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!

Thursday 29 March 2012

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.  
  1. 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. 
  1. 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. 
  1. 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.
  1. 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. 
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