Becky Till - Day 8

The big event day 

Well I got people to come and get their photo taken by this tree for a while

Even the mayor thought it might be nice idea

But, to be honest, shifting that tree around was about as close as I got. Not much of a moment. But I did get to see almost my entire family. And although they might not count as a "natural space", not much else makes me feel more grounded, more rooted, more belonged. They are my clan, my pack, just as wolves in the forest, we are bound.

Also, I ate delicious food for dinner. And that made me feel grateful for food, and food comes from nature.

Dani K - reflection

1. Where have you been going and what has been drawing you there?

I have been going to different places everyday - taking advantage of getting to know my own area and what it has to offer, heading out to explore the mountains and the beaches and all things unique to living in this particular city. The draw is that I get to give myself time to think, read, feel, explore all things that are both of the moment and that I have been carrying with me during the week. This challenge has been a sort of guided meditation - the guidance being the impetus to walk out the door.

2. What have you been noticing while you are taking your moment?

Clarity. Taking time to outwardly appreciate where I live, where I am, and allowing myself a little extra understanding. Self-care. Really noticing the joy in others. And that feeling that I had as a child when I was constantly hunting down the best hiding spots at a time where nothing was just yours.

3. How have you been feeling after your moment?

A blanket of calm. A willingness to let my life be imbued with more moments such as these because they inspire me to create more balance and appreciation in my life.

4. What is standing out? What, if anything, has been unexpected?

Even on the rainy days, I still achieved the same feeling. That there is a joy in getting bundled up and enjoying something my former self might have been hesitant about.

5. What changes, if any, are you noticing over the course of the challenge?

Being slightly more aware of how I spend my days. Where is my division of work, play, self-care and social interaction.

Dani K - Day 5,6,7

I will have to be honest....day 5 consisted of making an effort to interact with my class at lunchtime in the playground and watering our bean plants by the windowsill. I might have only taken a fraction of a moment that day.

Day 6 was a little more promising. I dropped my car off to be serviced in the afternoon and I had an hour and half to devote to having my moment. This called for a chocolate chip cookie, a hot beverage for dipping, and a park. After a short walk, I settled for the public sitting area outside of JJ Bean on Main Street - instead of a parking space, there are benches and tables free from the pressure of having to purchase an item to sit there. Though not necessarily in the middle of nature, it was a pleasure to witness people taking time out of their day to have a peaceful moment in the middle of an urban area - a meeting place, a pondering place, a spot to regroup before heading back out there in this world.

Day 7 was like cheating time. I only had work in the afternoon, so I actually had a whole morning to enjoy. I was staying in Kits and I remembered that I had an old old pair of running shoes in the trunk (missing an insole, holes in the side - you know the kind) and so I begged, borrowed and threw together a piecemeal running outfit and headed out the door. The magic of Vancouver is getting to witness its beauty at times when the streets are practically bare. I ran along Kits beach and I only counted 12 other people out at that time of day. The sun was making a concerted effort, the waters were calm and the air was sprinkled with that scent of all things growing. Before I turned around, I gazed upon this fine city of ours and remembered a promise I made at age 20 with an old roomate from the prairies - I swear to never get bored of a landscape primed with giant rocks and salty water.
I pinkie swore. (and I believe it was with the same pinkie that has been through a lot lately, so you know, everything is connected....)

Becky Till - Day 6

Sometimes all you need is a new route home.

Becky Till - Day 7

Does this count?

Friday I had the lucky job of picking up 20 trees from KJM nurseries in South Vancouver. I got to pick each tree and hang out with the resident goat. It seemed ridiculous, ironic, wrong and hilarious to be trucking around a mini forest. But there I was, ripping down Granville street off-setting my carbon with every kilometer.
Oh, I also stood in the rain waiting to get this truck back from the towers. I resented the rain and the tow company the entire wait. 

Escape from school!

I have enjoyed spending my little time with nature these past 6 days. Mostly it has been my excuse to procrastinate from working on school work. I have been writing papers and much to my benefit I have been much more productive when I return from my little nature excursions.


