A new way to see the nature around you
Est. Read Time: 5 minutes
Cover photo: Lynn O'Shaughnessy
Today, we’re launching Living Lens, a weekly interactive experience designed to help you slow down, look closely, and see the living world around you differently.
At Homegrown National Park, our mission is to restore nature where people live. But restoration doesn’t begin with action. It begins with seeing.
Living Lens invites you to spend time with one real image of a native plant habitat. It might be a pollinator garden, a yard in transition, a neighborhood landscape, or an everyday ecosystem. These are real places, photographed by real people, often members of our own community.
Instead of starting with information or instruction, the experience starts with attention.
Photo: My Home Park
What Living Lens Offers
Through Living Lens, you can:
- Spend time looking closely at one habitat as it is
- Put your own observations into words, even if you’re brand new
- See how other people noticed details you might have missed
- Connect ideas you’ve read about with what landscapes look like in real life
There are no experts explaining what’s correct. Every visible reflection is written by a human participant. What you see comes from everyday people paying attention and sharing what they notice.
Each week, a new image is added. You can participate once, return occasionally, or make it part of a regular noticing practice.
Why Seeing Matters
Homegrown National Park exists to catalyze people to plant native species and remove invasive plants where they live. That work is practical and hands-on.
But before people plant, they need to recognize what they are looking at.
When people begin to see native landscapes as living systems full of interaction and beauty, something shifts. Biodiversity becomes visible. Native plants feel less abstract. Small next steps start to feel more possible.
Living Lens gives our community a way to:
- Practice noticing before acting
- Ground big ideas like biodiversity in real places
- Build confidence through reflection rather than expertise
Over time, many participants find they notice more in their own yard, street, or park without trying.
Our Partnership with ContemPlay
Living Lens is built in partnership with ContemPlay, a platform designed to support reflective engagement.
ContemPlay’s technology guides the structure of the experience, prompting careful observation and thoughtful response. It does not generate community reflections or opinions. Every comment visible in Living Lens is written by a human participant.
This partnership allows us to offer a structured, repeatable way for people to slow down and engage more deeply with real habitats.
Together, we are using technology in service of attention, conversation, and restoration.
Want to Contribute?
Share an Image
Have a yard or neighborhood landscape you would like others to explore? We welcome images that invite curiosity and conversation.
Submit an image for a future Living Lens experience.
Please share only photographs you own or have permission to use.
What Our Friends Are Saying
