Discovering my stories : a narrative of a matriotic mother in nature

Abstract

Now, seemingly more than ever, we are facing actual and impending consequences of climate change. The health of the non-human world and of our own species depends on our ability to develop a new story: one that is intergenerational and captures the essence of a humanity that respects the interconnectedness of all life on planet Earth. Using the environmental autobiography process, I rediscovered personal stories from my childhood of time spent in nature. Each story became a unique insight into a current concept or theory in the environmental field, what I called environmental connective (t)issues (ECT). I found that through reminiscence and an examination of the learning we experienced as a child, we find insight into the truths we know as adults. Our stories, if we offer them to our children, can help forge strong ties to each other and to our natural world.