Nature journaling may be the most important thing you do for yourself in 2025
Lower stress through wonder and awe; The 10Min/31Days Project has been extended.
Happy new year to you all!
I’ve been thinking about what I want more and less of in 2025. Last year after seeing a post on Instagram by the illustrator Julia Rothman, I created my own list and have done so again this year. Awe tops the “more list” — specifically how the experience of wonder can take me out of worry, anxiety, frustration, (all on the “less list”) and all the other emotions that take a toll on my well-being. Growing up I clung to my curiosity and the subsequent thrill of pursuing a topic like it was some sort of quest for the holy grail.
What I eventually realized is that experiencing wonder and letting awe permeate my being IS the grail.
Research as recent as 2021 shows that experiencing awe on a daily basis can decrease stress levels, leading to greater overall life satisfaction.1
Awe-inspiring experiences are as convenient as stepping outside. Nature journaling is a way to let curiosity play across the pages in words and pictures, zooming in on the minutiae, and then pulling back to see how it all marvelously fits into a bigger tableau. It can be done in solitude or in community. The best part is that it is a collection of awe waiting for the journaler to revisit as many times as needed for a boost of wonder.
Last month I proposed The 10 Minutes/31 Days Project, where we spend a small snippet of our day in nature and journal about it. The post got an enthusiastic response, and I thought it a good idea with this month’s theme of inspiring wonder and awe to extend the project through January with a few tweaks and additions. Plus while I did commune with nature at least 10 minutes a day, I didn’t always journal about it and I still want to work on my little pamphlets so I can show you how to bind them all together.
You can read the original post here, but I thought I’d make a couple of tweaks to the guidelines:
Commit to 10 minutes every day, but don’t feel like you have to journal about it at that moment. Just be in the experience and later add an entry in your journal from memory. The objective is to experience wonder and awe in a natural surrounding — your yard, the park, even just stepping out of your office for a moment, standing still, and looking up will suffice.
Commit to making an entry in your nature journal four times a week. That’s only 60% of total weekly time devoted to wonder and awe. Make it 100% if you can, but as I wrote in the original post be fluid because whatever you can do is better than doing nothing.
Use I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me Of as a framework, if needed, to record your experience. I have detailed a explanation of INIWIRMO in this post and in this post.
What You Will Need
Keep it as simple as possible — a journal of some sort and a pencil or pen is all you really need. You can expand your kit to include watercolors, colored pencils, etc. I’ve posted my kit below for inspiration, but don’t feel like you need “all the things.” I started with pencil and printer paper that I folded into little books. Start with what you have, and build on that.
The videos were originally posted on the DrawGUT chat so it’s in two parts to satisfy the chat time limit on videos.
Part I
Part II
NEW: Weekly Prompts And Wonder-filled Wednesdays
I’m revisiting a segment I did regularly in the past and adding a weekly prompt delivered to your inbox every Friday to help you build your nature journal practice. These were a lot of fun for me to create and helpful to my subscribers in the early days. The entire Cricklewood community receives the first Friday prompt of the month, while the additional weekly prompts are available to paid subscribers.
I’m also going to experiment with live streamed Wonder-filled Wednesdays on Notes every Wednesday at 1:30 pm Eastern US Time (Time Converter) beginning January 8. These drawing sessions are 30 minutes to 1 hour long, live, and participatory. I’ll have a specimen for us to draw from, but I encourage you to bring your own. All sessions are free to attend live on Notes for all. The archive is available to paid subscribers. (Go to the Notes tab on the Cricklewood home page or click this link.)
Nature journaling may be the most important thing you do for yourself in 2025. I know it’s the most important thing I can do for myself as a holistic activity with positive impact to my mind, body, and spirit. I’d love to know what you think.
Look for the first prompt in your inbox this Friday.
xoSusannah
News & Upcoming Events
Great Backyard Bird Count — February 14-17
One of my favorite weekends of the year, this worldwide event brings together citizen scientists to help scientists better understand and protect birds around the world. I’ll post more about this as we get closer to the date as I have an idea for a community project.
I will start posting coverage to Notes as soon as Big Red and Arthur begin pre-nesting activities in February. The live cams are offline right now while the lab upgrades the camera equipment, but the other highlight of my year is sharing updates throughout the breeding season of these magnificent birds!
Birds, birds, and more birds…
I’m preparing artwork for my November exhibit, so you’ll see a lot of bird illustration this year. I’ll try to mix it up with other nature subjects, but I thought it best to warn you. ;-)
Next Reads
Below are a few posts from the archive that may be supportive to you for the 10 Min/31 Day Project (and your nature journaling practice in general):
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.
Bai, Y., Ocampo, J., Jin, G., Chen, S., Benet-Martinez, V., Monroy, M., Anderson, C., & Keltner, D. (2021). Awe, daily stress, and elevated life satisfaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 120(4), 837–860.
Could you share the brands of some of the items? I was able to pause the video to see the case but could for the calipers for instance. Thank you.
That is a beautiful sunny illustration. I have always gravitated to a pen and ink style, so will be keen to observe how you fare just with watercolours. Have a great week journaling!