In this episode, Samantha reflects on the unexpected surprises that life presents, drawing from her experiences with nature and the changing weather. She recounts a moment in Iceland where a cab driver expressed his preference for surprises over forecasts, which resonated with her as she navigated a snowstorm back home. This led her to ponder the familiar things in life that often go unnoticed, like the Blue Jay, a bird she had overlooked despite its everyday presence. Through her journey in bird photography, she learned that what we perceive as familiar can often be deceiving, revealing deeper layers of beauty and complexity when we take the time to truly observe.

Episode 13: The Engagement Calendar — And How to Build a Relationship with Nature This Year

What are you already in the middle of? This week, I spent a day away from my birds and realized something: the relationships that matter aren't the ones we're trying to build from scratch in January—they're the ones we've already been living and forgot to notice.

In this episode, I talk about:

Why missing one day with my backyard birds felt like breaking a promise I didn't know I'd made

The difference between "planting natives to save pollinators" and creating conditions for life to return when it's ready

How belonging is harder to sell than saving—but why it's what actually sustains us

Why wildlife gardening isn't about decorating a space, but entering a relationship

The worn path to my feeder and what it taught me about staying with something long enough to become part of the pattern

If you're tired of New Year's pressure to add more, do more, be more—this episode is about recognizing what you're already part of and choosing to stay with it.

What's the tiny ritual that starts your day? What rhythm, when you broke it, made you feel a little lost?

Those are the things worth returning to in 2026.

Not because they're new. Because they're true.

Related links:

Episode 12: Goal-Setting Theater vs. Nature's Quiet Rehearsal

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Episode 12 | Goal-Setting Theater vs. Nature’s Quiet Rehearsal:

January doesn’t ask for reinvention. It asks for patience.

Maybe what January is really asking is not what you’ll become, but what you notice while you’re becoming it.

January often arrives with a false starting line — resolutions, reinvention, and pressure to begin again. But nature keeps a different rhythm.

This episode is not about:

- resolutions

- productivity

- self-improvementIt is about learning to read the season you’re in.

In Episode 12, I reflect on moonlight and unfinished darkness, winter birds pairing up, and an unplanned New Year’s Day walk on a windswept New Jersey beach. No goals. No lifers. Just noticing. Because maybe January isn’t for becoming someone new—it’s for paying attention to what’s already unfolding.