Diane Ackerman

Natural Health, Sept, 2004 by Gail Hudson

"I write about nature and human nature," says poet, essayist, author and teacher Diane Ackerman. "I'm especially fascinated by the crossroads where the two meet and throw light on each other." The author of An Alchemy of Mind, Cultivating Delight, Deep Play and the bestselling A Natural History of the Senses, Ackerman lives in Ithaca, N.Y., with her partner, fiction writer Paul West, on two acres of land that includes "tall old trees and unruly cascading gardens."

inspiration Two questions bother me: How do you start with hydrogen and end up with us? And, what was it like to have been alive on this planet--what did it feel like in our senses, our passions and contemplations? Every book I've written has been an attempt to explore those two questions.

favorite time Dawn, in my garden. At that time of day we are most creatural; the veil of civilization hasn't fallen around us yet.

creativity Writing is my way of inquiring about the world, but it's also my form of celebration and prayer. I try to write in my notebook every morning whether I feel awake or not. I also try to go to my desk and write at the same time every day whether I feel inspired or not. One has to trust that one's creativity will be there if one goes to meet it.

mind/body I love focusing on one sense. For instance, touch--what it's like handling the silky, damp petals of a peony or what my feet feel like in plush socks or one of my hairs being lifted by the wind. Or smell, which is so powerful. It's possible to smell a lemon and be transported across time and space to your grandmother's house when you were little and she was baking lemon cookies.

diet I'm careful about nutrition. I eat only organic fruits and vegetables. I'm mainly a vegetarian, but I occasionally eat wild salmon or sardines.

exercise I swim and bike.

replenishing, meditate every day, formally, for about half an hour. I also take long, sybaritic baths.

favorite indulgences Dark chocolate, chocolate Odwalla bars, ripe apricots, plump blueberries or sweet cherries, and L'Occitane's body products, especially their pure shea butter.

unusual habit Ever morning, before I do anything else, I completely body brush myself.

spiritual motto Frank Lloyd Wright said it best--"I believe in God, I just call it nature."