When I am at home I spend my nature time at a park near my house. I usually come here during the summer when I have the time. But I have made a point of going to the ravine that runs through it and have noticed the beginnings of spring. The usually brown is being sprinkled with green and the birds are silenced as a walk past, then resume their incessant chirping once I pass. The ravine as always bubbles and creates a ver calming noise that almost drowns out the road 20 metres away. I am excited for spring/summer to be in full bloom, the trees and the bushes create a much more escapist feel.


When I am at school during the week I have visited two different nature spots. One is by far my favourite, the stepped pyramid in the middle of AQ at SFU. I climb to the top and sit there and marvel at the "lovely" grey sky. I have a good view of most of the campus and when I am here as opposed to the park by my house, I find myself calm and enjoy just staring at the sky (when it isn't raining).


After I am done these little excursions I usually have to go back to work on my school assignments and would rather stay in that moment of stillness and calm. The reality of the urban environment comes back when I walk up the steep path and head back to my house and have to cross the busy streets till I am home.

Cheryl & Jim Ferguson - Reflection

Cheryl Ferguson
Where have you been going and what has been drawing you there?  Walk downtown to go to Church
What have you been noticing while you are taking your moment?  Nice walking weather
How have you been feeling after your moment?  Blessed
What is standing out? Traffic What, if anything, has been unexpected? Heavier than normal
What changes, if any, are you noticing over the course of the challenge? None

Jim Ferguson
Where have you been going and what has been drawing you there?  Power walk along Seawall for exercise
What have you been noticing while you are taking your moment?  Weather
How have you been feeling after your moment?  Re-energized
What is standing out? Nothing What, if anything, has been unexpected? No
What changes, if any, are you noticing over the course of the challenge?  None

Michelle Simpson - Reflection

1. Where have you been going and what has been drawing you there? 

Been taking advantage of our natural spaces in the city – beaches, green spaces, even the green space in my own yard.  What draws me there – wanting to get outside

2. What have you been noticing while you are taking your moment?

World stops for a moment – a defined sense of awareness – peacefulness, contentment and a feeling of joy

3. How have you been feeling after your moment?   Happy, appreciative of the time spent

4. What is standing out? What, if anything, has been unexpected?  Feeling of peacefulness & contentment stands out.    Unexpected – how much more i enjoy it if the weather is nicer.  

5. What changes, if any, are you noticing over the course of the challenge?   Can’t think of a change

Janet Moore - Reflection

Where have you been going and what has been drawing you there?

So it is clear to me so far that i definitely 'access nature' more on

the weekends than the weekdays. it is also clear that weather is a

huge factor in vancouver. On the weekend we got the beach at Jericho -

put our feet in the sand, ran down the docks to the the crab

fisherman. marvelled at sea stars. full skies. vancouver perfection.

we also went to the aquarium in stanley park and took a bike ride and

spent time checking out gardens in our hood. i could write a book of

reflections on the aquarium but that's another story for another time.

the kids had the dolphin play with them through the glass for about 15

minutes - trying to unpack what that means and how it connects to our

relationship to nature is mind boggling.

last night if we had warmer dryer weather we would have played in a

park or in the garden but instead we went to the pool at the community

centre. it made me wonder - is a pool my way of accessing water? it is

too cold to swim in the ocean so the pool will have to do.

really though the week has been rainy and busy and so my moments have

been on my bike ride home.

What have you been noticing while you are taking your moment?

I did take a moment leaving the community centre to breathe in the

trees of little mountain. I do like that about this challenge. That I

am reminded each day by Becky's voice in my head that I should 'take a

moment'. I have been doing this riding my bike home - noticing a

branch covered in moss. I stopped to take in the magnolia tree

blooming on 10th avenue. Humungous pink leaves scattered on the road.

Today I am at my office and I am now thinking I'll ride home via the

seawall to take an extra moment with the sea birds that hang out on

false creek at this time of year. I noticed them while biking earlier

this week - spent time thinking about them more than normal.

