Connecting with Dubai’s Urban Nature

Reflections on a reader’s blog post and on the benefits of connecting with nature

One of the collage art I have made this year in my journal using pressed/dried molokhiya leaves and basil flowers from my garden, rose petals from a bouquet that was gifted to me, a feather I had found in one of my walks, washi tape, burlap, and a cut out of a bird from a re-used gift wrap.

Dear City Person,

In today’s post, I will be sharing reflections inspired by a blog post written by one of my readers, Beth Adoette. I will be focusing on how it had me think about the benefits of connecting with nature in general and with nature in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), where I am currently based, in particular. Before I dig in, I want to first introduce you to Beth.

Beth is an artist who creates beautifully arranged circles from plant parts and seashells as shown below. She also writes about her nature-inspired contemplations on her blog that you can subscribe to by clicking here.

I have been following Beth since my decade in the US via Facebook and later through subscribing to her blog. To this day, looking at her nature-inspired art puts me in a meditative space, even if for a split second while scrolling through my feed. Her art partly inspired me to create collage art out of the freshly fallen leaves, flowers, and feathers I would find in my walks or garden especially when I moved back to Dubai, UAE like the one you can see in the photo above.

Despite my history of receiving Beth’s creations, I had never put in the effort to connect with her until I saw one of her recent blog posts titled, “Meditation: Grounding or Flying?”, that moved me to write to her and to feature it in my newsletter today. Click here to read Beth’s blog post that I will be referencing today.

A question for readers before I continue…

What stood out to you in Beth’s blog post?

…and some house keeping before I dive in…

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A nature mandala created by artist, Beth Adoette. Image source: Beth Adoette’s website.

When most people think of Dubai, the first images that tend to come to their minds are those of skyscrapers, artificial islands, and shopping malls. Many who live here often lament at the limited options for green spaces. You may thus think that it is an oxymoron to mention “Dubai” and “nature” together in my post’s title. I don’t blame you because I have noticed that regardless of which city in the world one is based in, “nature” is often talked about as though it is something “outside” the city that we can “escape” to rather than “connect” with from within the city.

I have noticed when hiking in both the UAE and Northeast US, people would often rush to finish the hikes and have seemingly little to no interest in the local flora and fauna because quite often the focus is on escaping and competing rather than being present. Most people are not even present to whatever nature is already outside their windows within their own cities let alone “out there” in a hike.

Every city I have ever visited or lived in has weeds growing through the pavement cracks or in unpaved areas, uncultivated trees, birds and birdsongs, bugs, sky, clouds, sun, breeze, wind, dust, shadow, and rain (even if very little of it). Some cities have access to the sea or other natural bodies of water even if the surrounding area is artificially built. Some have hills, snow, hail, storms, fog, mists, and humidity. Are these all not “nature?”

You might be surprised to learn that I have documented 91 species of plants and bugs using iNaturalist app with most of them being uncultivated weeds within walking distance to me in Dubai. Some I have found in my hikes in Fujariah and Ras Al Khaima in the UAE but they do not dominate my list.

If you ever visit Dubai, you may notice especially in residential areas there are small empty sandy patches that tend to have plants growing out of them. Also like any city, you may find random weeds growing in between cracks of pavement. An untrained or uncurious eye may think that all these plants look alike (click here to read this BBC article on “plant blindness” which is a universal phenomena). But walk closer and focus on the details of each one and you will see how distinct they each are. Taking photos of these plants and documenting them in iNaturalist to support conservation research has been one of the things that have helped me with my reverse culture shock when I moved back to the UAE after a decade away.

Click here to learn more about iNaturalist. I would also recommend Merlin Bird ID by Cornell University which identifies birds around the world by sound. Bird watching from my window and walks and listening to how their sounds change by season and in different contexts has also helped me adjust back here. Click here to learn more about Merlin Bird ID.

A “sound walk” art exhibit created by Nasser Al Sughaiyer, who is another reader I have previously featured in my newsletter, further expands our understanding of urban nature by including built environment, cultivated plants, and our own bodies as part of nature rather than being separate from it. Click here to read my reflections on Nasser’s “sound walk” in Art Jameel, Dubai.

Two questions for readers before I continue…

1. What do you imagine would become possible if more of us acknowledged how we are connected to nature even when living in a city rather than separate from it?

2. Have you ever used apps or physical field guides to identify plants and animals in your area? If yes, how did you start and what has your experience been like?

You may be wondering why am I making a big deal about connecting with nature. I recommend this article in Greater Good Magazine by Berkley University which you can read by clicking here. The article mentions how 100s of studies found that being in or near nature or even watching nature photos and videos are good for our emotional and physical wellbeing regardless of our ethnic or socioeconomic background.

What most got my attention from this article is how it says that there are studies that also demonstrate the benefits of connecting with nature for our social wellbeing and for inculcating kindness. The article says that it may be because being in nature has us relax enough to open up to experiences and people around us. But I would add that connecting with other living beings, whether they be plants or animals, has us care more about them. You cannot care for what you are disconnected from or for what you have no curiosity about so it makes sense that spending more time connecting with nature can improve our kindness.

One of my critiques of articles like this is that they dominantly focus on green spaces which to me reflects a Western cultural bias (though a few do explore “blue spaces” too as mentioned in this article from The Guardian that you can click here to read which is good news for those of us living closer to the beach in Dubai). At least from anecdotal evidence, I can vouch for how much being in the quiet expanse of sand dunes and feeling the softness of the sand under my bare feet is quite relaxing to me.

