Do you consider yourself a naturephile? What do you appreciate most about being in the great outdoors? How often do you take time to blend in with natural settings?

Each Season Offers a Fresh, New Canvas to Engage With

Nature is my spiritual supplement. Chillaxing under the verdant canopy of a sycamore tree, imagining familiar shapes in the clouds floating across an azure sky, mimicking the song of a thrush whistling in the wood, yipping and skipping down a country road in the rain, and wallowing in a wave curl before it sloshes the shore. Ahh! I’m home!

Nature Inspires Great Conversation

Are you ready to plan an outdoor adventure? Sometimes nature is best appreciated in silence. No need to speak or seek – just be at home in it. But other times you may want to amplify your love for nature by sharing it with a friend – or making a new one.

I frequently like to use my alfresco experiences to expand my circle of friends. Where is the best place? Just about anywhere. However, some settings may be more conducive to nature chats. Here are a few examples…

Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall – Encourage Others to Laude the Land While…

• Parading your poochie pal through the park
• Pumping a new fall foliage hiking path with family
• Prepping your canoe for a cruise around the camp
• Taking the aerial tram to the peak of the ski summit
• Enjoying refreshments on a resort’s veranda during your annual vernal venture
• Stretching your muscles at rest stops on your cycle-for-a-cure tour
• Selecting the perfect Douglas fir at a Christmas tree farm

Of course, you don’t need to rehearse or stage an elaborate social engagement. Allow your passion for nature to organically guide you to start a conversation while running errands. Or warm up to people with a few icebreakers during your daily breaks and extended holidays.

Let’s Talk About Nature

Think about creative ways to introduce yourself to others and share your love for the natural world. Tell a little about your personal experiences and allow the conversation to take you on a beautiful journey.

You might pose a thought-provoking question. These three personal reflections may provide fodder for an easy discussion about your passion for the natural world.

“Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.” — Langston Hughes

Would You Describe Yourself as a Pluviophile?

My nickname could be Pluvia because I feel a sense of renewed energy and mental clarity on rainy days. Writing. Cooking. Reading. My creativity comes pouring down. I’m like a thirsty flower quenched and quickened – my spirit revived.

Rain encourages peace and contemplation. And a stroll during a rare sun shower cleanses my soul. My mother and I used to thrill at the chance to go antiquing on rainy days. The memory of vintage scents inside the shops mingling with the fresh, earthy bouquet of petricor remains archived in the alcoves of my mind.

What activities do you enjoy on rainy days? Are certain memories enhanced in the rain? On damp days, can you think of ways to start a conversation about rain while standing in the checkout line at the grocery store?

“A tree has roots in the soil yet reaches to the sky. It tells us that in order to aspire we need to be grounded and that no matter how high we go it is from our roots that we draw sustenance.” ― Wangari Maathai

How Many Dendrophiles Do You Know?

As I prep this post, I’m perched on my porch surrounded by tall trees and mature bushes – the leaves spinning in the wind and the warm breeze teasing my hair. It’s hard to imagine a world without trees. Every day should be Arbor Day.

Trees teach us a lot about the miracles of life. Bask in their frondescence and imitate their rhythm during the change of seasons. There’s a time to sow and a time to let go. Dub me a dendrophile. Trees keep me grounded.

While in isolation during the first year of the pandemic, the trees on my walking path welcomed my embrace. They delight my senses year-round – a dramatic performance to savor every season. Shh! I’m tuning in to the wind’s mystifying verse rustling through the treetops and interpreting the comforting psithurism – softly whispering its secret message.

Have you ever hugged a tree? What trees inspire you? Do you have a favorite childhood memory involving trees? What brief anecdote could you share with an enthusiastic listener to spark a stimulating conversation on your next weekend getaway?

“The ocean is a mighty harmonist.” — William Wordsworth

Would You Be Open to Organizing a Community of Thalassophiles?

The ocean and I are one. I wish I could have engineered a career around lolling at the beach. My most memorable vacations were set at sea. All of my senses are awakened around the water. Sunrises and sunsets are intensified here. The sun sinking beneath a marmalade sky mesmerizes my mind and speeds peace, wonder and joy.

Powerful emotions flood my soul as the gentle, lapping waves enchant me in their sea-song. The velvety sand caresses my soles and bolsters my back as I recline on its mine of gold. The scent and taste of the ocean mist slowly saturates my senses with memorable treasures. Tag me thalassophile – sea worshipper.