How have you been feeling after your moment?

I feel good taking an extra long breath - so that is a good thing. I

do feel like this is something that I'm not doing fully - perhaps the

'accessing' nature feels like too much - that 'appreciating' nature

might be a challenge I could get a gold star for. i do like winning

and so far I don't feel like an access to nature winner.

What is standing out? What, if anything, has been unexpected?

I think the noticing is standing out. That subtle changes can be big

changes. I notice that wanting to stop and take a picture while I ride

home feels like a disruption in the act of getting home. I've been

trying to stop on my bike when I think about the access to nature

challenge and take a photo - perhaps this is a good way to document my

moment. The moment becomes longer - stop the bike. take the photo.

take the breath. that is a huge branch covered in moss in the alley.

What changes, if any, are you noticing over the course of the challenge?

I'm looking forward to the weekend so i can access nature again.

 

Becky Till - Reflection 1

1. Where have you been going and what has been drawing you there? To the closest and easiest place possible. I am taking moments on my ride home, at any place close to school, or in my backyard. I suppose convenience has been drawing me there and the commitment I made to this.  

2. What have you been noticing while you are taking your moment? Once I am in my convenient location I notice how busy my brain is, how much I don't like doing things just because I have to, how skeptical I am of natural spaces in a city, how hard it is to slot in time that does not feel productive when I am at my busiest time. And I also notice how nice it is to just slow down, how strange it is that I have to slot in "taking a moment", how climbing, jumping, and hiding are still natural to me once I get near some bushes and trees, how I get a burst of energy as soon as I am walking outside, how loud the natural spaces in this city are, how moments of privacy are few in the outdoors of the city, how sad living in the city can make me feel, how busy schedules don't make for appreciative lives. 

3. How have you been feeling after your moment? It varies from calm to energized to frustrated to totally happy. But mostly I feel good things. 

4. What is standing out? What, if anything, has been unexpected? This is way harder than I thought it would be. Weather and time play such a big role. Sunny days make for more successful moment having without a doubt. I really wonder how different this challenge would be if I had more open/wild/people free nature to access? Even without that, I'm surprised how little alterations in my schedule, that ask me to slow down and take note of pretty little nuances, actually have an impact. Taking a new route home and stopping to look at some new budding flowers and taking a walk around the block has been teaching me more than I thought it would.

5. What changes, if any, are you noticing over the course of the challenge? I wonder even more now whether humans can live in cities and still be connected... we live a fast life here, and I have became part of that, I have sped up, have synced in with the pace of this place... I haven't noticed that change in a big way during this challenge, and I wanted it to. 

Gary - Reflections

One of the things I've noticed thus far is that I don't actually make a point of enjoying nature in the city. I do in the summer I guess, but this time of year my interactions with our city's green spaces are usually when I'm taking a shortcut to get somewhere else. Having noticed this, maybe I'll make a point of pausing my ipod for ten minutes and trying to notice the simple things around me. This blog has been good practice so far. Also, I bet this exercise would be easy for dog owners, they're forced to do this sort of thing already. I dunno, that's something that just occured to me. If you have no reason to do it, it's very easy not to notice all the nice little things around you. The following is only related to the topic at hand in the vaguest way, but it might be cool to see some of these in our city's parks:http://pinterest.com/search/?q=treehouses

Kaylen and Deanna - Reflection Questions

1 - Where have you been going and what has been drawing you there?

Initially, we had a lot of time and freedom, so we were heading to the "best" spots we could get to in order to get outside and enjoy an active outdoor lifestyle. The last couple of days have been more convenience oriented.

2 - What have you been noticing while you are taking your moment?

Usually, the moments just occur. We are having fun and being free - naturally ;)

When I've personally had less time, it's almost as if I've been looking for the moment. Trying to catch it in a jar and check it off a list.

3 - How have you been feeling after your moment?

No matter how short or long, fun or forced - I always do feel better after the moment. More connected either to myself or nature.

