October 29, 2024
Understanding Our Place in Nature: A Call to Reconnect
Living well in the world calls for attention to both people and nature. Human flourishing and ecological health need to be viewed as two parts of a single concern for social justice.
– Ruth Wilson, in Exchange magazine
Today’s message is shared by Lukas Ritson, founder and director of Wearthy.
When asked, “What makes a natural environment?” many of us instinctively list elements like trees, birds, grass, plants, dirt, sand, rocks, bugs and sticks. Interestingly, people often come last in these lists. This tendency to see ourselves as separate from nature is concerning. It highlights a modern disconnect from the harmonious relationship our ancestors had with the environment. This disconnect may explain why so many people today don’t value nature. We simply don’t value what we don’t feel connected to or belong to. Richard Louv’s term “nature deficit disorder” beautifully captures the current state of childhood disconnection from nature.
Viewing the play environment as an ecosystem changes our perspective to include people as integral components. For this play ecosystem to flourish, it needs to be self-sustaining. This can be discovered by asking yourself whether the play environment can sustain a child’s interest and prompt self-inquiry, allowing them to be both the producer and consumer of play experiences.
Instead of mindlessly chasing activities, focus on creating a self-sustaining play ecosystem that fosters a deeper connection with nature. Cultivate diverse play opportunities to sustain self-enquiry for all; just as different plants need unique environments to thrive, so do our children. By creating opportunities that cater to varying degrees of physical, social and emotional enquiry, you are offering a scalable level of engagement for the environment to meet the child where they are at.
By viewing play environments as ecosystems we can foster deeper self-enquiry, connections with nature and offer diverse opportunities for physical, social, and emotional engagement. Ultimately, creating such environments allows children to discover their relationship with their environment where both child and environment can flourish together.
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