My friend Emma and I were eating lunch together at a ramen restaurant in Holborn when we got on the topic of spirituality. She and I both enjoy reading tarot and thinking about our connection to the earth in terms beyond the simple extractive relationship we engage in day-to-day. She expressed to me that since coming to London from her small liberal arts college in the Pacific Northwest, she’s been feeling little urge to draw on her spirituality, and she’s felt distant from her core. 

 

While I hadn’t thought about it in exactly these terms, I resonated with this sentiment. I’ve felt ever since coming to the city from the slower life at Wellesley, that I’ve felt more disconnected from myself and from nature. It’s been more difficult to feel spiritually engaged when life is constantly moving around me and I have minimal contact with natural quiet. We chatted about how we both haven’t been drawing tarot as often, and have been distracted by the bustle of London life. 

 

This prompted me to reflect further on the varied needs that connection to the natural world fulfills. Not only do we need to feel surrounded by nature for subsistence purposes, and to foster a mutual sense of responsibility with the plants, animals, and fungal networks that fuel our existence, but we need to feel attached to life broader than our own. 

 

Some of my most fond moments here have been times when I’ve quietly sat with nature, even amidst all of the sensory overload. I remember standing on Millenium Bridge at 2 AM and seeing easily over a hundred pigeons huddled together on the external beams. I tried my best not to disturb them, and thankfully most of them remained still as I tiptoed by. Similarly, my trips to Cambridge, Oxford, and Edinburgh have provided much needed respite and opportunity for reflection. In Oxford, my friend Nick and I traipsed through college greens along the river and chatted aimlessly in a way that is nearly impossible amidst all the crowds and activity of London.

 

Now that term is coming to a close, I hope to slow down. I only have a few more days of classes before we have a month-long break ahead of the exam period. I want to take full advantage of this time to tick off some of the items on my London bucket list – especially those that will allow me to slow down and grow my contact with nature. On April 12th, I’ll be heading to Kew, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Richmond. I’m eager to be surrounded by plant life again and allow myself to be swept up in a sleepy, slow springtime warmth.