Collective Wonderings
A monthly invitation to notice and celebrate wonder.
November 2026
Field Day: A Sense of Place
Take note of a familiar path.
“For many years, I have been moved by the blue at the far edge of what can be seen,
that color of horizons, of remote mountain ranges, of anything far away.
The color of that distance is the color of an emotion, the color of solitude and of desire,
the color of there seen from here, the color of where you are not.
And the color of where you can never go.”
Rebecca Solnit, A Field Guide to Getting Lost
Our love of the natural world often starts with a place. Using language and drawing, nature journals ground us, evoke mood, and contribute to larger environmental themes. Keeping a journal of our wanderings helps us engage more fully, beyond recording things, and helps us be more present and perhaps breathe a little more deeply.
Guiding Questions:
Stop and see a tree. What words come to mind? Write them down, without filtering yourself. Feel free to get up and touch things, listen, taste. . .
Look into the sky. Let your eyes wander the expanse. Write down what this feels like; depict the interiority with words. What emotions are pulled to expression?
Take in a vista or expanse, wherever you are. Look in the distance and take stock of the colors and shapes you see, large and small. What do you notice that others might miss?
Play with making a new word or expression from what you've experienced today (a neologism). For example, Shakespeare coined the word “bedazzled” to describe the gleam of sunlight on rhinestone-embellished clothing. You can also combine two or more words, like soulmate or fog + smoke = smog. Perhaps go back to where you started and the first words you wrote down.
Offered by our Assistant Fiction Editor, Breeann Kyte Kirby
We’d love to see where this invitation takes you. Share with us on social media by tagging @ecotheo (or using #CollectiveWonderings).