reward our wonderings with myriad awe-inspiring discoveries. Children are expert when it comes to the practice of beginner’ s mind. The attitude of openness, curiosity, and a willingness to be delighted and surprised are second nature to the child. The fewer the preconceptions we bring with us into nature, the more receptive we are to learning, insight, and even joy. In the words of E. O. Wilson, American biologist and naturalist:“ When you have seen one ant, one bird, one tree, you have not seen them all.” Just as it is possible to miss the forest for the trees, it is possible to miss the trees for the forest. Our earliest experiences in nature most often begin with observations of minutia and there is nothing superfluous or trivial about nature’ s wee things. It is in the small particulars that much of the wonder of nature resides. Consider the marvelousness of a monarch butterfly’ s wing, or the improbable hue of a robin’ s egg. Imagine the intricate silk latticework of an Orb-weaver spider’ s web or the tiny saw teeth around the edge of a Slippery Elm leaf. Just imagine.
The faculty of imagining is the creative act of inventing ideas, images, and concepts of what is not actually present to the senses. It is through imagining that we expand our understanding of others and the world around us. Imagination is the means by which empathy is made possible. Empathy is our capacity to imagine another’ s state of mind and emotions and to understand what they mean to that person. When we empathize, we feel with another, which enhances our ability to communicate, facilitate change, promote healing and understanding, and to form resilient relationships.
Nature is also a powerful mirror and presence for learning empathy, particularly as we embark on the adventure of discovering what it is to be human, in relationship with other human beings and with the natural world around us. As we become increasingly aware and observant of the natural world, we begin to see in it a living reflection of ourselves and our own human nature in all of its vast complexity and fundamental simplicity. It is in nature’ s reflection that our sense of separation and being“ other than” diminishes and we come to know and experience nature as an integral part of ourselves and our lives. It is this affinity that leads us back to nature throughout the course of our lives; it is the wellspring and sacred place where we go to lose ourselves and to find ourselves, again and again.
The parental and adult presence and guidance, which are so fundamental and beneficial to the child’ s early ventures into nature, can become inhibiting and limiting as he or she enters into adolescence and young adulthood. Much has been made of“ nature-deficit disorder” and the enormity of what is lost to the individual and to society when children grow up plugged-in and indoors bound. But the call to“ get our children back to nature” does not imply nature-as-learning-lab field trips, with an emphasis on achievement and goal-oriented activity. The tendency to over-schedule and over-manage the young person’ s time comes, in part, from the fear and trepidation many parents feel over the possibility of mishap, and worse. Few parents are immune to the threat of“ stranger danger” and media coverage of child abduction and harm greatly influences and exacerbates those fears. And yet, the number of children taken by strangers or slight acquaintances represents one-hundredth of one percent of all missing children, meaning that the other 99.99 percent are taken by family and friends.
Letting go of fear and the restrictive effects of media-generated reportage of cautionary tales may be an act requiring some courage— but is also a loving and freeing act. There is much that is invaluable to be gained and learned through open-ended experiences in nature and parents and other adults need, at some point, to give youth some breathing room. Room enough to wander unsupervised and freedom enough to invent their own narratives and activities, to choose their own challenges and risks. Otherwise, we might as well add“ hearing-deficit disorder,”( due to the constant noise of helicopter blades hovering over our children’ s heads) to the diagnostic list of potential hazards and disorders. Helicopter parenting is an anxiety-based parenting style that models mistrust and thwarts the young person’ s sense of autonomy.
Elements of danger and risk are imperative to the young person’ s experience of nature. Without potential for harm, there can be no development of risk-assessment or experience of high-stakes challenge and decision-making that build self-confidence and independence. The natural environment loses much of its power to compel and instruct when it is child-proofed and rendered non-threatening. Young people are drawn to that which they perceive as being powerful— and power implies the capacity to exert an effect, and a force to be reckoned with. Respect for nature is a healthy and appropriate
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