Acknowledging Big Issues

I set out to write about joy and wonder this week, but something got in the way.

Part of writing a weekly newsletter means that I keep close tabs on current events. Every day, I scour news reports and scientific articles as I look for and think about topics I could weave into newsletters.

Reading all this material, then deciding what to cover and what tone to set, is something that I struggle with constantly. On one hand, I want to understand and raise awareness of some of the big issues we face, but on the other hand, I want to keep the newsletter cheerful by focusing on small, inspiring topics.

Having spent my life leading nature walks and programs—and having an audience's undivided attention—I have always had to grapple with this question. And the choice I've made my entire life is to help people fall in love with the world and find their own path to advocacy, rather than telling people how badly things are going and how they need to act.

That said, I also want to acknowledge that in today's world we face some really, really big issues that threaten to change or end life as we know it. Even as I sit down to write this newsletter, I'm struggling with terrifying issues like mirror life, dark diversity, Antarctic Overturning Circulation, and AGI. I may end up writing about some of these issues in future newsletters (and I apologize in advance), because it's increasingly urgent that we understand the scale of these issues. And, in some cases, these topics are a good fit for the newsletter because they reveal underlying patterns and processes that are both fascinating and easily overlooked.

With all these heavy stories weighing on me, you'd think that I'd be filled with doom and gloom, but I'm not. Instead, my days are filled with joy and wonder, and two things happened this week that remind me why this is.

One is that I had a chance to preview a forthcoming book by Thomas Lowe Fleischner, co-founder of the North Cascades Institute and founding director of the Natural History Institute. Tom's new book is called Astonished by Beauty: A Field Guide to the Practice of Paying Attention, and I loved this book because Tom beautifully discusses the values of attentiveness, passion, humility, honesty, and gratitude that matter the most to me as a naturalist.

When Tom writes, "When we pay attention, we connect, we become more whole, we heal," it helps me realize that this is exactly how I stay whole and happy, even while paying attention to the woes of the world. And when Tom says, "Our world desperately needs more people to be in love with it," I feel like I've rediscovered my purpose and why I write this newsletter.

Coincidentally, one of my newsletter subscribers, Knute Niehoff, also shared a word that he invented with me. And Knute's new word underscores what I've been thinking about paying attention and staying with joy.

Knute wrote: "I dislike the word 'mindfulness' because it reminds me of doing chores, so I made up the word momentize because everything is a moment! If you focus on the beauty of the cycle, you understand that life is good and you are here for a reason."

Paying attention and staying in the moment are the calling cards of a naturalist. I don't need big joys or big wins as much when my days are filled with the small wonders of the world, and this slow trickle of endless amazement helps me balance out the big issues that are always hovering in the background.