CEI Plants a Seed. You Can Grow.

I don’t usually tell you what to do (quite so bluntly) but: here goes:

If you are on Facebook, follow Community Ecology Institute and CEI Nourishing Gardens.  On Instagram? Try following CFIN: Community Families in Nature, and The Community Ecology Institute.

Why? Well, because they’re an amazing local nonprofit, to start with. And their social media is appealing and informative. But, more than anything else, including them in your feed is probably one of the best things you can do for your mental health right now. 

You don’t need to download an app. It’s not a paid subscription service. No salesman will call.

Even if nothing else in the world feels right, these folks will bring fresh air and growing things into your social media feed. Really. 

• Living, growing things 
• Love of nature
• People working together
• Multigenerational learning
• Community
• Children welcomed and nurtured
• Gardens that feed hungry people

If you let CEI into your consciousness you will have daily reminders that somewhere, quite close by, something good and real and bountiful is happening. Some days just a glimpse of a plant or a fascinating insect or a group of young students exploring the natural environment has kept me from sinking into a nameless gloom.

As time goes on you’ll realize there’s one more thing embedded in each post: opportunity. Invitation. Possibility. Okay, maybe that’s three things.

There are so many ways to engage with what The Community Ecology Institute is doing here in Howard County. I want to highlight one today, but I hope that you will go to their website and learn more about their programs.

Community of Families in Nature  opens registration for their Summer and Fall sessions tomorrow, May 15th. The Family Nature Club is really at the heart of what CEI was even before it was called CEI. Founder Chiara D’Amoré created Columbia Families in Nature in 2014 to:

…foster greater connection with nature and the community; increase environmental awareness and action; support the well-being of participants; and help strengthen family relationships.

After more than ten years this mission continues. You and your family are invited.

Here’s a quick preview, learn more here. 

CFIN Family Nature Club; select Sundays (about 2 per month) 2:00-4:00 PM

Each season, open to up to 30 families with children of all ages; activities geared primarily towards kids ages 5 through 10 and their grownups;  children of all ages are welcome though and we will do our best to prepare age appropriate accommodations and modifications for activities – as we like to say, there’s something for everyone in nature! 

I’ve been thinking a lot about how many things our kids participate in are based on performance, talent, prowess, even competition. In recent years I’ve seen some young people come to rely on social media and the Internet as the place that doesn’t ask that of them. It’s a place where they feel they can decompress and be themselves. 

Does this mean that we have forgotten how important it is to create and nurture such places in real life? How many things do we participate in with our kids that require only that we be ourselves and are open to discovery?

For that matter, what impact would that have on our own mental and physical well being as adults? 

Curious about Family Nature Clubs? Start here. 

Image from ceicfin social media