An audio documentary
by bryan h. shepard
Nature Inc.
Each one of us has a unique story to tell. We are in nature and of nature. Hear deep personal stories and reflections of those touched by nature in all its forms.
Giving Voice to the Voiceless
Nature is here, all around us. But it’s not for the taking. Nature is something for us to nurture and grow into a relationship that can last a lifetime (which in nature years is just a drop in the bucket). Hear fully uncut, deeply personal stories of how nature has altered the lives of those who become aware, take action, and share the wonder with others to spur the recognition and long-term commitment we have to the world around us.
Trees Are Our Family
They come in all shapes and sizes, are tall, sometimes towering over us many stories high, and appear inert, with not even a hint that they are moving. But are they? According to Jeff Perry, co-founder of hyper-local sawmill Angel City Lumber, trees offer us a lot more than we realize.
Our Inherent Connection with Wolves
Early along our journey of evolution, wolves taught us how to survive in the wild, both as hunters and as a strong family unit. With only roughly 55 wolves in the wild in California today, Paul and Colette Pondella have taken on a journey to educate as many as will listen how this gentle, peaceful relative is one of the few creatures that can actually help us save ourselves.
The Evolution of Rocks
Not warm and fuzzy, seemingly unperturbed, even stoic, rocks have been putting up with a lot over the last millions of years. Now they just want to come out and play. If anyone can do it, rock artist Lisa Custard can. She makes one-of-a-kind, jaw-dropping connections with some of the most under-appreciated members of the mineral kingdom.
How to Start Connecting to Nature
STEP 01
Awaken Awareness
You look at someone across the road and they look back. You see a fly and realize it has a life too. Your vision expands to see a whole other world of lifeforms teeming around you.
STEP 02
Take Action
You buy a basil plant and plant it in the dirt. You weed a garden. You recycle. You find a stray dog or cat and foster or adopt it. You see a bug, beetle, or crawling insect in your home and move it outside.
STEP 03
Feel a Connection
When moving a spider, you think to yourself, “It’s ok, I’m not here to hurt you,” and the spider stops trying to escape and looks up at you. Walking in nature, you ask a question and receive an answer.
Begin Your Exploration
Put Simply. Nature Heals.
Our bodies are naturally designed to heal. All we have to do is provide the right circumstances and ingredients.
Nature As Medicine
There was a time, in the not too distant past, when doctors prescribed going out in nature as a cure. You don’t need insurance, you don’t have to go far, and best of all, it’s free.
Nature In, Around, Above and Below Us
Nature isn’t just a roadway to get us from point A to point B on our terms and schedule. Nature is a journey of the senses and there for our own growth.
Nature Speaks
Nature communicates in both loud and subtle ways. We can choose to listen and engage or tune out.
Finding Nature
In 2022, Los Angeles consumed about 2.64 billion board feet of lumber, and by my estimation off of tree die-off statistics in the city, the county, and the forest, we’re mulching well beyond three billion board feet worth of lumber a year. So we’re squandering more than we’re consuming and to add insult to injury, we’re importing all the lumber of those 2.64 billion board feet from everywhere around the world. I mean, talk about a disconnected system.
– Jeff Perry, Angel City Lumber
The wolves are the protector of the forest. You put the wolves back in the forest and everything recovers. Everything. Plants, trees, bugs, snakes, bears, muskrats, rabbits, you name it… Without the wolves, you have no trees. You have no waterways. And as humans, our job is not only to protect that forest, but to protect those that walk on that forest because without those that walk on that forest, we have nothing.
– Paul Pondella, Shadowland Foundation
Nature is everything. I love how Native Americans, like Father Sky, Mother Earth—I’m all about Mother Earth. And I think it’s so important nowadays to rekindle that love of nature and Mother Earth because Mother Earth is the unifying factor. She’s all of our mothers. That’s where we come together. No matter your religion, no matter your race, we all breathe the same air. It’s like Mother Earth. That’s what’s missing.
– Lisa Custard, Rock Artist