‘Sta je op enig moment los van de natuur? Deze vraag is de ster waar we op koersen. Als je je echt met deze vraag verbindt, zul je ervaren hoe je kunt vertrouwen op de complexe wijsheid van de natuur binnen in jou.’
We zijn als mensheid losgeraakt van de natuur. Om de klimaatcrisis af te wenden moeten wij de verbinding tussen de natuur en ons eigen fysieke en mentale welzijn herstellen. Mary Clare en Gary Ferguson vragen aandacht voor de intelligentie van de natuur – zowel binnen in als buiten onszelf. Ze komen tot een fundamenteel inzicht: we staan niet los van de natuurlijke wereld.
Bovendien zijn er sterke parallellen tussen de ecologie van de natuur en die van de samenleving. Als we de band met de natuur herstellen, leven we meer vanuit aandacht, ontwikkelen we wijsheid en ontdekken we onze plek in het grotere geheel.
'De grote samenhang' is een hoopvol boek over de verbintenis tussen mens en natuur. Wetenschappelijk onderbouwd, vol bijzondere inzichten en prachtige verhalen.
I only just got to your book FULL ECOLOGY last week, and read it over a series of several evenings. As I understand your premise about humans being part of nature as a whole, we cannot afford to treat humans as favored entities over other entities on the planet. Our kinship to everything on the planet, our natural dependency upon the ecosystems we are born into and thrive in, and WITH THE PLANET CONSTANTLY DEMONSTRATING HOW ALL ENTITIES IN AN ECOSYSTEM WORK TOGETHER FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL THINGS WITHIN THE ECOSYSTEM - we humans need to join in and participate in the mutuality of living here (and stop raping the planet for its resources to our advantage....since at some point it ceases being an advantage and can destroy the whole system.) I also liked how you organized a response to that notion: Stop, Ask, Act... giving us baby steps to take as we move into a stance of problem solving. I think I can say I am mainly in the STOP phase, due to your wise instruction. For now, at least I am stopping to look and see how things are and how I am part of it all. Thanks for a really, really helpful book.
Thank you Gary Ferguson and Mary Clare for this wonderful and insightful look at the interconnectedness of all things living on planet Earth. Everything and everyone is part of the whole, and Ferguson and Clare are masterful in helping the reader explore and ingest this reality. I came away from reading Full Ecology with a deeper understanding of all that goes on around me and how I am a vital part of the world's ecology. Most importantly I came away with a sense of renewed hope for life on Earth and a revitalized appreciation for the beauty and poetry that is the essence of our planet.
If every policy maker in the world would just take a couple of hours to meditate over the lessons in this book, our future world would be one of beautiful balance, full of vibrant ecosystems, compassion, kindness, and happy creatures (including us humans). Mary and Gary's clarity and positive spirit comes forth on every page, and makes me feel like there is hope, actual hope for our future. It's not a stretch to say this book has affected my daily actions and thoughts deeply, and I am very grateful for this incredible gift the authors have given to this world. Thank you.
Full Ecology is a primer for taking your child’s/grandchild’s hand and wondering aloud at just one beautiful aspect of our natural world - the moon rising, an autumn leaf falling, a robbin “worming”, etc. etc. And then do it again.
Our planet is in crisis. Coming generations need help in understanding what’s at risk.
The authors gave me inspiration to reassess how my family and I can both stop doing and start doing MORE.
A book that gracefully explores a major topic of our time. Where ever you live, however busy and stressed you are, there are ways to reconnect with the natural world and yourself. Mary and Gary creatively detail interrelationships within the natural world of which we are apart and provide pragmatic approaches to help us reconnect and contribute to healing the world.
Full Ecology: Repairing Our Relationship with the Natural World, by Mary M. Clare and Gary Ferguson, details new thinking on how to interact with our planet. It encourages us to remember that we are part of nature, not above it or separate from it. An inspiring, poetic read, with the insights of two seasoned writers.
How can we live in an environment under constant change- in large part due to the damage we have wrought? How can we find hope and courage to change how we relate to the earth, to begin to live in harmony instead of in such a disconnected way? Mary Clare and Gary Ferguson - clear, passionate, deeply connected. This book should be on every book group’s reading list!
There is so much better ecology writing than this. I know it's just personal, but I dislike books that tell me how I should feel, and much prefer books that show things that bring that feeling on. In the genre of nature/ecology this is a very pale shadow of other writers like Annie Dillard, Mary Austin, Anne Zwinger and Linda Hogan.
Het greep me niet. Al houd ik enorm van Ferguson, het was niet echt van toegevoegde waarde op het vorige boek. Wel heel mooi om af en toe herinnerd te worden om je te verwonderen over de natuur en haar lessen
Gewoon 5 sterren. Hoppatee. Ik stond helemaal open voor dit boek. Na ‘De 8 grote lessen van de natuur’ van Gary was dit een logische doorpakker. Wel prettig dat het een beknopt boek is. Want heel veel langer had het voor mij ook niet hoeven duren. Twee wandelingen lang. Top. En als je dan rondstruint door de bossen…dan is de boodschap van verbinding een erg prettige. En ja, ook ik ben te ver losgeraakt van de natuur. En verbaas me iedere dag steeds meer over de intelligentie ervan. Van het geheel. Waar wij ook onderdeel van uitmaken. En waar ik door te stoppen en te bevragen uiteindelijk, hoe klein ook, via verbinding het verschil kan maken.