Neuroscience, nature photography, Indigenous traditions, and mindfulness helps to foster "bioenchantment".

Becoming deeply involved and enchanted by local nature can help overcome ecoanxietry and personal troubles.

Louv asks us to think about what it means to see a tree or a turkey and how these experiences make us human.

What he calls the Great Conversation is going on all around us, between and among animal and plant species.

Richard Louv's name is globally known and synonymous with spending as much time outdoors as possible. Whenever I think of the positive ubiquity of getting kids and older folks outside, I think of Louv's seminal ideas about, and research into, what he calls the Nature-Deficit Disorder.1

I fondly remember my parents always saying in a thoroughly caring way, "You can never spend too much time outdoors, so get out of here, go into the woods." Those experiences also were extremely important for Louv as they were for Jane Goodall. We all were imprinted on nature and I'm sure all kids would benefit from these sorts of early experiences.

One important aspect of being outside is what philosopher Matthew Halteman calls "slow watching." There is no better example of the importance of "taking time to smell the roses" and to appreciate the animal beings with whom we share space—often in our backyards—than Louv's new outstanding book Noticing: Intimate Encounters With the Natural World. When I think of what Louv calls "noticing," I immediately think of what I call "Soft Personal Rewilding"—deeply connecting with nature because it's easy, cheap, and accessible. What could be better?

Marc Bekoff: Why did you write Noticing, and how do you pick the title?

Richard Louv: As a boy, I spent much of my time exploring the Missouri fields and woods beyond the back hedge. I climbed trees and inspected colonies of aphids and ants traveling through the grooves and cracks in the bark. I sat for hours, watching banks of clouds build in the East or a crow watching me from the next tree over. I felt held by something larger than myself. I felt then (though I would not admit it to my friends) that the woods were filled with magic.........

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