The Bigger Picture

I’m a mom with a 9-year old daughter and 6-year old son, living in New York City. Childhood today is just not what it was in the 80s. Every day, I wish they could experience the kind of adventures we used to have. The canoe trips! The endless bike rides! Catching fireflies at sunset! 

​

Spending so much time in nature with friends shaped me into who I am today. And so, for the past ten years, I have felt deep distress over how to mother my city kids. I want them to feel connected with nature. I want them to have experiences that teach them to be brave and true. But how? My kids can’t run barefoot through the mud. (Broken glass!) They can’t pick wildflowers. (Those tulips are planted in a garden!) They can’t climb high into trees. (The park rangers will yell at us!) I’ve bought so many books on neo-pagan family rituals to try to figure out how to teach my kids a reverence for nature, but it’s been so hard to make anything stick.

​

But last year, I found some hope. I heard about a woman named Lena Eastes who runs an organization called Earth Path Education in Asheville, North Carolina. When I read through her website, I almost cried. For 18 years, she has been teaching girls (ages 8-15) exactly the kinds of things I want to teach my own kids.

 

At Earth Path Education, we practice Place-Based Education and Deep Nature Connection Mentoring, guiding participants to connect with forest ecology, inner ecology, and community ecology. Through hands-on learning - fire-making, bird language, ancestral crafts, wild food harvesting, and sensory awareness - we cultivate deep relationships with the earth, ourselves, and all living beings. 

​​

Since learning about Lena, I’ve flown down to Asheville for two of her programs - a 5-day women’s initiation ceremony and a Mother-Daughter retreat in her home. I found both of the experiences to be so powerful. But I want this in the city, too! 

​​

Lena is encouraging me to start experimenting with how to bring these kinds of programs and experiences to NYC so I thought we could start with a Mother-Daughter weekend. I hope this is just the beginning! Maybe next... a red tent ceremony for girls who are getting their periods.

​

​​