What is this project?
This project is my contribution to the Access to Nature goal outlined in Vancouver's Greenest City 2020 Action Plan. One of the main targets in the plan is that all Vancouver residents will be within a five minute walk of a natural space by 2020.

Who am I?
I am Becky Till, a CityStudio student working in collaboration with the City of Vancouver on Greenest City projects. I am also a person wondering what it really means to have access to nature.

What will all the participants and myself be doing?
Each participant of this challenge is going to "take a moment" in a "natural space" everyday for the next ten days (March 24th - April 2nd). We will all be posting reflections both written and visual to share what impact this commitment is having on us.

Why am I doing this?
Well, because I used eat blackberries on a forest path during my commute and now I try not to get hit by cars. I want to see if there is a bridge between my busy city life and my need to feel connected to nature. What does it mean to connect with nature in a city? Does it have the same impact as "wilder" nature? Will having more contact make a noticeable difference in my life? To broaden my conclusions I asked fourteen other people living in Vancouver if they could commit to "Accessing Nature" for 10 days straight too. They said yes.
It's on!

Tuesday 27 March 2012

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.

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