Benefits of Nature Journaling: 17 Big and Little Perks
Nature journaling records your experiences while outside in nature. People have been doing some form of nature journaling for thousands of years. Creating and maintaining a nature journal as a pleasant pastime remains just as relevant (if not more so) even in our modern times.
But why? What does nature journaling offer us and why should we start? Why create a nature journal and why spend your time writing in it? Read on for the “why do it” and the “what’s in it for you” of nature journaling as a hobby.
Nature journaling’s biggest benefits
Gives us a reason to get outside
Modern life is wonderful in many ways. I’m grateful for air conditioning, indoor plumbing, and Wi-Fi every single day. But humans need the outdoors. We need to experience natural, full-spectrum sunlight, green plants, and fresh air to be truly alive and happy.
Constantly defaulting to indoor comfort and pursuits turns our attention away from the bigger world in which we live. Starting a nature journaling hobby gives us a reason to get outside and appreciate the wonders around us.
Gives our minds a break from worry
Most of us worry about something, and some of us worry a lot. We worry that nothing is stable, the world is a dangerous place, and our only hope is to plan for every eventuality. Our minds get stuck in negative grooves and that saps our energy and positivity.
Nature journaling snaps us out of all that because it encourages close focus on the natural world. Our minds can really only concentrate on one thing at a time. While we’re concentrating on the gleaming scales of a Red-spotted Purple butterfly, our minds can’t worry about our kids’ futures, tomorrow’s client meeting, or that grumpy clerk at the grocery store.
Nature journaling helps our minds “jump the track” and break from worry and stress temporarily. The more you engage with nature and journaling about your experiences, the faster and easier you’ll be able to tap into this relaxed, focused state.
Slows us down
Does modern American life ever feel like one big push to you? We’re bombarded with forceful messages to achieve. Always “go,go, go”, “do more”, “dream bigger”, “smash your goals”, and “you’d better hurry”. Many of us love being productive but honestly, unless we build some kind of balance into our lives, we flirt with burnout daily.
Nature moves at its own pace. The fastest pace humans notice is the daily day-night cycle. Everything else in nature unfolds over longer periods of time- from seasons to years to decades and beyond. Such extended time frames give us perspective and that feels good.
We automatically slow down when we spend time out amongst the trees, and the birds, and the gentle sun. The speed of our thoughts slow to match the stately march of puffy white clouds across the sky or the hypnotizing metronome of a daisy flapping in the breeze. We breathe deeper, move slower, and get a break from our drive to accomplish.
Gives us something creative to do
We sometimes discount the importance and value of creating something new ourselves in the midst of living modern life. But humans love creating what didn’t exist before. Think about how excited a child becomes the first time they grab a crayon and realize that they make a bright red line appear just by swinging their arm across a paper.
As adults, we sometimes miss out on that sheer happiness because our adult responsibilities demand our time and attention. We lose our creative drive and instead consume the content others create.
Nature journaling gives you the chance to be creative, in whatever form you like and in whatever time you have available. Whether you prefer to jot “just the facts” observations about the bumblebee you saw crawling over a red clover or an entire sonnet about the experience, you create something new and wonderful with every entry in your nature journal.
Reconnects us to a sense of pride and accomplishment
So many times in adulthood, we lack appreciation from others.
Bosses don’t always value our work or our worth, children don’t always say “thank you” for the dinner you cooked, and sometimes it can feel like the world just wants more, more, more from us.
Nature journaling gives us a chance to be impressed with ourselves.
Since there is no right or wrong way to nature journal, each of us is free to marvel at the witty turn of phrase we jotted down or be proud that we finally exposed a challenging photographic subject correctly. We can say to ourselves “Wow, I’m good!” and bask in that feeling, even if only for a few moments. And that is a great use of our time.
Other nature journaling benefits
The benefits nature journaling offers as a hobby just go on and on. Here are some additional reasons to pick up your notebook and head outside.
- Fosters a sense of connection to your world and the plants and animals around you
- Doesn’t cost a lot to do
- Infinite variety
- Doesn’t create a ton of stuff that must be stored, cleaned, protected, and organized
- Builds physical balance, endurance, and strength (through walking over uneven ground, climbing hills, paddling kayaks and canoes, etc.)
- Inspires other creative endeavors, like creative writing and drawing
- Decreases boredom – there’s always something to marvel at and a new natural area to visit
- Reconnects you to your inner child – the one who’s always wondering “why” and who likes to learn new things
- Develops our observation skills
- Helps us focus
- Increases appreciation of beauty
- Encourages gratitude and reverence for our amazing earth and our fellow beings
Conclusion
You can gain so many benefits from nature journaling. Many of them happen so smoothly and quietly you might not notice them at first. But spending time in nature remains one of the best and easiest ways to relax, re-set, and feel grateful for all we have.
The saying “stop and smell the roses” remains just as good advice today as it ever was. Nature journaling gives you this chance.
Happy journaling!
