Seeing Nature as a Lover (Part 2) With Miriam Smith

Learning How to See with Brian McLaren

What shapes the connection between your inner and outer landscapes?

On the second part of seeing nature like a lover, Brian interviews a non-profit leader in sustainable development, Miriam Smith. In this episode, Miriam shares her powerful story of growing up in Chad during a civil war. She discusses how these experiences shaped her perspective on life and instilled a deep passion for nature and the environment, and how this informs her work with Eden Thriving, an organization dedicated to sustainable development and landscape restoration. Miriam emphasizes the importance of cherishing both our inner and outer landscapes, highlighting the connection between love and care for both ourselves, and our planet. Lastly, Miriam also shares about her efforts to protect and restore land in Kenya, underscoring the significance of cherishing our planet. You can read more about that at the link in the resource section.

Miriam Smith loves the outdoors, campfires, ‘ah-ha’ moments, poetry and the contemplative life. Her childhood was spent in Central and Eastern Africa where she gained a deep love for living close to nature, being present at a grassroots level, and working with dedicated teammates to cultivate the potential of land and lives. While raising her three children, she has served in a variety of non-profit community development programs in Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea and Kenya. She makes her permanent home along the banks of the Malewa River in Naivasha, Kenya where she serves as the Founding Director of Eden Thriving, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing the environmental roots of poverty. (www.edenthriving.org)

Resources:

• The transcript for this episode can be found here.
• To learn more about Miriam's work with restoring the land in Kenya, visit this website here.
• To learn more about Miriam, check out her website here.