Nature journalling - an alternative

I found the most beautiful book on a recent visit to my favourite charity bookshop - ‘The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady’ by Edith Holden. She wrote the diary in 1906 and it was published in 1977. It is a beautiful record of her experience of that year in nature, written in impeccably neat calligraphy using what I assume must have been sepia ink.

Her writing is interspersed with poems by Wordsworth, Burns, Shelley and many others. Edith Holden also illustrated her writing with intricate watercolour paintings of plants and wildlife, which together with her writing give a vivid picture of how lush, untouched and varied nature would have been at the time.

12 June - Silver-weed, Wood Sanicle, Rough Hawk-bit, Small Hairy Willow-herb and Comfrey in blossom. The Wild Service-tree has been in flower for some weeks. This is the eleventh day of bright sunshine without rain. - Edith Holden

I looked through the book with my daughter yesterday and she was keen to find out what Edith Holden recorded on our birthdays in 1906. We also wondered if the author wrote about her own birthday, which we discovered was 26 September, and curiously, she did not make an entry that day - perhaps she was too busy. But maybe there is another reason: when leafing through the diary, it strikes me how outward-focused all her writing is. There is nothing introspective, and although the diary is personal and she mentions family members and visits, I cannot find anything in it that is sentimental or gives any hint of her mental state. And maybe that is the secret to a different kind of journaling practice…

Journalling when you don't want to 'go deep'

There is so much to be said for daily journaling. We know handwriting is good for both our cognitive function and mental health and there is clear scientific evidence that we can rewire our brains to see life in a more positive light if we keep a daily gratitude journal.

But when life throws us a curveball, it can be very hard to maintain these good habits. Writing down raw emotion may be healing, but it’s not for everyone.

Edith Holden shows us a brilliant alternative by turning her gaze towards the natural world. A practice like hers is both a motivation to spend time outside every day, and to shift the focus away from ourselves (or even other people) to the world around us, while benefiting from all that is healthy about journaling.