AmeriCorps Week 2021
Happy AmeriCorps Week! All week long, we will be sharing stories and photos that highlight the impact of our service. To kick things off, check out this story by ACSTL Member Leslie Salisbury about personal development and changing perspectives.
The Gift of Noticing by Leslie Salisbury
“It feels good to care for the land because it is a way I care for myself. In the previous office roles I've held, I felt far from the seasons, from the cycles of life happening around me. I sensed that much was lost because the expectations of output and tasks didn’t fluctuate at all in connection with nature, and I didn’t make or take time to notice my surroundings. It seems to me that I was separate from those things. Now, I'm watching my mind and body get lighter and more grounded as I spend regular time outside both during and after service each week. It’s providing me a platform to pay more attention to my surroundings and myself. In the past, I’ve thought of human impact on the environment as only a negative, disruptive thing; those are the stories I’ve seen most often.
Because of this AmeriCorps experience, not only am I gaining insight into ways humans positively affect our landscapes, I'm getting to be a part of it. Already this year, I've cut down invasive plants and thinned trees to restore woodlands. I’ve built fire line and ignited prescribed burns to give different ecosystems the recipes they need to restore and flourish.
To be sure, humans have and continue to cause perilous environmental damage which needs to be changed and addressed. What is bringing me hope and breathing new life into the future I imagine, in the face of such climate destruction, is how many opportunities there are to benefit the life around us, as close as our own homes. I can plant native species and remove invasive plants from my yard. I can plant milkweed and other species that butterflies and other important bugs need. I can pick up trash when I see it. At the very least, I can continue to stop and notice the changes of the seasons, the coming and goings of birds and bugs and the sounds that fill the air around me. I can remind myself that small changes make a difference. Moving slowly makes a difference. When I notice, I can learn, and noticing the nature and beauty around me reminds me that we are connected. That we are responsible for each other.”
Leslie (center) and her teammates at Lake of the Ozarks State Park.