4 - What is standing out? What, if anything, has been unexpected?

What's standing out is the contrast between having time to choose what to do and where to do it, and being caught in a busy schedule where being in nature doesn't come so naturally.

5 - What changes, if any, are you noticing over the course of the challenge?

I'm noticing a change in my thinking about how I want to spend my time. Some things can't be helped (work and family responsibilities), but I'm realizing more and more how important it is the way we spend those precious few moments in between.

Kaylen and Deanna - Day 5

Wednesday, Day 5 of the challenge felt a little more successful. It was still a busy day, but once I was off work and on my way to pick Kaylen up from school, things felt a bit brighter. I stopped to enjoy the cherry blossoms (my favourite!!!). I watched Kaylen play with his friends after school for a while, then we started our journey home. We ended up traipsing through the "green space" at city hall. I think travelling one block took half an hour, but it was worth it. We enjoyed the sights and smells of the blooming flowers and Kaylen showed me how spies should be able to get through anything. He wrapped up his feelings of the afternoon by saying "I felt happy". Simple but wonderful words.

Kaylen and Deanna - Day 4

Tuesday, Day 4 of the challenge I was determined to really take a moment. I was thinking about a particular "green space" on my way to work, but what I really wanted was not there - a bench. I really wanted to sit and chill for a minute, but this space was definitely lacking in this area. I gave up and went in, assuring myself I would actually leave my office for a break for once and find somewhere to just "be."

Thankfully, I followed through and tried the "green space" on the other side. I've gotta say it was a little disappointing too. There were benches at least, but it seemed kind of abandoned. I had to look up to feel somewhere else.

On a slightly humorous note, it was really windy so I had my hood on and I was talking on my hands free when I first got there. There was a lady walking her dog who I entered the park behind and I think she figured I was either crazy or going to mug her.

Once again, I think Kaylen won this round. He played on the playground at school, probably at least 3 different times.

Kaylen and Deanna - Day 3

Monday, Day 3 of the challenge proved to be just that. As already said, it can be really hard to find even a moment in our busy lives. With Kaylen returning to school and I to work after spring break, it was that much more evident. Gone were blanket forts, late brunches and clear schedules. Back were early morning gym sessions, busy commuter trains and speed walking.

I longed to go outside whilst running on the treadmill, but the darkness kept me in. Later I managed to take a moment while waiting to cross the street from one skytrain station to the next - but is that enough? I savored the can't-put-your-finger-on-it smell of the rain and wet asphalt. Then the little man popped up and I was on my way again. The moment did feel good, but the hustle and bustle of the rest of the day seemed to outweigh it.

At least Kaylen managed to do a little better. He was happy to be back at school and playing soccer at recess with his friends despite the rain.

Fast forward to the end of the day and it was back on the train for me. I was off to meet the boys at the community center to catch the end of Kaylen's karate practice. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my husband had left the car at home. That meant we could enjoy the walk home together. And that's what we did. It might not have been the most natural of environments, but being together, walking and holding hands felt pretty darn good.

City of Vancouver defines access to nature

What is access to nature according to the City of Vancouver?

Becky Till - Day 5

I have been starting to count strange things as "accessing nature". For example, on day five I counted riding my bike up a "greenway" as my moment. A greenway is a bike route with more trees. To me this seemed like a cop out, but I only took the new route home because of this Challenge, and man, why have I been riding up loud obnoxious Cambie this whole time!! Cambie is my straight time-efficient ride home, a block over means extra time. But one block over also means quiet streets, cheery blossoms, and calm. When did 30 seconds extra time become more important to me than enjoying the journey there?

Becky Till - Day 4

Habitat Island

Found Object

Classic

I had to

Sounds from up a tree in the city

How high is the fecal count in False Creek?

Today I learned a few things:

1. Getting rained on feels good when you're in a tree because you realise it's for the greater good

2. False Creek is paddler crazy

3. Although I've known it for a while, I actually really realized today that grass is very limiting -- having to push through a bushy path requires so much more intention and interaction

4. Jumping from rock-to-rock is a very simple way to not take yourself so seriously

5. People like to drink beer on Habitat Island (can count at four)

6. The city is very loud 

7. I am glad I am doing this project

  

Dani K - Day 4

So, accessing nature is really encouraging that part of me that loves me an aimless wander. Well, perhaps I left the house with a slight purpose - checking out the front gardens in my neighbourhood and moving up the numbered streets in a zigzag motion.
The gardens around me are pretty amazing. This little community plot drew me in because I still can't figure out how nature makes fuzzy things with yellow flowery things grow off skinny little branches. Looks a bit like tiny little gremlins on a tree. Genius and amazing.

Becky Till - Day 3

8:30AM - 11:15PM
Follow-up phone interview, got the job, life changed, bike, bus, mapping parking lots in Grandview-Woodlands, putting up posters for class event, eat fast, group meeting, writing blog for axiom, bus, facilitate at a community dialogue, clean up, meet two people who want to collaborate on a greening project, walk home

11:30PM 

I remember I have to access nature

At this point accessing nature feels like a chore. Just another thing to add to the list of all the other things I just did and still have to do. But I committed. I sit on the deck in the dark. Not naturey enough. So I lie on the ground under our big tree. My mind is like a pinball machine. I try to slow down, to focus. But it feels forced. My backyard, in the dark, doesn't feel like enough. I wish I was by the water. Or just in my bed sleeping. But just for a moment, with the caterpillar branch tips swaying in the flood lights of my porch, I feel something missing. No, I miss something. I really miss how much nature used to be part of my life. And off the pinball shoots to the next ding.

Dani K - Day 3

'tis Monday and thus we are no longer in weekend sunshine bike-riding bliss, but this challenge got me right out the door and in search of some natural interaction in the light drizzle. 6:30 pm and I walked up to Queen E Park with a goal in mind - to discover 2 great reading spots - each of which I would commit to reading one chapter of my book. I turned down a lot of trees and mossy patches until I found the 2 spots that did it for me. Yup, that's my tree. And that's my inside of old tree. And they supplied me with stories of the Spanish civil war, so you know, they are a big deal now.

Gary - Day 1

Well alright, I'm not much of a blogger but here goes nothing. Suppose I'll just elaborate on what I've noticed thus far.

Saturday started strong but outside of Vancouver. I took a mini road trip down to Washington state for the weekend. A friend has a cabin near the Cascade mountain range and boy were those mighty mountains something to behold. There's something very soul lifting about the combination of sun and snow. You get your vitamin D but in a non-muggy atmosphere. I guess that's something that can be found often in Vancouver if you get over to the north shore. And if while you're in that environment, in that car, Everybody's working for the weekend comes on, all the better. Man it's good to be alive!

Later that night, 'neath one of the better night skies I've seen in a while, we were able to find the Andromeda galaxy. It looked like a faint star but was really 200 billion of them. That be crazy!

Janet Moore - Day 2

Janet Moore - Day 1

Dani K - day 2

How could you not be on a bicycle today?
Riding to work as the sun comes up with Sunday's clear streets, quiet morning and skyscraper sunrise, I felt the day's possibilities and the week's warmth.
So did this guy. Just finding time to enjoy a puddle of sun in his busy schedule. It caused me to turn around and take my moment lying beside him, no owner in sight. Sometimes, slightly late for work is well worth it!

Dani K - Day 1

Woke up with a craving for a good meal and a mountain climb. After throwing together some veggies, eggs and other goodness, we went to load the car to head out for a sunny snowshoe at Mount Seymour. After a slight roadblock of pinkie finger-caught-in-car-door, clinic visit, 2 stitches and an extra-strength advil later, we were back on the road to mountain tops.

