Privilege and Nature
I was going to start this weekās post by saying how I never considered privilege and nature to be connected - and then I realized that perfectly exhibits my privilege.Ā
To be clear, I consider privilege to mean that certain people possess traits that give them the tools and the position to make life easier for themselves. It is the idea that in a race, those with privilege are starting further ahead and that, unfortunately, the game of life isnāt fair.Ā
I would considered myself to be fairly privileged. I am white, I grew up in Canada, I speak English (but I also speak French) and I have no disabilities that make anything in my life more difficult. My family is upper-middle class, which has afforded me a lot of opportunities in life. Both of my parents (and later my sister and I) grew up in Aldershot, a ānicerā area of a ānicerā city. My grandparents owned our family cottage and my parents were able to buy their own next door. Between contributions from my grandparents and my parents, I have spent very little on my university degree. There has not been many (if any) instances in my life where my background has prevented me from doing something or made an accomplishment more difficult to achieve. I have a lot of tools in my invisible backpack.Ā
** A picture of my sister and I with my grandfather, at our family cottage**
Unfortunately, it took longer than I would like to admit to understand just how much easier my life is because of my privilege. Growing up, all of my friends lived a very similar life to me and my life was pretty average compared to my peers. It wasnāt at all uncommon for friends to be going on multiple vacations a year or spending time at their cottages, and I knew very very few people with divorced parents.Ā Itās very hard to change your mindset to see things that were always normal to recognize it as privilege. I started to understand this as I got older and I actually vividly remember the first time I saw the video of the $100 race that we watched in class this week. My mom became more and more involved as a teacher working to promote equity in the school board and she would share many lessons like that video with us and I began to understand how privileged I was.Ā
However, understanding and experiencing first hand is a completely different level of comprehension. When I came to university, it was the first time I met anyone that had grown up in a very different way than I had. I was faced, first-hand with how different life was and is for so many different people.
** Picture taken by me of the Severn River from my cottage **
Combining that idea of privilege to nature is something I think is so important. I fell in love with the outdoors from a young age, but I had a unique opportunity to do so, having a cottage to visit and a house with a large property featuring woods to hike through. Had I not had the financial privilege of growing up where I did, would that love have been fostered? It most certainly would have been more difficult. I went to school for biology, where my learning has further increased that love - without the financial support would that have been possible?
** Image byĀ Ponomariova_Maria **
To me, the most important thing about privilege is recognizing that you have it. Nature is something that no one person deserves to experience more than someone else. Those of us who have had certain opportunities because of ourĀ āinvisible backpacksā have a responsibility to offer any assistance that we can. Nature interpreters are in a beautiful and unique position to guide individuals towards the beauty and healing that the environment can provide - especially those who arenāt in a position to do so as easily without their guidance. It is important to considered privilege in every aspect of life but nature is an important one. I truly believe that every single individual who wants to should not have barriers preventing them from experiencing the natural world.Ā
I am well aware that I have much to learn. I can never fully understand what it is like to not have privilege because that simply isnāt my reality. But I can (and I do) commit to always being open to learning, to try my best to see the world from another personās perspective and to use my privilege to try to help someone who wasnāt handed the same tools in their backpack as I was.
Julia




















