Beginnings, new beginnings, old beginnings, now beginnings….when does it all begin? When do you notice that there can be a different way to do things than what most people are doing? When do you start to care about how your actions affect the environment? Research shows that people who have a positive experience in nature will be more likely to take it into consideration in their future actions and decision making opportunities. A positive experience in nature could be called a transformative experience, one where you feel compelled to act differently now that you have had that experience. As an educator I strive to facilitate these transformative experiences and have done so for the past 15 years.
My transformative experiences began from the time I was born. I was born into a family of nature lovers so I was lucky to be hiking in a backpack as a baby, and hiking, cross country skiing as soon as I could walk and canoeing as soon as I could sit up. Camping was also a very regular event as was traveling. My family did not own many expensive things but I grew up with a house full of photo albums and slide shows of the adventures we had. I knew from a young age that I felt happy and healthy outdoors. I grew up beside a ravine and spent so much of my time, walking through the shallow stream, in the small forest, imagining that I was living in and navigating through a remote rainforest. These early connections with nature transformed me into the person I am today, someone who does their best to live sustainably, limiting my ecological footprint on the planet where I can, and inspiring others to connect with nature for the benefit of their own mental and physical well being as well as that of the planet.
