Learning To See The World The Right Way
“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”
Thus said Frances Hodgson Burnett, author of The Secret Garden. She captures the notion that in childhood, a garden can become not only a world of exploration, imagination, and discovery, but also a place of magic.
Gardens are wonderful playgrounds and also — although I would never have put it this way when I was a child — they provide a holistic learning environment, encompassing physical, intellectual, emotional, and social aspects. Studies on garden-based learning bear this out, showing positive impacts on learning. Garden education in schools, through such initiatives as the Food for Life Partnership shows positive results in terms of promoting healthier eating and environmental awareness.
Importantly, in the 21st century world, access to gardens helps foster strong connections to the natural world and a sense of responsibility towards the environment.
Here are three writers who give us three very different aspects on the natural world:
Dennett is an amazing wildlife photographer. Her bird shots are stunning, but some of the wildlife she captures with her lens will have you at the edge of your seat, especially if you — like me — are one whose daily walk almost never reveals a lizard of any variety, and when it does, it’s a slow worm. Just look at this gatorscape!
In contrast, Susan Alison captures the wonders of nature from within one of the UK’s largest cities, showing the natural world within an urban landscape — a fascinating unique environment that nurtures some unexpected wildlife.
And from another angle altogether, Anne Bonfert takes many of her photographs from mid-air several thousand feet up. This one is unusual as her feet remain on terra firma, albeit from high ground, as she explores the incredible New Zealand landscape:
Thanks to Sahil Patel for the Memories of Gardens prompt:
