The Nature Principle by Richard Louv

At the Leslie Street Spit on the waterfront in Toronto, Canada, 2011

I’m reading a book that I find very meaningful.  It’s The Nature Principle by Richard Louv.  What I find important about Richard Louv’s book is that he’s looking at the great help humans receive from time spent in nature.  He has coined the phrase nature deficit disorder that many of us suffer from. He doesn’t deny the crisis we’re in. But he talks about worldwide actions by ordinary people that are bringing people and nature together for the benefit of humans and wildlife.  This doesn’t always mean going off into the wilds—although some people may have the means and desire to do this.  He talks about the ways we city dwellers can be in the natural world, for example: in gardens, parks, through learning about the wildlife that lives beside us in cities.  He points to the necessity of our connecting to nature to develop our love for the natural.  He imagines a future where, through our actions today, we live in nature in our cities, homes, work and play places.