Looking Deep into Nature

A Master Naturalist Invites Us to Grow a Healthy Mindset Outdoors

“Nature speaks for itself. At the metronome of God’s pace, creation answers our questions, then teaches us to ask better ones.”

Rooted in Wonder: Nurturing Your Family’s Faith Through God’s Creation¹

I sit in the Huette Horticultural Library at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens and smile.

“Why did it take me so long to get here?” I ask myself.

I just finished a beautiful yoga class with a lovely teacher named Carly.

After class, she asked, “Are you a teacher?”

“Not of yoga,” I smiled.

“I can see you’ve done this before,” she smiled.

“Yes, it has been a lifeline,” I smiled back.

“Yoga, specifically Yin Yoga, has helped me manage chronic pain and anxiety for quite some time,” I sighed. “Thank you for being here and offering this 4-week class. I believe time here in the Gardens will bring my body back to life.”

Somewhere over the past few years, I let my work overtake me.

It’s nobody’s fault but mine. Again, I accept full responsibility for not listening to my body.

I knew it in my head and heart but couldn’t make the necessary changes.

So, I’m taking Albert Einstein's words to heart: “Look deep into Nature, and then you will understand everything.”

Getting to Know “Calm” Better

Over the summer, I’ll share my journey towards calmness and peace of mind.

Maybe you are an overworking, overachieving grown-up who can’t seem to help yourself slow down.

Words like calm, relaxed, peace of mind, and ease make you twitch.

I get it.

I’m twitching right now as I write them.

But, and this is a very hopeful but…I am becoming best friends with them.

This summer, we will chat with wise teachers and guides who can help us get to know them better.

Becoming Rooted in Wonder

“When the student is ready the teacher will appear. When the student is truly ready the teacher will disappear.”

-Lao Tzu

I love the wise words of Tzu.

I’ve seen this wisdom appear many, many times in my life.

This week’s podcast is living proof.

Master Naturalist Eryn Lynum, author of Rooted in Wonder, appeared at the right time in my life.

She is a gift to our community.

In Rooted in Wonder, Eryn writes about “recency bias”:

“Recency bias, otherwise known as the frequency illusion, happens when you learn something new and then begin seeing it everywhere. This will occur as you spend more time in nature. If you learn the name of a plant, bird, or insect, you will likely begin noticing it around you much more. As you notice it, you’ll care more about it. This is a natural path toward protecting the earth.”

I noticed this when I discovered my favorite bird, the American Goldfinch—the breeding male is pictured above.

It has been my favorite bird since I homeschooled my three children.

Once I “saw it,” I had to know what it was, and when I did, I had to attract it to our yard.

The goldfinch made me care more about the earth. When I discovered it could get pink eye and die because the feeder had mold inside, I cleaned it—promptly and efficiently.

When I found out it no longer enjoyed thistle for a meal, I supplied them with their new favorite food.

Eryn is right.

When we become acquainted with Nature and all that inhabit it, we care more for the earth.

Seeing Time Through the Lens of Nature

“Every hour outside affects the hour after it—and even before it—by changing our perspective and granting clarity.”

-Rooted in Wonder, Chapter 9

Eryn writes, “In his book 24/6, Matthew Sleeth shares, ‘Time changes when viewed through different lenses.’ Nature is one of those lenses. It alters how we view life and time.”

In response to my conversation with Eryn, I pose two challenges/prompts taken from her book:

1. Think back to a profound memory from your childhood. Hold that memory in your mind and play out the scene it holds. What do you see, smell, taste, feel, and hear? God created our senses to hold and unlock memories within our minds. Share your thoughts here. I share how my early childhood memory reminds me of who I was as a little girl before the world shaped and formed my personality.

2. Try using “recency bias” in your life. Notice something in Nature. Name it. Learn a little about it. Then, look for "the frequency illusion” to happen. Share your findings with us.

1. Lynum, E. (2023). Rooted in wonder: Nurturing your family’s faith through god’s creation. Kregel Publications.