How would you describe the ocean? When you plan a vacation, do you find yourself lured by water? Do any of your photo albums include beach images?

If you want to experience a piece of heaven, regularly plant yourself in nature’s nursery to ease your stress, lighten your heart and maintain your youthful spirit. Nature expresses itself in different ways every day. We just have to be receptive to receiving the gifts it offers. And nature loves to be appreciated. Invite those who value your passion to frolic in the forest with you.

What do you appreciate most about nature? What benefits have you enjoyed from your alfresco adventures? Is it easy for you to talk about the great outdoors? Why? Why not? With whom do you discuss your love of nature?

We love a good makeup dupe but we love it even more when it’s impossible to find the original in the first place. That’s why folks on TikTok are looking long and hard for a great Charlotte Tilbury Pinkgasm dupe. And it looks like they found it. And it’s more than $30 less than Charlotte Tilbury’s ultra-popular Beauty Highlighter Wand. Score.

There’s a good reason Charlotte Tilbury Pinkgasm is so popular. It’s like the perfect mix of glowy highlighter and rosy blush together in one creamy formula. It looks great on literally everyone and has a gorgeous dewy texture for summer. It does have a little bit of shimmer but it’s not too glittery to wear every day. The wand is so beloved, it’s sold out on both Charlotte Tilbury’s site and Sephora.

If you want to try the formula before heading straight to the dupe (or maybe both?), there are a few other shades available, including this pretty Peachgasm color.

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale.

Charlotte Tilbury.

But if you’re looking for that perfect Pinkgasm dupe, Wet ‘n Wild is here to save the day. The Megaglow Makeup Stick Blush in Peach Bums has a similar light pink shade with a slight shimmer. One swipe across your cheeks and nose and you are glowing. Oh, and it’s less than $5.

Wet ‘n Wild.

Buy: Peach Bums (Pack of 2) at Amazon $11.52

It seems the dupe was first discovered by user @makeupsessions who showed side-by-side swatches of both Charlotte Tilbury’s and Wet ‘n Wild’s blush.

“Oh, that’s really pretty,” said TikTok user @katespader79, surprised at great the $5 blush is looking on her skin. “It blended effortlessly. Go get some.”

“I have searched too many Sephoras for that damn Charlotte Tilbury blush and cannot find it anywhere,” said @amandafrisch. She applies it with her fingers and calls it “luminous” and a “beautiful glow.” She says she still wants the Charlotte Tilbury one but that “this glowy blush is everything.”

If you want to get your hands on Wet ‘n Wild’s Megaglow Makeup Stick Blush in Peach Bums, you better hurry before TikTok makes it sell out, too. We found a 2-pack on Amazon Prime for just $11.52 total. It’s also available at Ulta, along with the darker pink Floral Majority shade.

“Although sometimes being a climate activist can be overwhelming and depressing, I remind myself how lucky I am to be living at this important moment where we can step up to the biggest challenge in human history – to stop the destruction of our planet and keep it from becoming uninhabitable for future generations.”

Wise beyond her years, Emilia, a college student from Sweden, shared her thoughts in a Climate Courage workshop I recently presented. Suddenly, I realized that every person alive today is faced with this enormous challenge and a tremendous opportunity.

A Youth Initiative to Fight Climate Change

This spring, I began giving workshops, volunteering with Pooja Tilvawala who was selected from a large number of climate activists to receive a year of funding to set up an international youth organization which came to be called the Youth Climate Collaborative (YCC).

Pooja had already been participating in international climate activism and her vision was to enable young climate and sustainable development leaders from every corner of the world, to elevate their voices and maximize impact, by providing support to learn from each other, as well as coordinate with like-minded organizations.

How It All Began

I met Pooja six years ago when she was a college freshman who came to Makengue, a Nicaraguan rainforest preserve that my husband and I own on the San Juan River near the border with Costa Rica. We had been bringing students from colleges in the US to learn about the rainforest and engage in intercultural exchanges with local people.

When Pooja told me about the grant she received to start YCC, I offered to volunteer. Although I am an elder, I hoped to bring my experience and skills to her efforts.

Pooja explained that one of her YCC projects was to offer “Climate Courage” workshops to help participants express feelings about the climate crisis and strengthen their resilience, in the wake of devastating habitat destruction, extinctions, and human impacts: fires, hurricanes, and droughts, which especially harm low-income people and communities of color.

