About inhabitant:

Welcome to inhabitant, the place where I will chart my thoughts, actions, progress and stumbling blocks in changing my conception of self from that of a citizen and consumer, to that of an inhabitant of nature.

It is my hope that by writing this blog, and entering into the important discussion of environmentalism, I can not only create a shift in my own engagement with nature, but also motivate others to think more critically about their place within nature.  The greater world society currently has a negative impact on the planet.  While perhaps no one person can change that, actions taken by groups of individuals who are committed to reducing their negative impact on the planet, and who actively engage others to do so as well, do make a statement about the kind of world on which we want to live, and ultimately will make a difference. 

I try to write one new post each day with Fridays featuring a weekly news roundup, and the more you engage (through comments, emails, etc), the more I’ll have to talk about and the more interesting this blog can be for everyone interested. If you like a post, please share it with someone, if you have a question or suggestion, please email me, if you read a post and think I’m a saint or a nut, post a comment and tell everyone about it.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you’ll come back often!

 

About me:

I was raised with a consciousness of nature.   I was fortunate enough to have grown up in a rural area on the eastern edge of Lake Michigan, on an acre of land that is beautifully edged with woods and natural garden, and to have the opportunity to travel each summer to country farmland in northern Minnesota and to some of the most awe-inspiring landscapes of the western United States (e.g. Yellowstone, Glacier NP, the South Dakota Badlands).  The landscape that I experienced growing up helped me to develop an appreciation for the natural world, which motivated me to protect it.

To strive to protect nature, however, is only one part of a rich relationship with the earth.  It is important that one not view him/herself as an outsider to nature, providing nature with assistance at his/her whim; such a viewpoint allows for the possibility to ignore nature, to see it as separate from the self and thus differently prioritized.   Rather one must recognize him/herself as part of nature.  With the understanding that one is part of nature, inseparable from it, it becomes clear that protection is not enough.   One must engage with nature, to form a relationship with nature in order that each may live.

Though throughout my life I have viewed and appreciated nature, I am just recently beginning to understand my inhabitance of it.   I have already made some changes in my life to more respectfully and thoughtfully use and care for what nature has to offer; I will write more about those actions as this blog progresses, as well as new actions I take, and will continue to offer my thoughts on inhabiting nature and what that might mean.