Summary

The article expresses the author's personal connection with nature, emphasizing the freedom and authenticity experienced while spending time in the woods.

Abstract

The author shares a profound personal revelation about the liberating experience of being in the forest. Drawing from an encounter with a kindergarten teacher and her student's heartfelt confession, the author reflects on the innate wildness within all humans, advocating for the reconnection with nature as a means to embrace our true selves. The article describes the unburdened feeling of not worrying about appearances, the joy of spontaneous singing, the fascination with the natural world's details, and the creative inspiration that stems from immersive outdoor experiences. The woods are portrayed as a non-judgmental space where one can exist without pretense, free from societal expectations, and where every action is accepted as part of the natural order.

Opinions

The author believes that the forest allows for a genuine expression of self, free from the constraints of societal norms.
There is a strong sentiment that in the wild, one can escape the self-consciousness and pressures of modern life.
The author holds the view that spending time in nature is not just about education or recreation but also about reconnecting with our primal selves as part of the animal kingdom.
The article conveys the opinion that the natural world does not impose expectations or judgments, offering a sanctuary for personal freedom and creativity.
The author suggests that the wilderness is a place where one can engage with their surroundings without fear of judgment, whether it's through observation, singing, or simply being present.
The author values the sense of belonging and homecoming that the forest provides, contrasting it with the artificiality of the modern world.

Out in the Woods, We Can Be Ourselves

Why I love to spend time in the outdoors

A few years ago, I was at an event hosted by a nonprofit agency that works to get school-aged children out of the classroom and into the forest in order to experience hands-on learning.

During the event, a kindergarten teacher began talking about the positive outcomes she was having with her class during their outdoor education days each month. She had a whole list of anecdotal evidence to share that made her believe the experience was worth pursuing, but one of the things she mentioned didn’t have anything to do with education and yet really struck a chord with me. She said one of her students told her:

I feel like I can be myself when I’m out in the forest.

When I heard this, it gave me the chills. I hadn’t really put it into words before, but this is exactly what I feel like when I’m out in the woods.

The greatest privilege of being in the wild world is that we get to connect with our own wildness (which is what we really are, after all). We get so caught up in the myths we’ve created around being humans that we forget we are still part of the kingdom Animalia, part of the genus Mammalia. We are animals, belonging to the forest, the desert, the mountains, the rivers.

That wild world is our home, and if we let go of the pretensions of the modern world, it can feel like home.

Here’s how I know I belong in the forest:

Out in the woods, I never have to worry about how I look. I don’t have to put on makeup. I don’t even have to wash my hair. I can lie in the dirt and stare up at the sky through the canopy of branches and experience the freedom of not caring a lick about what I look like.

Out in the woods, I can sing. I don’t censor myself and my love of music comes spilling out. I hum as I’m walking, I sing softly while sitting by the creek, I even call out loud tunes from the top of the hill to see if I can make an echo of song in the fields below me. I don’t mind so much when I miss a note (which happens a lot). I don’t worry that someone will judge my voice. I just sing and I know the squirrels, the vines, and the owls love to hear these melodies.

Out in the woods, I can stop and pick up items off the ground for closer inspection. I can examine a gopher’s skull that’s peeking out from an old owl pellet. I can smell the sagebrush and watch it sway in the wind. I can sit on a rock and wait patiently for a heron to descend in the nearby marsh. No one is there to tell me to hurry. I don’t have to achieve anything or complete a task. I can just observe.

Out in the woods, I can be myself. I don’t have to impress anyone. I don’t have to worry about saying the right thing, about having good manners, about keeping the peace. Everything I do in the woods is the right thing in the right moment. There’s no judgment from the flowers, the deer, the clouds. I am what I am in that moment and what I am is perfect.

Out in the woods, I can sit with my legs open. I can perch on a tree branch. I can lie in the dirt and get absolutely filthy. I can allow my clothing to become decorated with twigs and brambles.

Out in the woods, I can access my deepest creativity and passion. Everything excites me. Fuels me. Enraptures me. I can tip my head back, take in a deep breath, and let the energy build in me — an energy that will later become a book, an essay, a painting, a song…

The woods demand nothing of me.

The woods take nothing from me.

The woods embrace me — not “imperfections, and all,” but me, as a whole, with no judgment. There’s no such thing as “imperfections.” I’m just a set of patterns, fractals, elements, observations, pulses, and movements, just like every other living creature out there. We are, all of us, together, one.

That little kindergarten student was right. We can be ourselves out in the woods. And what greater gift is there than that?

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