My Grandma lived to 101 years young and she was often asked what advice she would give people. She would say, “get to know your neighbors”. When I heard her say this I thought it was sweet but it didn’t resonate deeply with me. I felt that it was something people really didn’t do anymore. I had the passing hello with my neighbors, the wave across the street as we would come and go but I for sure didn’t know them. As time has passed and I’ve awoken my connection to nature and truly nurtured that relationship, I had a realization just the other day. I’m not just part of a neighborhood I’m part of an ecosystem and by looking at my block through that lens I saw the relationship in a completely different way.

I couldn’t wait to get to know my neighbors and it turns out many of them I truly did know. Each bird that perched on my windowsill or visited my backyard each day. The earthworm who appeared after the rain. The tree in front of my house that shades the hot summer sun, who gives its leaves to decompose and add nutrients to the soil each fall. I saw the humans in a different light as well adding a certain energy to the ecosystem. The sounds of play and laughter from the kids. The conversations of couples passing by as they walked each evening. The way the sunlight shifts and dances around each house as the day goes by. How the wind passes through and greets us all, coming and going, mixing and churning our ecosystem.

No matter how loud or quiet, those that took up space or could barely be noticed by my eye, the humans and the more than human — I was curious to get to know them all. To explore, to spend time with this place. To notice each new bird’s nest or tiny bright green sprout popping up, when a tree branch fell or a new puppy arrived a few houses down. I also noticed how I could care for it all better.

There was so much life around me and just on my little block or in the patch of grass behind my house. I pictured our neighborhood less like we were all isolated in our individual homes and more like we were intertwined, woven together in a balanced existence. More connected and sharing space with more life than we could even fathom.

I also started to think about my home differently. I never really thought that I owned my house or my property was mine. I felt like I simply became part of it. Perhaps that has been ingrained by the countless mornings I spend barefoot with my feet in earth. Greeting the day standing outside my back door. Getting to know my neighbors and becoming part of this place. So, I now know my Grandma was right in her advice and I take the lesson simply as - become part of a place, be here, sink your feet into the earth.

Curious about inviting a deeper connection to nature into your own life? Find out more about my story and connect with me at www.intentionallyoutdoors.com. Explore forest bathing, Forest Therapy and nature connection on a walk or retreat with me.

You can find me intentionally outdoors

kindly,

Gwen

A life lesson from a wise soul…

Why Forest Therapy means so much to me.