I self-published a book this fall: What Remains: Poetry & Essays. I started writing it when my daughter was a baby. She’s a teenager now. At first the whole process was a celebration of so many years of work. I was excited to get the proof copies in the mail, and to announce it online….
Sometimes a kid just doesn’t want to nature journal… right now. Maybe they just want to play tag, or lay down and stare up at the clouds, or smell the flowers. Maybe they want to climb a tree, or write a silly story in their journal about a cat and a spaceship. Letting them take…
My mind slipsLike a stack of books on a deskWhen one near the bottomIs a little smallerThen all the rest — It’s a slow slide at firstLike glaciers meltingBut then it’s allVery fast,Which is also like glaciersWhen they breakAnd fall into the sea, (And sometimes my mind slipsBecauseI’m thinking aboutglaciersmelting) Of course this usually happensIn…
Before starting a nature journal page, illustration, or design project, I always begin with a simple question: “Why am I doing this?” This helps me with all the infinite decisions of all different sizes that must be made, and helps me push through and continue even when it gets frustrating or challenging. I have discovered…
While working with Hawaii Audubon Society, I helped teach over one thousand Hawai’i students about our native birds and how to draw them. However, I sometimes left classrooms wondering how much was actually learned, and what will be remembered a week, month, or year from now. I’ve had students fall asleep during a presentation, spend…
The biggest impediment to people starting (or continuing) to nature journal is a perceived lack of ability. This is especially evident to new learners when their teacher or the examples they’re given are way beyond their current capacity. One way to overcome that is for you as the teacher/parent/adult in their lives to demonstrate learning…
As a nature journaling teacher, I am frequently asked, “How do I get my child/students interested in nature journaling?“ The first step is to do it yourself. It’s very hard to convince someone that nature journaling is important if you don’t do it! Author Oliver Burkeman wrote about this topic in his recent newsletter: “…in…
Tell me again how my body is like the land unfolding;the land, like a body, like a mother:all of us held and holding. Show me the way to the skyto witness the mountains meeting.The wind in the clouds and my hair:what endures when all is fleeting. Walk on the shore beside me,hold hands and sand and…
Yesterday I read the same adviceIn yet another article:“Each day,Write down three thingsthat you’re thankful for.” Ugh. Gross. I’d rather not. Gratitude makes my teeth ache.Who am I meant to be thankful to, anyway?What do I owe them,For all that I have,(Which is more than I can count,)For all that I do not deserve,(Which is— Spoiler…
Nature Journaling begins with the observation of nature — paying attention to the world around us. Then we document those observations in different ways in our journals with words, pictures, and numbers. So what does it mean to give attention to something, and what are the different ways to do that? In other words, it’s…