I further wonder if people who have a fear of bugs or experience bad allergic reactions to pollen will experience similar benefits that the studies cited found. But in the case of fear of bugs, a gradual exposure to the trigger of the fear is part of a common psychotherapy intervention called systemic desensitization…so while not “relaxing” at first, it could be potentially therapeutic when done well.

I also find that many of such articles don’t mention how certain countries experience inequalities in access to safe spaces where people can connect with nature whether within or outside cities. Having said that, studies on the link between access to nature and health have had more groups advocate for equitable access which The Guardian article mentions.

Two questions for readers before I continue…

1. What do you appreciate about the Greater Good Magazine and Guardian articles?

2. What other shortcomings do you notice in either of the articles or in similar mainstream discussions about the benefits of connecting with nature especially in urban contexts?

Here is what most stood out to me in Beth’s blog post, “Meditation: Grounding or Flying?”:

I had mentioned in my first post (that you can read by clicking here) how one’s connection with a place (aka “place attachment”) is often tied with one’s connection with nature and the people who live there. Beth expands on this further by mentioning how connecting with our animal and plant kin creates “touchstone memories” that one can revisit to either “ground” themselves in the moment or to “fly” in wonder. This quote from her post explains the importance of touchstone memories:

“I think it is important to have touchstone memories to visit. As we return to them again and again, we learn to settle in more easily, appreciate more deeply, and grasp the comforting feeling of going home.” —Beth Adoette

I assume that Beth is using the word “home” in the most expansive meaning of the word, rather than referring to a literal physical place or country. Some of us, especially those of us who grew up as third culture kids, may not necessarily connect with one place as “home” but may have relationships or certain values that give us a sense of “home” even if we don’t necessarily call it such. I would say that these relationships don’t have to be with people, but can include plants and animals.

Quite often, we may get lost in life’s day to day grind, more so when we live in a fast-paced city like Dubai, that we may lose touch with these relationships. This is why reconnecting with memories of these relationships can help re-orient us back to what matters to us which can help us navigate what life throws at us.

These lovely passages by Beth illustrate what having a touchstone memory built from a relationship with nature can look like:

“To ground and recenter, I often think about my favorite oak tree that lives near the ocean. She and I have a long, long history of heart to heart moments where we have talked, without words, and acknowledged our struggles. I learn from my quiet sister who grounds down deep near the water edge. She is not tall, but reaches out wide. Still holding many dead branches, I see she perseveres as new leaves continue to show up every year. Unashamedly she shows her vulnerability, but continues to reach out wide and dig down deep.

Here is what I do . . . I close my eyes. I visualize standing beside her. I begin to breathe slowly and deeply as if I am breathing with her. With each breath, I imagine rooting down deeper and reaching out wider.

Other times, it seems less about how my mind is responding and more about my body. I am not entranced by that crazy spin art machine any longer. I am feeling more like the paint. This kind of feeling is usually short lived, but more intense. It is then that I allow my memory to take me to a particular field from my childhood. There, the goldfinches continue to fly above the field with a their slow, predictable, undulating flight pattern. There is such a beauty in this rhythmic pattern and their in-flight song repeats with the pattern as they fly!

Here is what I do . . . I close my eyes. I visualize myself as a kid watching my brother and sister goldfinches in flight. I remember their rhythmic song. I begin to breathe slowly and deeply with the rhythm of their flight.”

—Beth Adoette

When I read these words, I could feel each image in my body…the rootedness of the oak tree in the gravity pulling my feet, and the flight of the goldfinches skipping in my chest and breath.

I was taken to a memory of a date tree that used to stand next door to me in Dubai before it was cut down. I remember how everyday, I would look at the date tree, see how its fronds expand up, middle, and down….

…I would close my eyes and visualize the tree in my mind’s eye…

I would imagine the expansive motion of the fronds and notice my chest and shoulders expand with it….

I would imagine what that tree’s growth looked like from seed, seedling, to tree and feel my whole body smile…

While I felt sad when that tree got cut down, I am glad to have built a touchstone memory with it, reminding me about the wonder of the more than human kin out there no matter where I set my roots…reminding me that I am never truly “alone.”

A final question for readers:

What touchstone memories did reading this post take you to?

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For next week’s newsletter, I will be reflecting on ways people can reach out to their supportive relationships when they are feeling their lowest. I will highlight insights from a collection of anonymous stories insightful.ae has gathered as well as those based on research studies.

If you would like to contribute what had previously helped you reach out to people when you felt your lowest, please reply to this email or share in Substack comments below!

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Before I wrap up…

I am ending each of my posts with a randomly drawn conversational card that you can consider using to deepen your conversations with people this week. So here’s today’s card drawn from a deck called Scenario Cards:

“What if you could choose one manager to work for, anywhere around the globe? Who would you work for, and what would your job be?”

Let me know if you end up using this question in any of your conversations and how it goes!

Click the link here to learn more about Scenario Cards. I currently earn an affiliate fee for every purchase from this link. This is so far the first affiliate partnership I have and I only plan to do so with products I genuinely benefited from. I had previously written a post about conversational cards in general prior to being invited to Scenario Cards’ affiliate program. Click here for the link to the post.

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Hayyakum,

Reema