"Forest Euphoria" by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian

"What has been categorized as normal, and why? How does the structure of our society--in the forms of race, gender, religion, orientation, ability, and even species-- reinforce this categorization?"

Questions like this are why I love picking up books from outside my comfort zone. You don't know what you don't know, and this insight from Kaishian has me questioning the scaffolding holding up my belief systems. Humans love to put things into categories, to label something normal or abnormal, average or an outlier. But what do we disregard because of that tendency? Just because something does not fit within our expectations, does not make it unworthy of understanding, whether that's in the scientific community or in our daily lives and relationships.

Forest Euphoria was a blend of memoir and approachable scientific examples of queerness in the natural world. I have been making an effort to reintegrate nature into my life, and the intense joy and peace Kaishian finds there, along with her tips of finding a "spot" in nature to make your own, have reinvigorated that effort in me. If you love nature and fungi with a blend of personal history, this book is for you. (Trigger warnings: child sexual assault, mention of toxic relationships)