Lydia Theobald Touches Grass | Tom Cain

For inspiration and delight, we heard from Lydia Theobald on May 20, 2026.   Lydia is a self-described amateur, meaning “done out of love.”  She talked to us about her core values: delight, devotion and dialogue.  

Lydia finds delight in just about everything: as a potter, poet, rock climber, songwriter; while hiking, cycling, walking.  “We get a sense of joy and pleasure as we experience the earth that leads us to care for the earth.”  Lydia is not shy about what she means by delight.  Beauty.  Wonder.  Awe.  Pleasure.  Surprise.  

Slow down.  Take your time.  “As you paint, you develop a kinship with that thing.”  As another example, she decorates cakes with leaves, flowers, berries, natural things.   Flower arranging, flower pressing, all these help to slow us down, to pay attention.  Touching grass, for Lydia, is to avoid drift: be intentional, frame things.

Devotion comes more easily when you see yourself as a sister and a daughter of the earth, and become a caretaker.   “How do my actions impact these relationships?” she asks.  She touches grass by careful shopping, buying in bulk, avoiding too much packaging.  

Lydia is the Education Coordinator with Latter-day Saint Earth Stewardship, co-host of the Holy Earth Podcast which explores earth stewardship through a Latter-day Saint lens, and a former second grade teacher.  She had the great experience of collaborating with her mentor and college professor, George Handley.  The point is to find communities who care about the same things you do, such as those who are advocates for the Great Salt Lake.

Lydia worked for some years teaching second grade students.  How do we teach these values?  One question leads to another: How do we bring others into a loving relationship?  How do you look at something and really see it?  “Take any plant, or tree: take the time to really focus on it, measure it, feel it.  This particular plant.”    Good questions to ask are “What does a jelly fish really look like?  What colors do we see?  Class activities included raising caterpillars and watching them turning into butterflies.  

Write a song about it!  Share your delight with others.  This happens when neighbors share their extra garden produce.  

Q.  Where did your delight for the earth begin?   A. You don’t need to tell others about your secret place.   Joseph Smith went into his secret place—the sacred grove.  Go where you can commune with God.  Get out!  Experience nature in your own heart and mind.  There’s so much muck!  Go out and find what’s real.