Mar. 8, 2023
Read time: 2 minutes and 40 seconds.
tags:Most of us are chasing happiness and tranquility in our waking life. Modern life often pulls us away from these simple goals by having a need to chase cars, clothes and the next big thing in our career. Nature offers a powerful, free, and accessible way to reconnect with what truly matters: life.
Society has a tendency to push us towards complex solutions for happiness, but sometimes, the simplest answer is the best. Like a walk in nature and going on a hike where your only concern is to NOT go face first into the path you’re walking on. It’s the world’s best antidepressant, nature. We think of how much we need happiness and how important it is that everyone becomes responsible for how we feel. But happiness is this endless pursuit of elation that never satiates us.
I’m a firm believer in satisfaction and the ability to be satisfied with your life and the things you spend your time doing. Including the hard things that seem menial and time consuming without end. Even if that is work, but don’t make it someone else’s responsibility to make your being unhappy their fault (or their surroundings).
“La vida es sencilla, complicado es uno.” Anonymous
Seems like this spanish proverb/saying isn’t exactly traceable, but it holds eternal wisdom. “Life is simple, one is complicated”. And the truth is that we simply overthink the solutions we think we need rather than being grateful for the waking life we have. Being grateful for the things around us and even the things we don’t like can be so empowering. Even when things seem to suck.
Nature is a grounding force. It is free, and accessible to everyone and it’s helped me realize just how small I am in this world, but it doesn’t make my own world, to me, any less important. It provides me a consistent reality check about the world around me and how beautiful things really are already.
People are quick to offer lifestyle changes, but often lack real-world understanding. Nature’s benefits are universal and don’t require extreme measures to see that have an effect on you personally. In fact, spending around 2 hours a week can have marked benefits to your well-being.
Even brilliant minds like Carl Jung and Albert Einstein prioritized time in nature. These guys valued a lot of their time walking regularly to be able to think. Carl Jung would get up every day and walk for a few hours just to be able to clear his mind. Einstein’s best work and was known to walk to and from work every day. These two brilliant minds were also documented to have met up and, you guessed it, walked together while they discussed physics and psychology. Clearing your head with a walk is a timeless technique, not just a modern trend.
Disconnecting from screens and social media is crucial for well-being and is evidently something that has helped others and myself (but I am biased and you’re on my page reading my stuff, so what do you expect?) Nature offers a tangible, real-world experience that digital life can’t replicate and it’s saved my life in the darkest of times. Going outside and observing the underappreciated resource that is our environment. Breathing fresh air and swatting flies instead of doomscrolling on your phone will + your XP and HP markedly.
What are some of your favourite places to be outside?