continue across the open space to a pine forest just on the other side. Under the tall trees was a blanket of nettles and not much undergrowth. I would find a spot where I could see the sky and would lie on my back so I could watch clouds drift slowly along. It seemed then I would be there for hours (usually 30 minutes or so before Grandma called for me to come along) listening to the sound of a breeze through the trees or just silence. Occasionally a cloud would cover the sun and the forest would be dimly lit & perhaps even scary to a lone child. (Bear with me, I am getting closer to the "religious experience).
Fast forward a few decades, university, a job, a family, a profession, a business, living near the ocean, still fishing/enjoying the beauty of the mountain trout streams of Carolina, adding a small skiff and 25 years of learning the waters, mangroves, cuts & channels of the Lower Florida Keys and a small portion of the Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge...and a conversation with one of my long time and favorite customers. (All being faves in their own way). This man I will describe as a non-traditional minister. He loved to chat, ask questions and seemed always to be probing (perhaps & as it turned out) to see if there was a spiritual side hiding. From many conversations he knew of my fondness of fishing both tiny mountain streams and the vast openness of the Florida Key's waters and was curious why and for what reasons I revered BOTH.
I explained the feelings I had when, alone, I was deep in a forest fishing a creek or a mile or two into the "backcountry" of the Florida Keys. Both were/are beautiful, quiet, calming, heightens one's senses of hearing, smell, vision and both lend a slight sense of foreboding in that you are in a vast area, you are alone and you are actually quite small in that setting. I related these feelings to the feelings I had as a child "alone" in the pine forest enjoying the beauty, sounds, smells of nature, but having similar foreboding thoughts. His face brightened, eyes widened, he smiled and gave me two thumbs up. He had his answer. "Those, sir, are religious experiences you just described!"
Whether I am having "religious experiences" or "communes" with nature, all I know is, I want them to continue. We must protect the beauty of what remains of our natural spaces!