What is life if full of care……..
OK folks. It’s time to admit it…..I am a bit lost for inspiration today. I have spent most of the past fortnight in a portacabin office working on tree safety management protocols, management plan and grant applications and I think my get up and go has got up and gone!
I can’t be the only person who really notices when they aren’t spending enough time outside physically doing something or meeting people? I have always said I was quite happy on my own, but as I have got older, I have realised that I need regular company and regular time outside working. I know I’m not the only one.
I am in the very fortunate position of having a smallholding to go home to where I can chat to the cows and pigs about my day or maybe enjoy a pint with the goats. But for many people their whole existence is a procession of getting up in their ‘house box’ and driving in their ‘car box’ to go to work in their ‘work box’ and so on and so forth. Maybe these folk might glace at a tree from the car window or notice a pigeon in the car park, but the disconnect from nature is real and detrimental.
For 99% of human existence, we roamed, hunted and gathered. In the evenings we sat and chatted and laughed around a fire and food. Our ancestors would have been completely in tune with the world around them and its seasons and challenges. Even after the advent of agriculture we would have worked in the fields within small communities in harmony with nature. Yet in the past few generations we have disconnected, and this disconnection has been shown to be massively detrimental to our mental and physical health.
In the western world, we now spend an average of 90% of our lives inside buildings and vehicles in temperature-controlled environments with no connection to the seasons and our environment. Our lives are dull imitations of those of our ancestors. Our offices and houses are full of the sounds of electrical wizardry but gone are the bird songs, the sound of the wind in the trees, the drip of rain through branches and the buzz of an insect rich meadow in summer.
It has been proven without any doubt that this new way of living is linked to increases in poor mental health, physical illness, anxiety, depression heart disease and fatigue. The more a person and a community detaches from nature the high the incidents of aggression, conflict, violence, crime and racial tension.
Clearly, we have to change. Clearly, I have to change. So let’s do it together. We all need to make time to be outdoor and appreciate the world around us. Go for a walk and try to notice how many insects you can see or birds you can here. Don’t just exist outside but rather try to envelope yourself in it. I am fortunate, in that for a fair proportion of time I am paid to be outside (apart from the past couple of weeks) and to deliberately notice what is going on in the environment and plan ways to enhance and develop it. But if you aren’t so lucky then take advantage of amazing charities such as the Woodland Trust and National Trust who provide amazing access to green spaces and nature, probably far nearer than you think.
Go on……put yourself out there. Flaming June is the season of hay making, of bees and butterflies so go and see what you can see. You will feel much better for it!
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