Eating Dirt May Be Good For You

What can we, as teachers, parents, grandparents and friends of children, do — to make sure kids reap the benefits of unstructured time connecting with nature? Read this article for some ideas and background about “Nature Deficit Disorder.” Here’s an excerpt from “Last Child in the Woods:” As a child, I was unaware that my woods were ecologically connected with any other forests. Nobody in the 1950s talked about acid rain or holes in the ozone layer or global warming. But I knew my woods and my fields; I knew every bend in the creek and dip in the beaten dirt paths. I wandered those woods even in my dreams. A kid today can likely tell you about the Amazon rain forest—but not about the last time he or she explored the woods in solitude, or lay in a field listening to the wind and watching the clouds move.” Read more and find a list of ideas …

Think-Eat-Save: UN World Environment Day is Today

Hover/Suspend by Cheryl Fortier

Today is World Environment Day, and this year’s theme is Think-Eat-Save all about reducing the enormous amount of food we waste. My post has lots of links to resources to cut food waste and save money. Also, In honor of UN WED, my sister, MaryBeth Shaughnessy has a painting up for auction in her business, ArtBomb. The painting is stunningly beautiful — evocative of the connection between species, of our dependence on water, the oceans, nature … please share this link to spread the word about this ONE DAY art auction. You could be the lucky winner of this original painting by the end of today.

Water Features in the Garden: How to Visually Connect Them

Two or more water features in your garden can be visually connected with a dry stream bed … if you are using a nature-inspired style in your garden, take some design clues from the way water behaves in it’s natural environment before you start construction.

Contemplative Art in the Garden

If we strive to deeply understand and perceive our world as inseparable from ourselves, then we will have empathy for every part of creation. We are an integral part of everything. Every one of the ten thousand things is, in the true sense, part of us. And everything is perfectly arranged!
This — whether we paint, draw, sing, pray, dance, cook,write code or write poetry — this empathy makes every one of us an artist and a spiritual being.
Today, go out into a “Garden,” no matter where it is and see your connection to nature as a work of art and as an act of prayer: in a wildlife refuge, in your back yard, on your balcony, in a city park, in a plant nursery or just in a clay pot on your kitchen windowsill.
Find your connection with nature: watch the unfolding of leaf buds and see not just a “plant” but also freedom, flight, wings, wind, the lightness of a heart.