To Dwell

We discussed today how nature needs imaginative writing, maybe even demands it.

Bioregionalism invites imaginative thinking.  The blend of nature (watersheds, ecosystems, landforms, etc.) and "unique human cultures" (Lynch, Glotfelty, Armbruster 3) sets parameters where humans then "grow from natural limits and potentials of the region" and embed themselves in a bioregion (3).  This idea side-steps the tired maps of political boundaries, taxing jurisdictions, and social spheres and instead unites people by their sense of place, giving primacy to place.

In knowing your place, you understand which flowers bloom first and how hot the sun will be during morning in the summer, and from here you can explore modes of expressing these experiences.  These small details lead to larger ones-- do the birds fly over desert or mountain or forest?  In writing on such happenings in such places, bioregionalism renders an appreciation for and interest in nature.      

Writing through the lens of bioregionalism makes sense.  Those who read it can come to understand what it is to "dwell" in a place, to intentionally live an experience in a very particular, familiar place.  Bioregional writings can work off of each other, exploring similar happenings and creating a fictional world out of the natural surrounding one.  I think when these writings link together, nature is represented in its many facets with its due respect.