Give Nature Your Attention 10 Minutes A Day For The Next 31 Days

A small grounding project to help kick start a new (or renewed) nature journaling practice.

Great Horned Owl, graphite on paper, 2024

A huge welcome to all the new subscribers and a big thank you to Rosalie Haizlett for recommending this newsletter in her newest Substack. You’ve signed up to Cricklewood Nature Journal to follow your curiosity wherever it leads using observation and recording all that is wondrous in your journal. Or perhaps you’re here to view nature art, peek in my journal, and read the essays. Or you enjoy it all. Whatever the circumstances, I’m so happy you are here!

Dear friends,

Normally, the first issue of the month includes an essay setting the theme of the month, but lately I feel the need to DO SOMETHING USEFUL like lead an activity to get us moving forward in a positive frame of mind. Something that lights our brains up, increases our knowledge, and give us a creative outlet. I’m a firm believer in using what you have to make a difference, and for me that’s facilitating nature journaling. It’s an activity we can do together, it ticks all the boxes, and it’s a tool to help us advocate for the environment. So for December I’m proposing that we spend ten minutes a day for the thirty-one days of the month communing with nature.

Nature journaling is a framework to help us become more present in all aspects of our lives. We are entering a time across the globe when we need to be aware of our surroundings, organize the information we ascertain, and come to solutions. The skills we hone as we journal sharpen with each entry and are very useful in all areas our lives.

The 10 Minutes/31 Days Project

I want this to be fluid and effortless, yet impactful, so here are the guidelines:

• There are no prompts other than I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me Of. For those of you new to this framework, I’ll explain it below.

• We spend a minimum of 10 minutes a day observing nature and jotting down a note or two. This can be a note of all words, all pictures, a combination of both, or even a simple diagram. Or just make a mental note. The point is to spend a tiny bit of your day internalizing something in your surroundings and simply breathing.

• If you are journaling, keep it simple – just a pencil or pen and paper will suffice.

If you want to expand beyond the basics, here are some suggestions:

• Increase the time you spend nature journaling each day, every other day, during the weekends, etc, but try to stick with at least 10 minutes every day.

• Expand your kit by making a folded book or buy a small journal.

• Experiment with colored pencils or watercolors.

I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me Of

I love this series of prompts when I nature journal. It’s a way to focus observations, develop questions, and internalize our experience. It is also a jumping off point to connection. I wrote about it at length in this post, but I’ve outlined the process below.

I Notice…

To get the most out of noticing, use all your senses – or at least as many as are safe (I don’t suggest tasting anything that you aren’t 100% sure won’t make you high or kill you) – sight, of course, but also smell, hearing, touch (again use common sense and caution). These are powerful and instinctive ways to learn about your environment.

I Wonder…

Be open to the unknowing. Ask questions. Let those questions generate more questions. Write them down, put stars next to the ones you want to pursue, circle the ones that need deep research, highlight any related to other entries in your journal. You are building a web made up of lines of inquiry and joined with past and future threads of wonder.

It Reminds Me Of…

Get personal with your observations. Does the way that hawk feeds her new hatchlings remind you of the way you feed your child? Or perhaps the chatter of young coyotes reminds you of sounds from the community playground? Maybe the color of a wild Ladyslipper orchid reminds you of your favorite lip gloss when you were seventeen. Nature isn’t something separate from us. We belong to the biosphere and share the same need for food, water, shelter, and community with every other creature. This is an exercise in similarities and attachment. It’s about finding a thread that binds us to another creature or phenomenon occurring in the natural world.

Record Your Observations And Thoughts…

You can use pictures, words, diagrams – how you express your experience is up to you. I, personally, use drawing and words, often maps, and occasionally diagrams. I’m making notes to remind myself later of the experience, of questions and thoughts I want to puzzle out, etc. It’s NOT about making art or poetry. The pages can be messy (as are most of mine) or organized. The drawings can be finished or they can be quick rough sketches, and anything in between. You can make lists of words, write in full sentences, or use symbols. The nature journal is a place first and foremost to think on the page.

How To Apply INIWIRMO To Other Experiences

Lately, I’ve been using INIWIRMO to gather my thoughts, reign in my anxiety, and move toward solutions. It’s been a powerful practice because it alleviates the paralysis that comes with being overwhelmed. I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me Of helps me focus, brainstorm outcomes, and points out that nothing we experience is entirely new. Sometimes it feels new, but whatever the experience somewhere, sometime, some person had a similar experience. At the very least we don’t feel alone. The best is when we can adapt to our own situation how someone else solved for it.

Daily Updates

Throughout the month I will post images or videos in web-only posts on this page, as well as on Notes (for those of you who follow me on Notes).

I hope you join me this month in this project, because I think you will find that even 10 minutes of nature is fortifying. Add your own thoughts in the comment section of the posts or on Notes and tag me so I’m sure not to miss what you share.

xoSusannah

News & Upcoming Events

Group Subscriptions are open!

I’m so pleased to offer group subscriptions! Gather five or more in your group and take advantage of 15% off each seat in an annual subscription now and for the entire time your group chooses to stay paid subscribers.

With paid subscriptions, your group enjoys the exclusive Tiny Owl Dispatch, the complete archive of videos and other media, and an option to join my snail mail list (for cards, art, and other special treats).

So who is this for?

• Teachers and their students;

• Homeschool families;

• Hiking clubs;

• Corporate work teams in need of a group bonding project;

• NGO teams in need of a retreat project;

• Nature journal groups;

• Family groups;

• Friend groups;

to throw out some ideas. And if enough groups join, I’m willing to design a few prompts just for you to use during a retreat or as a seasonal group project, etc!

Process Video: Great Horned Owl Drawing

This past month I’ve finally pulled out reference photos I took in 2019 of a live owl demonstration as part of the Chewonki organization’s outreach program. As well as leading wilderness retreats for teens, they run a wildlife rehabilitation center. This is a sketchbook experiment with a very soft pencil, kneaded eraser, and a stump. I’m very pleased with the effect I got and the overall drawing. What do you think?

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Support

Cricklewood is a space where we can learn from nature and each other as we rewild. Because nature journaling is so beneficial to our well-being, I make almost all of the content available to all subscribers.

To be completely blunt, however, Cricklewood cannot exist without the support of its readers. This publication provides one of my income streams in a year with paid subscriptions funding all content creation and activities that happen here.

If you find this content interesting, valuable, and want to support this project, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Are you getting a group of nature journalers together?

I’m so pleased to offer group subscriptions! Gather 5 or more in your group and take advantage of 15% off each seat in an annual subscription now and for the entire time your group chooses to stay paid subscribers.

Other ways to support my work

If a paid subscription isn’t for you, consider hiring me for illustration or purchase original art.

Or if you’d rather support my work through general patronage you can do that here, or buy art supplies for my studio here.

Sharing this newsletter, commenting on posts, and engaging with my posts on Notes (in the App) are all fine ways of supporting my work.

And finally, if you just can’t swing a subscription but want access to all the content, just drop me an email and ask me to comp you a paid subscription. I’m happy to do so, no explanations needed. Things happen to all of us, and I don’t want lack of funds to be the reason you can’t reap the benefits of nature journaling.