The inspiration for this project comes from William Butler Yeats’ poem "The Lake Isle of Innisfree," and Innisfree Garden in the Hudson Valley. Both the poem and the garden seamlessly blend landscape design with a sense of comfort and spiritual calm. Through The Innisfree Project, I aim to explore how different individuals and organizations engage with and derive physical, emotional, and intellectual satisfaction from their interactions with nature, and how their isolation from nature within urban environments can breed a sense of alienation and disorientation. The fields that study these phenomena—biophilia and psychogeography—hold great potential and importance in the modern era.

 

I invite you to explore and find inspiration from my experiences and insights, drawn from meetings, conversations, and readings with:

 

• An ultra-marathoner who, seeking self-understanding, ran a marathon a day for three months across Italy, and who first mentioned the term psychogeography to me.

• The landscape curator of Innisfree Garden and a Taoist instructor working to share the garden with a wider community of admirers of nature.

• Teachers dedicated to exposing students to ecosystem studies.

• Zoo caretakers committed to the education, protection, and comfort of animals.

• A financier turned farmer working to inspire young people to pursue careers in agriculture.

• The journals of the longest-serving Medici Prince, who had a deep passion for escaping the city to immerse himself in nature.

• A ski worker with a personal philosophy guided by the spiritual benefits of spending time in the Dolomite mountains.

 

I hope this project will inspire you to follow Yeats’ words and "...arise and go now, and go to Innisfree"—to take steps that help you recharge and reconnect with the natural world. If you feel moved, please consider making a donation to one of these organizations or visiting them to support their incredible work in helping us find that vital connection with nature.