I started working at Royal Roads University in April 2018. I am one of 500 employees. When I first met the gardeners working on campus, not much connection happened. They must have thought that I was another random staff that did not particularly care about the 565 acres of land where we work.
Things started to switch when I spent more and more time in the gardens. I joined many guided tours, asked questions, and read books about the place.
After a few months, I felt comfortable starting conversations and letting the gardeners know a bit more about myself. My grandfather was an arborist in Quebec and had to leave for months in the States where money was better. I opened up on the importance of the forest for my father in Quebec and my childhood surrounded by trees. Without knowing it -and based on the research of Bayer & Hettinger, 2019 – I was using place-based stories and shared values to start a relationship with the gardeners. Almost like the story of the scientist Cleaver who connected her family values with the cause of helping the fisheries of Maine (Bayer & Hettinger, 2019).
Time passed. Now, gardeners stop by at my office to share a story of a tree or to make me smell a cut flower from the rose garden. It makes me forget for a moment that work is not just about work. It is about the place and the humans.
It is not a coincidence that my sit spot is located on campus. It forces me to take time during the day to go visit, pause, enjoy, and go back to my office. I selected a peaceful place near the waterwheel. Listening to the water brings back memories of a small cascade that I visited when I was younger with my grandparents during the summer vacations. There is something magical happening while I look at the giant trees and listen to the tiny stream of water. Have you ever tried it? It is comparable to having your feet in the ocean when looking at the thousands of stars at night: a beautiful combination of some elements of nature.
Having access to nature at work can be considered medicine. You have a good day – go outside in nature. You have a bad day – go outside in nature. Not everyone works near a forest, but finding a quiet spot even with a few trees is beneficial for all. I dream of a world where managers would recommend going outside for an important meeting or going for a walk for a difficult conversation.
Like David Suzuki beautifully confirms:” Let’s change the way we relate to nature and work with it — not against it — to address the problems of biodiversity loss, climate change, and community well-being.” Nature should not be an optional tool or something that we will take care of later.
The power of connection with nature could help so many people, especially in the stressful world that we live in. Would you have another prescription?

Addendum
The techniques used for this blog post are informed by the work of Dr. Stephan Schneider and its guiding principles “Know thy audience! Know thyself! Know thy stuff!” (Bayer & Hettinger, 2019).
Bayer, S. & Hettinger, A. (2019). Storytelling: A natural tool to weave the threads of science and community together. The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. https://doi.org/10.1002/bes2.1542
The topic came when researching nature-based solutions on the David Suzuki website.
David Suzuki Foundation. Nature Based-Solutions. https://davidsuzuki.org/project/nature-based-solutions/

See my Sit Spot here https://youtu.be/Pk8qCQ-_PE0