Being Nature Connected in 'lockdown'
Over the past year, I have been involved in a project in Lancaster called the " Scotch Quarry Village Green " project. Here, a group of local people spend time in the local quarry, deepening our connection to the natural world all around us, and seeking to grow communities that are rooted - or rather re-rooted - in this kind of connection. It is a fantastic project, and one which has changed the way I think about my relationship with myself, others and the world in which I move and live. It has taught me that the 'natural world' is not merely something out there which I have to go to, to spend specific time in, and which I can leave behind afterwards. It is, instead, something which I can never be away from. It is 'in here', in our cities, homes, lecture halls. But this is hard to remember when locked in our homes, especially if we don't have access to gardens, plants, or views of obvious nature in our neighbourhoods. And so, I want to offer some thought...
