This lockdown is definitely proving to be a really challenging time emotionally for a lot of people. Thanks for that, coronavirus! Some of us are out of work, some aren’t, but I think we’re all a little cut off from our freedom and support networks regardless. For my part it’s actually going quite well. Even so I’ve struggled with productivity and it’s taken me longer than I’d planned to write my next blog post. I have needed this break in my usually very busy schedule and the free time has given me the opportunity to tend to my mental health, do my hobbies and appreciate nature a lot more. For example I can now sit outside in the garden, for hours if I want to, just watching and photographing the birds that visit my feeders. I’ve learned a lot about their habits, personalities and calls, which I would never have had the time to do previously. I’m lucky to be able to spend more time in a remote natural place, exercising, cuddling my pets and so far I’ve not snapped and killed any family members…It’s a success!
That being said I am glad for some diversions and a little structure to my weeks, if only so I know what day it is. Luckily the organisation that I volunteer with is keeping in contact with weekly video calls on Zoom. We’re taking part in the John Muir Award, independently and based in green spaces close to home. Some of us are utilising a local park, a hedgerow, or their gardens. I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by remote woodlands and pastures, with plenty of scope for study and inspiration. I’m really enjoying our weekly social catch ups followed by an informal presentation of our findings to the group. It’s really nice to be able to share my enthusiasm with like-minded people to utilise the expertise there for advice and as a sounding board for my own ideas. It’s a friendly and relaxed environment where we are encouraged to follow our own pace and inspiration to tailor our experience of the award to our own unique interests.
Naturally I started out trying to get every aspect of the award completed as soon as physically possible, creating lots of stress for myself in the process! Fortunately that’s not how nature works. I can’t put in an all nighter and come blinking out into the daylight having achieved ‘wildlife enlightenment’! Reading about John Muir and the award has started to teach the obsessive parts of me to slow down, breathe and look a little closer.
The idea behind the John Muir Award is to encourage people of all backgrounds to connect with wild spaces. Four challenges make up the structure of the award, you must discover a wild space, explore it, do something to conserve it and share your experiences with others. There’s lots of different ways you can do this, depending on your wild place and your own interests and skills. I’m using my millennial skills to share my photos and words here on my blog and on instagram.
I’m a big fan of hiking because it gives me the opportunity to experience dramatic scenery and views while keeping my body in good shape. I love bold landscapes, craggy mountains, twisted forests and wild coastlines but historically I’ve not been very good at appreciating the smaller plants and animals that make up those views. I’ve always loved the sight of trees and mammals, bright wildflowers and dense vegetation. Studying my wild place for the John Muir Award has highlighted to me how much I’ve been missing by always looking up and away from where I am! The insects, songbirds, small mammals, mosses, lichens, dainty wildflowers and small leafy plants that make up the foreground are astounding. Focusing my gaze from the sea of bluebells that blanket the woods in spring, to settle on the diminutive but exquisite dog violets and early purple orchids. I’m amazed at what I’ve been skimming over in my search for the perfect landscape to feast my eyes on. When I was a teenager I wandered for miles and miles late into the night looking for wilder and wilder places to explore but I never thought to look in my own mum’s garden pond. Which by the way is glorious! A home for loads of smooth and palmate newts, pond snails, ramshorn snails, water boatmen, pond skaters, damselflies galore and a thousand other little critters I can’t yet put a name to.
It’s kind of exciting to realise how much exists, bustling about right under my nose. My world has suddenly become a lot bigger! In my usual obsessive way I want to learn about it all right away, to help me pace myself and actually retain some information I decided to start a nature journal. I pick one thing, study it, bring home some leaves etc. to draw and learn all about it….ivy alone took me two days! But it’s been a great way of making the mammoth task of educating myself in lockdown seem a bit more manageable. I’ve even started remembering some latin names!
Keeping a nature journal has been really fun so far and there are so many different aspects to it that add to the enjoyment. For example stage one for me usually involves walking, and taking inspiration from my surroundings to decide what I want to learn about next. Then I get to study my choice in its natural habitat, noting anything that I find interesting or significant and any questions I have down so that I can research the answers later. You can also practice photography, painting or sketching. If you’re a fan of literature there are loads of poems out there about British birds, flowers and countryside scenes. Or if inspiration takes you, you can write your own, and don’t worry I won’t subject you to any god-sawful poetry I bring into being! And then there’s the research aspect back at home, using the internet and books to answer questions about your chosen plant or creature followed by the crafty bit of putting it all together in a pleasing way. If, like me you get twitchy for constant distractions starting a nature journal is a great thing to do. I highly recommend doing it alone and making the people you live with admire it periodically or as a family activity with kids where it definitely won’t be as neatly laid out as mine.
Wild Girl Wanders 