Why I Started Sweating the Small Stuff

Letting Nature do the Work — ©Bard 2024

For a long time now, I have been worrying about saving the world. It sure as heck needs saving, but my attempts at doing so have not made much of an impact. At least from what I see in the daily news.

But then something happened that changed my perspective.

We moved into a new place, surrounded by a forest property. The forest needed attention. Some trees are dying, other parts are being taken over by an aggressive, invasive species; we need more diversity; we need some tracks to make the property more accessible… It felt like another big project: saving the forest.

Of course, what it came down to in the end was to just pick something small, and start there. We planted some saplings; we removed some of the invasive trees; we started clearing a track. One little step at the time. And now, just over a year later, we are beginning to see the fruits of our labour. In very small ways, the forest is starting to look better, more vibrant, more in balance.

None of the changes we made are really big. And most of the improvements we see are simply nature doing its thing. But the small things we are doing have just enough impact to help nature do so.

So, more and more now, I tend to look for the tiny differences I can make on a daily basis, trusting that the big things will take care of…