There is sometimes a perception that nature is something out there – separate from us. Or that it exists
in a place that you must travel to, or that you need special equipment to gain access to it. This creates a
false barrier between people and the natural world. You are nature. And as a citizen, you own or have
legal access to more nature than you might think you do in the form of the natural commons. That
includes our yards, city parks, roadsides, National Parks, church campuses, school yards, and the
greenways that sometimes connect them.
When we accept that we are part of the natural world, and when we occupy the natural spaces that are
within our capacity to visit, we receive the blessings of nature. Our health improves, stresses diminish,
our pace slows, and we start to think differently about the world. Thinking differently about the world
allows us to think differently about ourselves. There is power in claiming nature as one of our
inalienable rights. The Louisville Rights of Passage program acknowledges the power of nature by
incorporating it as one of the major elements of the program.
Being comfortable in the natural world is a skill that can be learned. Once that skill becomes habit, your
life looks and feels different. Every day when I come to work at Bernheim I take a moment to stop my
car, turn off the engine, and spend a moment in the presence of one specific pecan tree along the entry
road. Often, I snap a photo of the tree but not always. I have been doing this since 2009 resulting in
thousands of photos of this one tree – always from the same location. Other people now know my tree
as well since I’ve posted photos on my social media platforms. People call it Claude’s tree, but I don’t. I don’t think of nature in the framework of ownership. It can be your tree too. It can be everyone’s tree.
- Claude Stephens