How to Connect with Nature (School of Life)

As with all School of Life books, this little volume is a fine introduction to its subject, written on a distinctly individual & personal note by someone passionate about it. In this case, Tristan Gooley is our guide to getting out of the house -- and, more importantly, out of the housebound, man-made frame of mind -- and rediscovering the natural world. For all of our technological expertise & "development" -- what a ghastly concept! -- of the wild, it's the natural world that's finally real, far more real than our artificial environment, however comfortable & sometimes necessary it may be. We need to be reminded of that ... and the best way, really the only way, is to get out there ourselves,But merely walking through the natural world isn't the same as being in it. I've seen all too many people walking in our local parks, immersed in their devices, getting nothing out of it but the exercise they could just as easily have gotten on a treadmill. No doubt you've seen the same thing. But if you put away or do without devices, if you actually take the time to experience the natural world -- sights, sounds, smells, sensations, memories, thoughts -- it doesn't take long before you're in a different mode of time & being. And as Gooley notes, it can just as easily be in a park, or even your own yard, as in the actual wilderness. The key is attention: slow, measured, open to the experience. And for those who are more adventurous, he offers exercises & possibilities on a larger scale as well. Start small, go far ... and you can go far in a small space, as Thoreau understood. But start. That's the single requirement.For anyone who finds the man-made world "too much with us" -- and isn't that just about all of us, at one time or another? -- this little guidebook is most highly recommended!

As with any School of Life book, it explains simple concepts that you already know, but don't practice.This book in particular explains why we love nature and just helps you appreciate even more.

Light read but a fun read.

I grew up in the woods and I still try and spend time wandering around outside but having small children has made that a little more difficult. This book was a good reminder to get back out there.

Fast delivery. Very happy with purchase.

Wow!! A must read for every one.

We should want to connect with nature because it “will make you a more interesting and effective person”, says Tristan Gooley. Being more aware of our surroundings and making more of a connection with our world is enriching, and that is a good in itself.But how do we do that? ‘Nature’ is big and vague at first glance, and there’s so much we don’t know. So Gooley starts with us. He runs through our senses and how we can use each of them to notice more – what can we feel, hear, and smell? The book gets us noticing things, and then provides some basic guidelines for interpreting the “big green chaos” of nature. For example, everything needs water, so where you find water, you find more life. Or another: “all land is based on some kind of rock”. A few simple rules and you can start to make generalisations about the landscape, putting two and two together to work out its geological history, what habitats it may contain and what you can expect to see. It is this sort of ‘detective’ work that the author finds so exciting, and his enthusiasm is infectious.A book about connecting with nature could be pretentious and flaky, but this is too full of childlike joy to be so easily dismissed. Like E O Wilson, who is a clear influence here, Gooley finds fascinating things in everyday places and ordinary life. There’s poetry in his turns of phrase, but he’s also practical and often irreverent. If you don’t get on with latin names for things, just call plants what you like. If plants aren’t your thing, there are rocks or planets or insects or weather or any number of other things you may find more interesting. “Nature isn’t one big pile of stuff”, as Gooley unceremoniously puts it. I should also mention that it’s a very funny book, full of tongue in cheek ideas and little tangents.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, which is packed with so much fascinating information you'd have to read it over and over again to really take it all in. I also enjoyed reading parts of it to my friends who I was on a camping holiday with, and they loved it too. The style is easy to read and take in and I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about the wonderful world of nature all around us.

A good author who puts the message across in a easy to follow method. Always something to learn when walking the dog, and my eyes are now more open to the surroundings. Trouble is...my memory can't recall everything I've read, so a good volume for reference.

It definitely opens up a broader, and more active, way of looking at the natural world.