Be sure to stay busy and plant a variety of crops, for you never know which will grow -- perhaps they all will. Light is sweet; it's wonderful to see the sun!
[Ecclesiastes 11: 6-7]
That sense of aloneness, without kinship in the natural world, is central to the argument that many of us are making these days; that is, if we deny children direct experience with nature, we deny them access to a fundamental part of their humanity.
In Last Child in the Woods, I coined the term nature-deficit disorder to serve as a descriptor of the human costs of alienation from nature, not as a medical diagnosis.
That’s one way to look at our lost kinship. Glenn Albrecht, director of the Institute of Sustainability and Technology Policy at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia, has coined a different term, with a related meaning — solastalgia — the unconscious fear of the loss of nature, a peculiar kind of homesickness.
Fortunately, there’s a growing international movement to connect children — and the rest of us — with nature. An appreciation of nature is rooted in the cultures of Australia.
Yet, that country — like the United States – has been battling the problems caused or exacerbated by a sedentary, de-natured life.
[Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods]
I taught a class of fifteen autistic second and third grade children about watersheds and pollution prevention this afternoon. It was wonderful working with them and probing them to think deeper about the small choices that they make every day. After the presentation, the students were begging to help us clean (which we accepted gratefully) and I couldn't stop thinking about their passion for life and exploration! I can't wait for my day tomorrow. I hope to get a little time outdoors, even if it is still raining. Mm.. rain... :)
What am I gonna do now
Am I gonna make it
Someway, somehow
Maybe I'm not supposed to know
Maybe I'm supposed to cry
And if nobody ever knows
The way I feel
It's all right
And it'll be ok
I'm gonna make my world a better place
I'm gonna keep that smile on my face
I'm gonna teach myself how to understand
I'm gonna make myself a better man
Climbing out of the window
Climbing up the wall
Is anybody gonna save me
Or are they gonna let me fall
Well I don't really wanna know
I´ll just hold on the best I can
And if I fall down
I´ll just get back up
It'll be alright
It'll be ok
♫ Keb' Mo'
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