What we can learn from wild creatures is immense. Ecological writer Satish Kumar once wrote that the only way to save the planet, is when we change our perception of ‘owning nature’ to living alongside nature. Instead of thinking we know best, we can be humbled to know that native wildlife nearly always know better than us. You may think a tiger is vicious, but it only kills once a week (lost habitats has caused it to venture into human areas). A tiger only kills to feed her and her babies, never to put a pair of horns on a wall or take a photo.
Animal Wisdom: Nature’s Guide to a Happy Life offers a book on self-care gone wild! When life gets you down, lift your spirits with these tiny tips and helpful hints, from our friends in the animal kingdom, like:
Slow down like a sloth
Stretch like a cat
Breathe deep like a whale
Have the confidence of a lion
Sam Hart studied meditation and mindfulness, in tandem with a demanding job at an animal rescue centre in Buckinghamshire.
Likewise, construction companies often decimate local wildlife habitats and woodlands to build. Yet a bird is the ultimate architect, using ingenious methods to build incredible nests (no help required from us) and then it naturally biodegrades after use (we could do the same with materials like straw bale & cob).
If wildlife is sick, it rests and fasts for a little while, goes to a quiet place to recover or die. It works with its own circadian cycle to get up and go to sleep at the right time, and gets its entertainment from nature, not external sources like news channels or trashy TV.
- A Handful of Happiness is a nice tale of Italian vet Massimo, who (heartbroken and depressed after his marriage ended) was asked to look after Nina, a tiny orphaned hedgehog. Covered in soft white quills with a curious, playful and affectionate personality she brought out unexpected paternal protectiveness. But as she wakes from her first hibernation, she craves the free range of the woods beyond Massimo’s house. He must accept she is ready to move on. But her rescue leads him to start a wildlife sanctuary.
- The Spiritual Nature of Animals is by vet Karlene, whose journey began as she drove her pickup loaded with medical supplies to attend to animals throughout southwestern Colorado. Feeling a powerful kinship with all beautiful beings (a bond that goes beyond flesh, fur and feathers), this book chronicles her amazing exploration through various teachings, as well as her encounters with Rocky Mountain terrain and the quirky characters who inhabit it.
- Wildlife Photography: Saving My Life One Frame at a Time is far more than a book of tips on how to become a better photographer. The author suffered serious post-traumatic-stress-disorder after suffering a harrowing traumatic experience, while serving n the police force (after a previous career as a soldier). After three suicide attempts, he was brought back from the brink, by his newfound love for photographing wildlife in their natural habitats.
- How to Be a Good Creature is a beautiful and unique book, reflecting on the personalities and quirks of 13 animals – her friends- who have profoundly affected her life. No-one knows better than Sy, who have travelled the world to meet some of the planet’s most rare and beautiful animals, from tarantulas to tigers. Becoming a Good Creature is a picture-book adaptation for younger readers. Also read The Soul of an Octopus.
I think animals teach compassion better than anyone. Compassion doesn’t necessarily just mean a little mouse with a sore foot, and you try to fix it. It means getting yourself inside the mind and heart of someone else. Seeing someone’s soul, looking for their truth. Animals teach you all of that, and that’s how you get compassion and heart. Sy Montgomery
Our Wild World is a beautiful book to take us on a tour of the wildlife that share our world: from the birds and bees to the bogs and icy lands. Learn about migration and pollination, then about how reducing our carbon footprint can help to create a more sustainable world.
Learning about our wild world is not just for children or fans of TV nature documentaries. It’s a lifelong necessary knowledge for our survive. We need to open our eyes and minds to the challenges that face us. They key is to find a our balance between our needs, and the future of our precious planet, and all its inhabitants.
- Why we must care about our natural world?
- Learn about the value of spiders and wasps
- Should we be worried by GM foods and wind farms?
- What is biodiversity?
- Are global warming and climate change the same thing?
- What happened to the hole in the ozone layer?
- Why are carbon sinks so important?
- How does a virus become a pandemic?
About the Author
Éanna Ní Lamhna is an Irish biologist, environmental consultant and president of Ireland’s version of the National Trust. She has a degree in Botany and Microbiology and is a long-standing expert on RTÉ’s wildlife programme ‘Mooney goes Wild’.
12 Birds to Save Your Life shows the healing power of nature, through the stories of these characterful birds. Can you recognise the cheerful chirrups of the house sparrow? A song thrush singing out at winter’s darkest hour? Or the beautiful haunting call of the curlew?
At a time of great anxiety and uncertainty (while coping with the death of his mother), Charlie Corbett realised his perspective on life was slipping. In a moment of despair, he found himself lying on the side of a lonely hill, with a melancholy drizzle, seeping into his bones.
Suddenly he hears the song of a skylark – that soaring, tinkling, joyous sound echoing through the air above – and he is transported away from his dark thoughts. Grounded by the beauty of nature, perspective dawns. No longer the leading role in his own private melodrama, merely a bit part in nature’s great epic.
Through twelve characterful birds, Charlie shows us there is joy to be found if we know where to look, and how to listen. From solitary skylarks to squabbling sparrows, he explores the place of these birds in our history, culture and landscape, noting what they look like and where you’re most likely to meet them.
By reconnecting with the wildlife all around him and learning to move with the rhythms of the natural world, Charlie discovered nature’s powerful ability to heal.
Charlie Corbett spent his childhood between farms on the Wessex Downs and Isle of Mull. After studying history he became a financial journalist, until he realised that he would prefer to live a quiet country life, writing books and surrounded by birds.
