Message from Samantha Laman

Butterfly Effect

The butterfly effect: we ’ ve all heard the phrase, we all know the general idea. Even just the smallest of changes in a condition can lead to unpredictable, large-scale effects in the future. It is a tired, old tagline that has been transformed and twisted into however the user understands it but I challenge you to view it in a very literal sense.

Butterflies are both some of the most fragile, and perplexing insects in the world. Sure, we have all seen a countless amount throughout our lifetime but how often do we actually stop, look, and think about the details of their existence? Stop and consider that we might not be as different?

Much like us, butterflies start their lives as tiny, fragile, helpless beings. Although their lives are vastly shorter than humans, they also go through periods of growth and transition that I can only imagine to be uncomfortable and painful. Through each stage that the caterpillar reaches, they outgrow and molt the exoskeleton that has become too small for them to fit in any longer. When it' s time, most caterpillars then turn themselves into a chrysalis, which is a fancy name for a goo filled pod that they will eventually emerge from as a beautiful butterfly.

Although we stay in the same general form as we move through the phases of our lives as humans, many of us can relate to the feeling of outgrowing our “ exoskeleton '' and the uncomfortable, sometimes painful emotions it brings about. Many of us can also relate to the feeling of being a goo-filled pod that has zero effect on the world around us while we are simply trying to survive (especially with the uncertainty of the world we have found ourselves living in).

Throughout my years of schooling I learned many things, some of which went in one ear and out the other, but others stuck into my brain like pine sap to bare hands. I was fortunate to not only be raised in a family that valued spending time with each other through outdoor activities and travel, but also got to experience earning an education through hands-on interaction with many facets of nature starting at a very young age. I have an incredibly clear memory of my 3rd grade teacher Mrs.Baker handing out a bag of various types of rocks to each student in the classroom. We spent time throughout the weeks learning about each type of rock, how they were created, and other basic things like how to test the hardness, color, and streak. That same year, we got to interact with monarch butterflies and learned how to care for them, and the steps to tracking them after they reached their final stage of growth and were ready to be released to embark on their cross-country trip to Mexico.

Not unlike the monarch butterflies, we are also expected to go through our own stages of growth and develop into a beautiful, contributing member of society. Our route may not compare to their thousands of miles they travel but the hardships are comparable. These difficulties do not need to be so, though. We can do our duty to prepare the “ caterpillars ” in our lives for their journey. This is done by allowing them to explore their surroundings on their own accord. Learning can be messy, painful, and confusing but mother nature has tailored an environment that is perfect for brains young and old to enjoy and learn from.

It has become common practice to ensure that children are spending their time wisely by interacting with the community through sports or a specialized art such as dance or choir. Through research, we know that building skills such as these as a child can benefit not just them in the here and now, but also give them a leg-up on their peers later on in life if they stick with a skill they learned in childhood. What is commonly forgotten about though, are the benefits of Play. As an expert in Recreation, Parks, and Leisure services I will forever be a voice that advocates for children to be given the opportunity to interact with the natural world around them. Not only does familiarizing themselves with their surroundings help them feel like they are part of something larger, but also teaches them essential life lessons through experience.

In recent years there has been a movement called 1000 Hours Outside, operating along the same beliefs that children gain essential skills while interacting with, and in, nature. Their goal is to get people of all age groups away from their screens and into their environment for 1000 hours a year. They offer free resources including tracking sheets and information packets for those who participate and continuously share articles and blog posts that help participants keep making their goals a reality. Through this model, they have created a community of people from a vast array of backgrounds but have one thing in common- they place value in spending time outdoors. 1000 hours outside seems daunting at first, but when you look at the statistics of children spending an average of 1,200 hours behind a screen every year it doesn 't seem as extreme does it? If we break it down a bit more, 1,000 hours a year ends up being just short of 20 hours a week, which equals just short of 3 hours being spent outside every day. You may be thinking “3 hours a day? Where am I going to magically pull extra time out of my life to place more importance on essentially doing nothing?. This may seem a little harder to do between work, family, cooking meals, and every other hiccup that interrupts our daily lives but we need to change our perspective. Instead of thinking of time spent at a local park, or even walking around your neighborhood a waste of time, we need to think of leisure and play as an essential part of our lives that slowly gets left by the wayside as soon as we enter the working world. With the growing number of stressors and other various things pulling us into different directions every day, we need to reshape how we live our lives and put more importance on the things that will benefit us and our families on a deeper level.