30 NEBRASKAland • MARCH 2018
said. "The same thing happens in nature. The
more that you stop and listen and observe, the
more you forge a deep personal connection to
nature."
What It Looks Like
Nature journaling has existed in its essence
since the dawn of human history, ever since
the first human took a rock to a cave wall to
draw a buffalo, or made a notch in an antler
to mark the passage of time. It has also been
the bedrock of scientific inquiry and world
exploration. Darwin's journals and Leonardo
da Vinci's drawings can both be considered
nature journaling, as can the writings of
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. "It is as
useful now as it was then," Laws said. "And
now, in this fast-paced digital world, this
intentionally slow, deeply analog system seems
to have even greater appeal."
There is no right way or wrong way to
do nature journaling. You can draw, write
poetry, compose music, tape in leaves and
photographs, make leaf rubbings, press
flowers. The subject of your journal can be as
Journal page by Jan Blencowe of Clinton, Conneticut. See more of Jan's work, as well as nature journaling tips, on her Facebook
page, "Jan Blencowe The Nature Journal Place."
Leena Saoji of Sunnyvale, California, journaled about this dark-eyed junco.
"A very common bird, but there is so much to observe," she commented.
COUR COUR COUR COURTESY
TESY TESY TESY
OF OF OF OF
JAN JAN JAN JAN
BLEN BLEN BLEN BLENCOWE
COWE COWE COWE
COURTESY
OF
LEENA
SAOJI
