A way of anyone developing a deeper connection to nature.

Henry David Thoreau wrote, “It is the marriage of the soul with nature that makes the intellect fruitful, and gives birth to imagination.”

A process allowing people to put their observations of nature, the animals, birds, trees plants, fungi….. onto paper.

A way of observing nature and connecting your emotions, thoughts and deepening knowledge.

Its can be:

• writing
• photos
• notes
• drawings
• sketches
• rubbings
• glued or taped in items
• thoughts triggered by the senses
• observations
• feelings
• collage
• painting
• research
• in the field – as in you have taken your journal book out with you
• from memory – as in when you sit after being outside and write or draw about your observations and experiences
• the list goes on….

Through this blog I will be writing weekly posts with some nature journaling prompts, under the tag Slow Sunday. If you would like to join me on this process pop on over to the Facebook group or Instagram and share your journaling entries in the comments under the share prompt post or using the hashtag #slownaturesunday.

For today choose a book, that you can take out wherever you visit or keep safe at home for from memory journaling and join the journey with me!

In order to keep a focus in mind it also might be an idea to clarify your goals for the nature journaling process, write a mission statement, if you like, in the front pages.

Mine might go something like:

‘To develop a deeper understanding of the nature in my immediate world, both home, leisure and work. What and where foraging edibles are. What plants, birds and animals I see on the holding. Taking time to pause each week and observe and think.’

I started a smallholding journal a while ago, before M was born, documenting the produce and processes around the holding each month, I may go back to using this book, and join smallholding and nature journaling into one for a time. This journal I started the month after we moved to the smallholding and I managed to journal monthly for just over a year before lapsing. I am hoping by doing this blog with weekly prompt postings and sharing my journaling to an extent I will have some accountability to carve out a portion of time each week to write and draw and encourage the children to do the same.