Nature Journaling School | 5 Sunday Sessions | Live via Zoom

Nature Journaling School is designed for you to document and celebrate your life and the natural world around you.

School will be

• hour-long sessions
• each Sunday afternoon
• 5-6 pm Eastern US/Canada Time
• 5 Sundays in a row between January and February
• starting Jan. 7, 2024
• ending Feb. 4, 2024.

Sessions will take place from on Sunday, Jan. 7 | Jan. 14 | Jan. 21 | Jan. 28 | and Feb. 4, 2024.

Nature writer Janisse Ray will inspire and guide you to record nature sightings and experiences in a meaningful and creative way.

When you sign up, you’re signing up for all 5 sessions. Jan. 7, 2024 is the first session and Feb. 4, 2024 is the last. On Eventbrite this may look like a single event, but it’s a 5-session course.

The Zoom link you receive will be the same for all 5 sessions.

Tuition

Cost of the course is by donation, which means you get to determine the class’s value to you. Pay what you wish.

In the course we explore

• nature observation
• phenology (what happens when)
• writing, including craft
• simple art exercises, including shapes
• weather
• mapping
• natural history
• perspective

as well as your thoughts and feelings about it all.

The course is a chance to acknowledge and transcribe the enjoyment, contentment, sense of wonder, and inspiration that you get from nature. It will highlight many amazements you have seen.

Participation

The vibe will be loving, inspirational, and hopeful.

You are not obligated to share your thoughts or your writing in any way. You will be welcome to turn off your video. Level of participation is your decision, and participation is always optional.

Show up on Sunday afternoons at 5 pm Eastern Time for an hour directed toward curiosity and wonder. You can come for one session or for all five.

You will need your journal and your sharpened pencils or your pens. Having art pencils on hand would be wonderful.

Note

We try to make recordings available afterward, but we cannot make any promises.

What you get

• all the benefits of keeping a journal
• a deeper relationship with nature
• five hours of flow
• at least 15 pieces of writing that you can use for social media posts or as part of essays or books you are writing
• a chance to explore art without fear of judgement
• the space to be in community with like-minded folks

This course is for you if you

• brim with thoughts and feelings about the natural world.
• know that journaling about them would be helpful and healthful.
• are willing to give form to your creativity.
• are caught in patterns of disconnection.
• would benefit from being in the same space with others like you.
• would like to have in hand at least 15 pieces of writing at the end of 5 weeks.
• want to put more color and art and design in your life.
• want to learn more about the natural world around you.
• want to be introduced to more ideas, thinkers, and colleagues.
• could be inspired by prompts and handouts.
• could be inspired by Janisse.

Benefits of keeping a journal

1. Journaling can assist you with processing natural history and other information.

1. Journaling can help you develop a greater appreciation of the environment.
2. Journaling helps you learn about your place.
3. Journaling asks you to observe and record, increasing your powers of observation.
4. Journaling leads to more creativity, which brings more ideas.
5. Journaling is a system of record-keeping.
6. Journaling is a way to reflect.
7. Journaling hones your curiosity and sense of wonder.
8. Journaling deepens your sense of connection.
9. Journaling is great for meditation and healing.

Community Guidelines

We honor the inherent dignity and beauty of all persons regardless of identity, nationality, ethnicity, belief, age, or any other divides. We agree to create a safe, inclusive, and welcoming space for all. We especially welcome members of historically underserved or excluded communities, understanding that in order to end the fragmentation of the earth’s systems, we need every voice of every person to be as elevated and functional and unencumbered by oppressions as humanly possible. This is a safe space where all are welcome.

Biography

Janisse Ray is an American author whose writing explores the borderland between nature and culture. She gained a following after the release of her first book, Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, which was a New York Times Notable and a bestseller. It was followed by many other books, including a 2022 collection of essays, Wild Spectacle, and a 2023 novel, The Woods of Fannin County. She won an American Book Award, Pushcart Prize, Southern Booksellers Award, Southern Environmental Law Center Writing Award, and the Donald L. Jordan Prize for Literary Excellence, among many others. Her books have been translated into Turkish, French, and Italian. Ray leads writing workshops online and in person. She loves dark chocolate, the blues, and anything in flower. Find out more at her website, janisseray.com or via her Substack newsletter, “Trackless Wild with Janisse Ray.”