Naturen

Dear daughters,

Yesterday we read a book that we got from the library – one Mom wanted. I forced you to read it together with Dad because it had a good message, even if it was a little over your head. Not my finest parenting but here we are.

The book was Naturen by Emma Adbåge (in Danish). It’s about how we humans love nature – the color-changing autumn leaves, snowy hills for sledding, and new blooming flowers in the spring. But as soon as nature gets inconvenient for us, our love for it falters.

When those color-changing leaves start falling onto our cars and need to be raked, we decide we would rather cut the tree down than deal. When there’s no snow in the winter, we complain of boring weather or a lack of a white Christmas, but if we get too much snow, we whine about having to shovel. The spring flowers are beautiful, but then comes the grass that needs to be repeatedly mowed and the hedges that need to be trimmed and weeds to be pulled (so mabe it’s easier to just pave everything over). Sometimes it’s too windy. Too hot. Too dry. Too wet.

Nature is great as a concept when we can enjoy it, but it must be bent to our will and manipulated when it doesn’t. Our love of nature is conditional.

This book reminded me that nature isn’t just some far away place where we can go on leisurely strolls and feel the good vibes and take pretty Insta pics.

Nature is big. It’s powerful. It’s fickle. And it’s all around us. Supporting us. Feeding us. Forcing us to adapt to it. Begging for us to respect it.

We can’t limit our definition of “nature” to just the parts that serve us. We expect nature to be something it isn’t and then get upset when it shows us its true colors.

Maybe when we start accepting nature for what it is – a force of power and beauty and change that includes us but isn’t solely here for our enjoyment – we can start actually loving it. All of it.

Anyway – that’s what Mom’s taking away. I’m going to reconsider my relationship with nature and learn to love it for exactly what it is – just like I’m committed to doing with each of you.

And I promise I won’t force you to read the book again (unless you want to and then LET’S GO!)

XO – Mom