Taking Comfort in Nature

Find your solace in the great outdoors

If you are home and quarantined, you may be feeling cooped up and maybe even bored. Hopefully the only fever you're coming down with is cabin fever! I'm doing my best to re-frame this time spent closer to home as an opportunity to slow down and do things I wouldn't normally do. Nature has always been a source of great comfort for me, and I feel grateful that my state's current Stay At Home order still allows for outdoor recreation--provided that it is close to home and people maintain the six feet of social distancing. 

This beautiful poem is often cited during challenging times and brings me such tranquility. 

"The Peace of Wild Things" by Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be
I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Here are a few suggestions for letting the natural world comfort you during this challenging time:

1. Pick up a good book. I love books that tie nature reflections and outdoor experiences in with the author's personal life. I'm currently enjoying Wild Comfort by Kathleen Dean Moore. See the image below for a couple of other favorite books of mine that are perfect for reading with a warm blanket and hot cup of tea. 

2. Check out nature videos. This video is from a game camera and documents wildlife crossings on one particular log for an entire year. I love the variety of wildlife, the different weather and seasons you can observe, and the different water levels throughout the year. To me, this video provides comfort and hope because over the course of a year, so much beauty travels through one small spot. It reminds me to focus on the things close to home and to recognize how much movement and change can happen in time (hopefully movement toward a vaccine for COVID-19). 

3. Practice mindfulness in nature. Take a moment to sit in your backyard or a nearby park. Use the stillness to meditate on your feelings and also to listen to the sounds around you. Can you hear birds, bees, or maybe human sounds? Do you see spring arriving? What specific signs point to spring? 

Some of my favorite nature books and authors that bring me comfort

What are some of the ways you are taking comfort in nature? 



I got several of these ideas from the Vermont Master Naturalist program, an incredible citizen science and education program founded by my wonderful mentor and past professor. Be sure to check out the VMN website and peruse their resources page.