Nature Journal #3: First Meeting at the Nature Reserve


September 26th, 2023

    Yesterday afternoon, our class spent our first day at the Fort Worth Nature Center. I was both excited and fearful for this first day working in the heat. My excitement stemmed from my desire to serve, my love for nature, and my commitment to trying new things. However, my hesitation and fear also presented themselves due to my feelings of unpreparedness and my hatred for extreme heat. More so than hating the heat, my body doesn’t respond well to the heat. I’ve been spending some afternoons in the heat at the football games or at various activities; each and every time, I feel light-headed and nauseous. Even after 3 years of living in Texas, it hasn’t gotten any easier. Thus, the thought of wearing long sleeves, pants, heavy boots, and working in the heat did not sound ideal to my privilege and self centered desires. 

    But, I knew our help was needed, and that taking part in this afternoon would naturally lead to feelings of gratitude and satisfaction. It never ceases to amaze me that doing things for other people leads to an increase in your mood and happiness. I spend 2-3 days a week working with individuals who are having some of the hardest days of their lives and living in the trickiest time of their life, and changing up my daily activities to include this kind of work was extremely rewarding. On this same train of thought, I focus on positive thinking and coping skills with my patients often; it was extremely beneficial to experience first-hand the evidence related to the research regarding mood and nature. It definitely got my mind thinking about other outside activities I’d like to incorporate in my daily life that may help me maintain balance and regulation in my life. This could also give me more ideas to suggest to clients I am working alongside. 

    Lastly, I appreciated our discussion on invasive species and a bit on the history of the park. I found it interesting that the Fort Worth Zoo is responsible for the now, unfortunate, presence of the bamboo in the park. I found this sort of hierarchy between public enjoyment and natural beauty interesting. It reminded me of some of our discussion on Abbey and his view on nature. Are people ruining nature? Who gives us the right to move species to a non-natural area for the production of goods related to public enjoyment. Likely the bamboo was for the exhibits and people’s enjoyment as well as some for practical use; however, it is striking that the park took lengths to acquire the bamboo to grow in the park, and it turned out that it was for nothing. Now, the park has more to do to preserve the health of the park and remove the bamboo (and privet). It is interesting to weigh the pros and cons of human interaction with nature.







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