Soon, I found myself helping develop and present the workshops. Now on our 5th cohort, in the two-session workshops, participants share about their work, express feelings, and create self-care plans as they discuss how to become and remain leaders in their communities.

To date, thanks to a Zoom platform, participants come from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin American, and the Mid-East, including a recent graduate from medical school in Yemen, a Ph.D. student in Somalia, a 13-year-old budding activist from Sri Lanka, and others from Colombia, Costa Rica, Nigeria, East Timor, India, Japan, and China.

It is wonderful to meet these inspirational people and hear what they are doing in their countries. Sadi from Bangladesh who works on reforestation projects shared that during the lockdown, he planted a small garden on his roof, adding, “once the lockdown ends, I want to go to the hill forest of my country and visit places that I have missed so much during the pandemic. It will give me more power. We are talking about self-care. In this tough condition, we are fighting mentally and physically and it will be a relief for myself.”

Climate Anxiety, Grief, and Anger

In a recent session, Amy, a Scottish university student, said she used to think that climate work was all about science, but she has come to realize that the future depends on how we as humans feel, think, talk about, and approach making critical changes.

That mirrors what professor, Jennifer Atkinson says in her “Facing It” podcast series: “While some climate activists argue that we should focus on facts instead of feelings, others know that our intense emotional response to climate chaos is far from irrational. Moreover, feelings like anger, hope, anxiety, and fear profoundly shape our perceptions of the world, and can motivate us to act or shut down and retreat.”

To that end, we are developing a new vocabulary to express feelings. We discovered that this new vocabulary resonates with people everywhere:

Climate Grief

As people become aware of ecological destruction and the growing numbers of extinctions, and as climate impacts worsen, climate grief becomes a deep form of distress and sadness. It is a natural reaction to loss with similar emotions to those people experience with the death of a loved one.

In addition to grief from direct losses caused by climate disasters, such as fires, floods, and hurricanes, people also experience existential climate grief as they feel despair about the future of our planet.

Climate Justice

The term climate justice acknowledges climate change can have differing social, economic, public health, and other adverse impacts on marginalized populations and people of color. Advocates for climate justice are striving to have these inequities acknowledged and addressed through long-term mitigation strategies.

Community Resilience

The concept of community resistance is the ability of a community to come together to withstand, adapt to, and heal from adversity and difficult times.

Eco-Anxiety

Anxiety is the way a person’s mind and body react to stressful, dangerous, and uncertain situations. Eco-anxiety is a state of debilitation caused by worry about specific situations like high levels of air pollution, crop failures due to drought as well as a sense of feeling overwhelmed by pessimism about the future of the planet.

It manifests as incessant worrying and nervousness as well as physical symptoms like increased blood pressure and trouble sleeping.

Emotional Resilience

Emotional resilience is the ability to adapt to stressful situations, and cope with life’s ups and downs. Resilience does not eliminate stress or erase life’s difficulties but allows people to manage their emotions, tackle and accept problems, live through adversity, move on, recover and find a path forward in their lives.

Ultimately, the Covid pandemic has re-iterated the need for collaboration across countries and that kind of collaboration is desperately needed to make the changes required to protect our planet as a whole.

Hope While Facing Uncertainty

I have enjoyed being an elder, working with these inspirational young people. I share with the Sixty and Me community what I am learning because people of all ages are needed at this critical time in history.

In my last blog, Turning to Individual and Systemic Action for Climate Change, I outlined many actions that we can take. Here, I want to share what inspires me to keep going in the wake of the many challenges with the hope of motivating others.

In Jennifer Atkinson’s final podcast of the series (which I highly recommend you listen to in its entirety), she elaborates on the same ideas that Emilia expressed above.

“This is our sacred work – everyone alive today exists at a moment that will decide the fate of this planet for centuries to come. Even though we did not ask for this role, our generation will determine what vanishes and what remains. If you can act, you have an astonishing power that no human actors have held before this present moment because you and all of us can choose to be the seed of life and possibility that shepherds our bruised but still viable world into the coming age. That power should make us humble, but motivate us all beyond all limit.”

Has climate change been on your mind? What particular part of it has touched your life? Are you doing anything to lessen your imprint on the planet? What emotions do you feel concerning climate change and the part humans play in it? Please share your thoughts and any organizations you have been active with.