6th June 2021
It reminds me of…
A reminder ‘a thing that causes someone to remember something’.
Memory - we use it all the time to help us remember important facts. There’s another aspect to memory though, it’s a deep and powerful tool for our journals; and one we often don’t use to it’s full extent.
Nature reminds us in many different ways, from simply remembering something we’ve seen before - to taking us on a whole new journey. It can invoke an image, an experience, a wildlife encounter, a feeling, a place, an emotion, a poem, a story or a song. A nature memory can inspire by reminding us about colour, texture, line and form; it can even change the way we perceive the natural world.
Let’s explore this fascinating idea a little further.
What are your nature memories?
Workshops
There will be two live workshops today to explore stories, connections and creativity in our nature journals.
Click the links below to learn more about each workshop and explore the other nature journal prompts, ideas and resources.
Jules Woolford -
Telling Nature’s Stories
John Muir Laws -
It reminds me of…
Nature journaling prompts and ideas
Adaption comparison - When you are investigating a species in nature, consider other species that have similar adaptations. For example, a sugar-glider has a flap of skin between its front and hind legs that can be opened in order to glide from one place to another. There are also snakes, lizards, frogs and other animals that have developed adaptations they use for gliding. How amazing that such a diverse range of animals have developed such a similar way of getting around!
Explore memories - Use your nature journal to explore memories of times spent in nature. If you are nature journaling in a forest, think of other forests you have visited and what you saw there. How does what you see now compare with your memories?
Nature around the dinner table - Start a daily practice with your family to each tell a story about what you saw in nature that day. It could be a small encounter you had with an animal, a change you noticed in the garden, or a beautiful cloud you saw in the sky. This practice connects us with nature and with each other, and increases gratitude and contentment.
Creative connections - John Muir Laws defines creativity as ‘The ability to find useful connections between seemingly unrelated things’.
Learn more
The ‘ Doctrine of Signatures’ is an age-old belief that plants resemble the very body parts they are intended to treat. Definitely not always a great idea, but really fascinating! The concept is believed to have come from the book the “The Signature of All Things” (1621) by German philosopher, mystic, and theologian Jakob Boehme. This article explains more about how it works….
Plants have been seen as symbols all over the world for thousands of years, from snowdrops reminding us of purity, roses of love, and lilies devotion - we’ve given them all sorts of meanings. In Victorian Britain and the USA a whole Language of Flowers was created….
The phrase ‘It reminds me of’, always invokes a memory of some kind. Here is a wonderful article by British nature writer, broadcaster and wildlife producer, Stephen Moss on the importance of our childhood memories of nature.
Stories of our ancient past, mythology and legend are often rooted in the natural world. Here’s an interesting activity about plant symbolism from The Sensory Trust
An encounter with nature might provoke a memory of a song, or a piece of music the music of, about, and for nature. How does music help tell stories of the natural world? And what can we hear in the music of nature itself? Listen to this fascinating programme and find out more…