What was it that day, twenty years ago, when my young son came running into the house, eyes widened, breathless, and full of both wonder and trepidation? What had he seen? He tried to describe it - a shadow, but not really a shadow. It moved quickly, and then it was gone. It had looked at him!
To the young child, everything has "being-ness" - and nowhere more than in the world of nature. It is a world that can at once delight, awe and even frighten. And children cannot get enough of it! A favorite story is one I heard from a friend in Denmark who described a toddler who spent half an hour exploring a knothole in a tree. His finger went in; it came back out. It went in again; came back out again.
Nature to the young is more than pretty flowers and beautiful sunsets and rainbows. It is a kingdom unto itself, and the child holds the scepter if given the freedom to explore - ah, the glory of the movement of an earthworm, the wonder of the firefly, the delight of the wind playing among leaves, the fear of the shadow, and, of course, the chance meeting of a woodland fairy!
Watching a child in a natural environment one almost feels it is the child's true home. By experiencing the daily, monthly and seasonal rhythms of the earth and its surrounding heavens, the child learns to breathe in a way that can be experienced as having a flexibility of soul. Living deeply into the outer forms of nature can develop the capacity, later on, to meet more fully the inner life of a fellow human being.
Of course, playing outside and going on nature walks is also the best vehicle for learning to overcome our own obstacles. I will never forget a young boy I taught in Kindergarten many years ago who would build a "cave" for himself out of wooden playstands and cloths every day when he arrived. He would go inside and, peeking through a crack in the cloths, watch the other children play. He was quite afraid of being social. There was a marvelous outdoor environment across the street which the children dubbed "the fairy glen". It was rugged and required agility and perseverance to manipulate oneself down the sloping hillsides and across huge fallen trees and large boulders. This same boy was overwhelmed every time we went for a walk to the fairy glen. Yet, one glorious day, I heard his little voice calling to me, "Look!" He was standing in the middle of one of the fallen trees across a chasm that was significantly deep for a young child! He was beaming! From that day forth, he played with the children and participated in all the activities of the Kindergarten.
Today, in the pace of our technological culture, the child sometimes needs the loving guidance of an adult who has not forgotten the joys of the natural world. In the words of Rachel Carson, the author of Silent Spring, "If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder . . . he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, the excitement and mystery of the world we live in."
Many techno-children are unsure of what to do outdoors. They appreciate being with an adult who can model this "sense of wonder". They don't necessarily need a nature "program", although there are some good ones available. What they need even more is the simplicity of going on a nature walk, of playing outside in all kinds of weather, of watching a spider weave its web or ants build an anthill, of hiding behind a bush, of digging in the dirt, of collecting treasures like stones, pine cones, acorns, seashells and such, and of experiencing the slow, methodical processes of growth and decay.
Children thrive in and need nature. Techno-children need it even more. For every hour a child spends in exposure to television, video games or computer time, they need from two-three hours of outdoor time to help restore a balance. Even if a child lives in a bustling city, usually there is a park, a cemetery, a vacant lot, or patch of dirt with an anthill that is not too far away. Such places breathe differently from other places. Even the rooftop garden I visited above a homeless shelter in San Francisco had a qualitatively slower feeling and pace about it than the interior space. While technology often leads us to the false experience of instant gratification, nature restores the understanding that most good and lasting things in life involve time, personal interest, and process. These are qualities necessary in building a relationship to another person and on being able to follow through on a task.
Been for a walk in the woods or even around your neighborhood lately? What are you waiting for? And next time you go, take a few children with you!
