By katie
on the practice of having a sit spot
my journey to finding a place to engage with nature, process the realities of our existence, and find some hope (?)
late last year i read a book called forest euphoria: the abounding queerness of nature in this book the author, patricia ononiwu kaishian talks about the concept of a sit spot. a sit spot is a place in nature that you make a habit of visiting and observing.
i have at least one sit spot at lake roland. it's off of the kingfisher trail and it's a small grassy patch next to the jones falls. i've been making a habit to visit it at least once a week. when i'm there i just sit. no distraction, no music, no podcast, and hopefully no intrusive thoughts. i let the bugs crawl around me and i get to hear the sounds of ducks landing in the water. sometimes i see a deer cross the jones falls. occasionally another human will show up. the spot has been very meaningful to me., when i found out last week that a friend of mine passed away from cancer i went straight there. i couldn't process the loss, and i wanted to be somewhere that engaged my five senses. it was grounding. i thought of my friend, her children, and allowed myself some space to process.
sometime in 2025, i took a therapy session from that location and it was also incredibly grounding. i remember remarking: "that was the literal definition of grounding!" after the appointment. this happened before it officially became my sit spot, and it was the first time that i sat in that location for an extended period of time. i am looking forward to seeing how the spot changes through the seasons. the different plants and bugs and birds that will emerge. there is something soothing in taking a tiny, tiny piece of the outside world and getting to know it quite intimately. i anticipate that i will be growing and changing along side this spot that now feels deeply connected to me. sometimes when i'm there in my despair a little sliver of hope for the future emerges. i think of our ancestors and the future and even the present. as a person that is deeply deeply attached to the idea of free association i find that adding the natural world into the mix only builds deeper associations. it's fun! try it!
but for real: i highly recommend this practice and encourage others to go and find their sit spot. my one tip is to make it accessible and easy to reach. that way the practice of going there does not seem daunting, and you'll actually do it as a practice.