ON NATURE
Maybe some of you can relate to this: I’m an over-thinker. Sometimes I think so much that I end up creating stories in my head that aren’t real but stress me out all the same. Other times I overanalyze the most mundane of my words and actions and how they’re perceived by the people around me. This overthinking typically happens when my mind is idle and bored.
That’s why I love being in the great outdoors. Nature, to me, is the most powerful calming agent there is. Instead of living in my head, I can live outside — in the present — to contemplate its natural and majestic wonder and appreciate its pure and raw beauty. To recenter myself and remember what’s most important in life. To completely live in the moment. To have my heart and soul reinvigorated by the indescribable sights, smells, and sounds that we so often neglect.
John Muir, the well-known Scottish-American naturalist and wilderness preservation advocate said it best: “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.”
In today’s hyper-digitized society, we so often lose track of the necessity of nature to our souls. All humans, in one way or another, have their methods of coping with the melancholic madness of the world. I have found one method that works better for me than any other — and I’m not alone. Multiple studies have shown that exposure to outdoor spaces can reduce depression, anxiety, and other health risks, and that those who spend just a couple of hours per week in nature report better health and well-being compared to those who don’t. In the words of Muir, “Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity.”
And on that note, I’ll echo some more of John Muir’s words: “The mountains are calling, and I must go… And into the forest I go, to lose my mind, and find my soul.”