Blueberry sky day, snow smiles, running slides and good company. Friends new to winter wondering, and the giddy nature of being (and acting) free and full of chutzpah because of open spaces, fresh air and slippery snow. I took many moments in nature - mountain top discussions of the rejuvenating nature of nature, trying to form snowballs without my pinkie finger and doing a poor job of free-falling into crusty snow. But my favourite moments were witnessing the smiles and child-like-excitement of those around me interacting with their surroundings: sliding down snowbanks, running down hills, and lying on the edge of the mountain. My moment was being a privileged witness to the moments of others.

Sarah Lind - Day 1

2:03am Day One

Backyard garden

Clear night 6degrees Celsius

Smell cold air, new green, some smoke? 

Hear much quietness, distant downtown hum, mystery scrabbling, a bottle dropped

Saw stars, Mars, much light from neighbours' perpetually flooding floodlights

Felt cold against my skin and intangible sense of spring

I am struck by the beauty of outside at night.  First the stars and air and trees and plants in darkness and backlit in silhouette, and then the garage and then the orange street light and then the hum and the smell of smoke and I am given an eloquent reminder that I and we, our homes and cities are all part of nature, are all natural, and that there is no way on earth not to be

Kaylen and Deanna - Day 2

Sunday, Day 2 of the challenge we started by bringing a little nature inside. Kaylen has been yearning to grow his own apple tree, so we picked up this mini greenhouse and got to planting. Once it was settled on the window ledge, he apologized to the apple, but reassured it that this was for the greater good, and there would be more apples to come. Hopefully ;)

Then Kaylen suggested we take out our bikes and hit the seawall! Unfortunately, our tires were really flat, so we had to walk a bit first until we could get some air. We rode from our house to just past English Bay and back. We stopped by the water to collect some rocks for phase 2 of our gardening session, which was planting sunflower seeds in the planter on our balcony.

Once again, it was a beautiful sunny day. Feeling the breeze as we rode made me feel like a kid again, and seeing my son so happy is almost indescribable. I also love the smell of the ocean, so I breathed it in deeply. Kaylen said: "I felt happy, I heard water." Love the sound of the waves crashing too!

Once again, we had such a great time being active outdoors together. Kaylen had so much fun, he decided he should ride his bike more, and that's just fine with me.

Kaylen and Deanna - Day 1

Saturday, Day 1 of the challenge, Kaylen and I hit the slopes of Mt Seymour. We've been trying to get up to the mountain as much as possible, and with the great weather we've been having, that was all the encouragement we needed. Kaylen and I both noticed how sunny and clear it was, although we debated for a moment while on the lift about the number of clouds in the sky (not many ;).

I was loving the contrasting feeling of the warm sun and cold snow, while Kaylen was all about the snow. He noted: "I saw snow, I felt snow, I heard snow!" We were both loving the fact that we could take a short drive and suddenly be at this beautiful mountain where we could be active and have fun together outside.

Becky Till - Day 2

Where?

Well to compensate for yesterday's bumble the first thing I did this morning was take my tea and toast out to my backyard. I sat under the big tree with a blanket in the sun.

What?

I saw ants walking on the roots of our tree that peak up through the ground, green tips breaking ground, mossy bark, a daffodil, and my neighbours gloves gardening under our shared fence. I heard lots of wee birds, crows, someone dumping their recycling in the bin, a fast car, and the wind in the branches overhead. I smelt clean laundry, you know, when dryers blow that smell out of a vent from the house. I felt the sun and breeze on my face and through my clothes. I felt good. I left my phone, computer, and pressing duties inside, and I was there.

How now?

Last night a friend of mine looked at the definition the city has outlined for "natural spaces" (defined in post 1) and he said, "so they're defining it as fake nature, man-made nature". So for him, nature means something that happened on its own. We haven't planted it. By his definition my backyard doesn't count. And before I started really asking myself what nature is, I would have said the same thing. Now I wonder... cause I felt pretty happy sitting in the sun in my backyard, even though I could hear cars, and leaf blowers, and smell laundry detergent. I am wondering if it's the natural environment that gives us peace, or just being somewhere for a while, and actually being there?

