Thank you to everyone who came to the Limited Edition T-Shirt Collab between me and Eddie Stern. We sold out of the shirts in 48 hours!

On January 1, 1965, the Reader’s Digest Association published an anthology of previously published essays dedicated to the challenge of existence, what they so aptly call “the most difficult of all the arts.”

The book How to Live With Life contains the collective wisdom, insights, and experience of those who, according to the introduction, have “lived deeply, thought profoundly, and cared enormously about sharing with others what they have learned.“

From “housewives” to psychiatrists, this nearly 600-page book abounds with gems that have withstood the sands of time, with many problematic clunkers best relegated to the dustbins of the past.

Divided into sections about how we live—with people, ourselves, reality, purpose, wisdom, and destiny—each area of struggle is meted out among the great thinkers and doers of the time, with essays from actor Danny Kaye to The Power of Positive Thinking author Norman Vincent Peale.

However, perhaps the most fascinating comes from American marine biologist and conservationist Rachel Carson, who launched the modern environmental movement with her 1962 book Silent Spring. That book brought Carson’s environmental concerns to the public’s attention, had a profound impact on our country, as she revealed how toxic and destructive synthetic pesticides were, leading to positive policy change, a ban on DDT, and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Carson brings her wisdom to wonder in the natural world in this collection.

First published in Women’s Companion Magazine, Carson’s piece is “Help Your Child to Wonder.”

Long before Tomohide Akiyama, the director of the Japanese Forestry Agency, gave the world the term Shinrin-yoku, or “Forest Bathing,” Rachel Carson gave voice to nature. She understood with her whole soul the vital life source that nature offers; she appreciated the power of the forest.

When her nephew Roger, whom she would later adopt and parent, was 20 months old, she wrapped him in a cozy blanket, ferried him down to the beach after dark in the rain, following calls of crash and froth, a glorious glitter of confetti illuminating the sky, the showering salty mist of ocean spray on their skin, to take in the symphonic sundries of the natural world.

Carson believed, as I do, in the vital imperative of being able to feel. Attunement with feeling is a depth that grows a person’s spirit. Learned knowledge might grow a person’s mind, but it cannot expand their resilience and fortitude like sitting with the tumult of emotion to arrive safely at the waiting harbor on the other side.

The wonder that the world can instill in a child is something no book or class can ever teach. “It is not half so important to know as to feel,” wrote Carson. Once children feel the thrill of awe, they will seek the knowledge they need to know more.

She assures adults they needn’t worry about what they know of the world and what they don’t.

After all, meaning comes from feeling, not from names, Carson said.

She made clear that access and location should not be seen as limitations. If you’re in a city, “you can always look at the sky, the clouds, the stars and listen to the wind. You can feel the rain on your face and think of its long passage from sea to air to earth…go to the park and observe the mysterious migrations of the birds, the changing seasons, and the seeds of plants.”

And by all means, don’t forget to look at the microcosm of the macrocosm. Bring a lens and a small microscope and study the grains that make up the sand and the patterns that make up the world.

Carson felt the natural world was the antidote to sorrow, loneliness, and struggle. When you’re in nature and you allow yourself to be still, you can’t help but hear the wind echo inside your body, the lilt of trees swaying you. The entire world holds us inside the vast dome of its unknown self, imploring us to know, respect, and treat it with the same kindness and understanding each of us longs for.

So, go outside, even if it’s just for five minutes, and look at the sky, the nearest tree, or the closest star.

Head to the park and pick up a leaf. Tend to the small things that make up the big things because everything that makes us suffer can be broken down into small things. Let’s get used to identifying the world around us to better identify the feelings inside us.

Until next week, I will remain…