Anja Murray: Nature helps us stay grounded in challenging times

In the past week, I’ve felt especially overwhelmed by world events. And once again, I’ve had to relearn that one of the most powerful antidotes to managing distressing feelings is spending time in nature

Anja Murray: "Flowering catkins are the kind of thing we walk past without hardly noticing, but when we stop to look, we see that male catkins are loaded with tiny yellow pollen grains while female catkins are rich in nectar. These are what make willow a crucial resource for early emerging bumblebees." Picture: iStock

World events are unfolding in deeply disturbing ways. The resumption of military attacks on innocent civilians in Gaza. Ongoing war in Ukraine. Civil war and humanitarian crisis in Sudan. Rapid erosion of civil and human rights in the USA by a deeply corrupt regime, the machinations of which are much worse than most people imagined they could be. Across the USA, hard fought-for policies to protect the environment and mitigate climate change are being dismantled, with ramifications across the globe. Here in Ireland, anecdotal evidence is mounting that racism and homophobia are rising rapidly. Carrying on with ‘life as normal’ in this context is discombobulating. What are we, as individuals and communities, to do with this knowledge?

Anja Murray: "Now is the perfect time to get out and reconnect with the everyday wonders of the natural world. It's not about travelling far, but about carving out pockets of time to explore woodlands, hedgerows, rivers, and whatever wild habitats are within reach."