As we garden and go about our daily lives, it is all too easy to forget that the natural world around us provides so much. Even if we try to live in as sustainable a way as possible, it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the world around us is a place of natural resources, placed there for us, and us alone. 

It is important, however, to remember that we are just one more species on this planet – not the centre of the universe, but another cell in the system. 

It is vital to recall that ours in a world that works on reciprocity. Nature provides, and if we want it to continue to do so, we should, indeed must, give back.

Understanding Nature's Gifts

We must not lose sight of the fact that we are animals – reliant on the natural world around us for our very survival. In today's world, it is easy to become disconnected from that reality – thinking ourselves somehow above and separate from the rest of the natural environment. 

To rediscover our place on our planet, and to feel connected once more, we must move away from the idea that nature's gifts are commodities, to be bought and sold. 

Nature's gifts are given freely, but not without the expectation of return. As in gift giving cultures around the world, in thriving natural systems, everything works in harmony because there is give and take. And because cycles are completed by the return of surplus to the system.

Giving Thanks For Nature's Gifts

Giving thanks for nature's gifts, therefore, is not simply about spending those moments of quiet gratitude, or literally thanking nature each time we obtain something that we need or want. We should have those mindful moments, of course, but we must also go beyond.

Giving thanks to nature is about finding ways to give back, to keep those cycles turning. It is about taking only what we truly need, funnelling surplus back into natural cycles, and repairing and restoring nature where, by human hands, it has been degraded, damaged or depleted. 

By composting, feeding the soil, mulching and planting, sowing and tending organically, living sustainably and contributing to conservation work, we can truly find our place in the natural world once more, and truly show our thanks in real and tangible ways.

Reciprocity is something all too often lacking from our interactions with the natural world around us. And what it all comes down to is respect. 

Though acknowledgement, appreciation and real and tangible action in our daily lives, we can all show nature just how thankful we really are, and repair our broken relationship with the world around us.