Nature Nurtures Anthology 2023
Since summer 2022, Spread the Word has collaborated with London Wildlife Trust, with Black Girls Hike CIC and London Youth for Nature Nurtures, a programme offering free creative and conservation workshops and opportunities for young people aged 16 – 25 in London. As part of the programme, young people were invited to contribute their creative expressions inspired by their participation in the project and by London’s nature and wildlife to an anthology. This beautiful anthology opens the window to young people’s perspective of the natural world in London and amplifies their voices.
Since summer 2022, Spread the Word has collaborated with London Wildlife Trust, with Black Girls Hike CIC and London Youth for Nature Nurtures, a programme offering free creative and conservation workshops and opportunities for young people aged 16 – 25 in London. As part of the programme, young people were invited to contribute their creative expressions inspired by their participation in the project and by London’s nature and wildlife to an anthology. This beautiful anthology opens the window to young people’s perspective of the natural world in London and amplifies their voices.
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Basil, Strawberries and Sea Salt<br />
Elena Gkrintzou<br />
My dad always told me that memories are heavily connected to one’s sense of<br />
smell. While growing up, I have found a lot of the facts he shared with me to<br />
be false or inaccurate, but when it comes to this one, I have always known it is<br />
true without ever having to look it up. When I was younger the food that we ate<br />
was dependent on the season. We ate strawberries only for a brief period of time<br />
starting from the last days of spring up to the beginning of the summer. Whenever<br />
I found strawberries in the grocery bags, I knew that summer was just around<br />
the corner. We had a large wooden bowl that we would fill with strawberries and<br />
sugar and put it in the fridge overnight to macerate them. The whole of our kitchen<br />
would smell like strawberries and spring. I knew it was summer, when the food<br />
that my parents cooked started smelling and tasting like basil. To me the smell<br />
and taste of summer will always be tethered to basil. Whenever I smell it, I can<br />
almost feel the sun burning my face, like it did on lazy Sunday mornings during<br />
August. However, the smell to which my body and my mind are most responsive to<br />
and the one that fills me with memories more than any other, is the one of sea salt.<br />
Despite viewing the world mostly through logical and rational lenses, the sea<br />
would always be my soft spot. To me she is alive. In fact, she is a symbol of<br />
life. This might sound absurd at first, but if I describe they way in which I have<br />
experienced her, I think you will view her in the same way as me. To me, the sea is<br />
forgiving and understanding. She does not judge you for crouching your body over<br />
a desk all day, or for shrinking yourself from time to time until you find the courage<br />
to put one leg in front of the other and face your desires without fear. She touches<br />
every part of your body without commenting on how you have exhausted it, on how<br />
you are not taking care of it.<br />
She puts salt on your wounds and although she momentarily hurts you, she<br />
discreetly heals them without expecting your gratitude or devotion in return. And<br />
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