Becky Till - Day 1

Ok, so here is the truth: I, the creator of the challenge, didn't really "take a moment" on the first day of the challenge.  I mean I looked at some mountains really quickly while imaging a landscape plan, but I was so busy getting everything ready for this challenge, and running around having meetings for my group project, and putting up posters for the big event my class is hosting (Under One Roof @ the Salt building March 31st 11-4 open house -- be there) that all the sudden it was dark and the day was over... so what does that mean? An epic fail or a lesson? I'm choosing a lesson. It's kind of like hosting a dinner party and worrying so much about getting everything ready that you forget to have fun with the friends you invited over. The whole reason I invented this project was to give myself license to slow down, take a moment, and really... to be grateful for my existence. Thank goodness tomorrow is a new day.

My (Becky Till) answers to the Pre-Challenge Q's

1. Did you grow up in an urban or rural environment? A rural environment. I spent my first years on a mountain near Oliver in a cabin that my father built – it had no electricity. Next, a valley where we tended to an organic garden and vineyard. Then off to the prairies of Alberta – I made wheat field forts and snow caves, camped in the snow with a warm brick wrapped in a towel at my feet, and was dragged up many a mountain with my dad. Finally, I ended up on the Sunshine Coast where I could actually throw a stone into the sea from my bedroom window. That was a long time ago, and now I’m here - in Vancouver. 
2. What comes to mind when you think of nature (words, images, sounds, smells, beliefs)? Beauty, mother, keeper, lover, the womb, sacred, flesh, green, flowing, peace, power, angry seas, fear, cougars, bears, dirt, running, kids, freedom, untouched, creator, trust, the future, fish, land rights, minx, story books, being seen and unseen, survival, knowing when to stop and start, knowing myself.
3. How often do you take time to be in nature now (Everyday, once a week, every two weeks, every month…)? Sadly, once every two weeks(ish). And this is particularly sad because I know how good I feel when I go there, and I miss it. It’s funny, I suppose I assume I have to go there. Like nature is something out there, but I do have a backyard with a tree I could go to anytime… we are just coming out of rainy winter though…
4. Where do you go? Hiking around North Van, the Sunshine Coast (the whole place is nature almost), I ride my bike all over this town, Queen E park, the beaches 
5. What draws you to nature? Slowing down, being present, cause I want to get grubby and run and climb and jump over things, cause I miss it, I want to feel connected to something real, and let it all out
6. What motivated you to take this challenge? Hmmm, good question... I suppose because there was a time when I didn’t have to try so hard to feel connected. I could just go out the door and I was in a forest or walk 30 seconds and be on a beach. On my walk to work I met little birds, spiders, and owls, ate berries, pondered existence, and clapped to avoid meeting a mother bear. Living in this City makes me feel disconnected to something that was simply my environment before. I haven’t built habits around connecting to nature here because I’m not used to making a point of going somewhere else to access it, it was just there. So now I barely connect with nature, and in turn, I connect less with myself. And I want to do something about that. Plus, I want to slow down. I used to live at a slower pace, a more aware pace, and the energy of the City (and being a student) makes me feel like I’m at hyper speed almost all the time. I want to slow down.  

Pre-challenge Questions

1. Did you grow up in an urban or rural environment?
2. What comes to mind when you think of nature (words, images, sounds, smells, beliefs)?
3. How often do you take time to be in nature now (Everyday, once a week, every two weeks, every month…)
4. Where do you go?
5. What draws you to nature?
6. What motivated you to take this challenge?

Defining "taking a moment" in a "natural space"?

DEFINITION OF “TAKING A MOMENT”:  Pause. Just be present – perhaps notice what you see, hear, smell, touch, taste, and feel. There is no right or wrong way to do this. It’s your moment, do whatever you like!

DEFINITION OF A “NATURAL SPACE”:  as defined by the City of Vancouver’s Greenest City Action Plan “green spaces” refer to parks, grassed recreational fields, greenways, mini-parks, seawalls, park-like spaces (ex. grounds around City Hall), and linear green spaces. However, this is really about you becoming aware of your own definition of nature – so explore.