Man & Nature: Our Connection To Nature And How It Can Benefit Us
We lost connection with nature for a while. Luckily, the radio towers are being rebuilt.
It seems like we’re beginning to appreciate nature again. More and more people want to travel and go on hiking trips. Hiking is more popular now than it was a couple of years ago. We’re starting to reconnect with nature. Sadly, some people still see human society and nature as two separate worlds.
This article will help us understand ourselves and the nature around us.
Once upon a time in the Stone Age
For our ancestors, nature wasn’t just something beautiful to look at. For them nature was home, a world they understood, respected, and accepted. In the first couple of thousand years, the hunter-gatherers ate what they could find. Fruit, berries, and pieces of dead animals — tree bark if they were very hungry. It all changed when they began hunting animals. Which was way easier than being stung by thorns while trying to get berries.
Animism
Some say, the hunter-gatherers had a certain belief. They believed that phenomenons, animals, plants, and non-living objects (like stones) all possessed a distinct spiritual essence. All things were alive. There wasn’t much difference between the spiritual and the real world. A man could reportedly transform into a bear and vice versa.
This belief is called animism. It’s said to be the earliest form of religion. Not the kind of religion where you sit on your knees and pray. It’s more about being respectful toward nature. You can compare it to the Native Americans’ way of living. Every living thing has a spirit — animals, humans, nature, plants, water. Everything is equal. The Native Americans’ would also ask the animal’s spirit for permission to kill it.
Everything is different today. Instead of leaving our lives in nature’s hands, we have the power. We have forced nature to leave its life in our hands. We don’t wait for the spirits of the forest to give us animals to eat. And we don’t ask their spirit for permission. We are in control, nature is ours to exploit, unfortunately.
“The more high-tech our lives become, the more we need nature.”
- Richard Louv
The day we lost connection
As time went by, and as we used more of our time in the safety of our homes, we developed a tendency to remove ourselves from nature. Nature became like one of those people you’d wish you didn’t know. One of those people you try to ignore, but they somehow always seem to sneak up on you wherever you go.
One could say that the planet is divided into two worlds: Our world and the wild untamed world only brave men enter. It’s not more than a few decades ago we lost the connection.
It was a beautiful Sunday morning. Birds were chirping, the sun was shining. Suddenly a hurricane roared through Mrs. Thomsons yard and threw her tea on the ground. Her beautiful porcelain cup shattered into a million pieces. On that day humanity decided that nature was evil.
O.K., it didn’t happen this exact way, but one study actually tries to determine when we began losing the connection. It seems that the use of words related to nature in books, songs, and movies significantly declined in the 1950s.
After World War II the future was bright, dreams grew bigger, material goods were sought. In the 50s more and more people bought televisions, and in the 70s video games grew in popularity. In the 90s the internet snuck into our houses. Like the friend who asks to crash on the sofa for a week but stays forever. At the same time, the disconnection with nature grew.
Nature has become something we only see through social media or hear about in the news when another terrifying event takes place.
“You go out to do something, somewhere else. […] You make it from your place to the tube station in all weathers, with a hurried body, a mind still half-occupied with domestic details but already projected toward work obligations. […] Outside hardly exists: it is like a big separating corridor, a tunnel, an immense airlock.”
- Frédéric Gros, A Philosophy of Walking
Alienation of nature
Instead of finding joy and happiness through nature, we try to find it by buying material things. Buying stuff makes us happy, but this feeling is only temporary, which makes us buy even more stuff we don’t need.
To describe our society’s disconnection and alienation of nature, Richard Louv created the term nature-deficit disorder.
The nature-deficit disorder isn’t a medical diagnosis. The disconnection will, according to Louv, lead to decreased use of sensory skills, attention difficulties, and more cases of physical and mental disorders. It could also lead to a loss of respect for nature. The interest in protecting what’s left will slowly disappear.
The society of busyness
In today's society, we’re busy with everything else but enjoying nature. When we aren’t busy most of us use our time in front of a screen. We sometimes forget the role nature plays in our creativity and curiosity. Skills we use to decide what we want to do with our lives.
Unfortunately, some find it more important to be able to repeat math formulas, which only a small percentage of us will need later in life. Why not teach kids to recognize different trees and what berries they can eat, for example? Sorry, but I think it’s a more useful skill than trying to remember Pi. Being able to recognize the nature around you could also help you in an emergency. Fraction arithmetic won’t help you if you’re lost in the woods.
We’re in such a hurry to separate ourselves from the animals that we forget we’re animals too. If you think about it, we are all just smart naked monkeys. When we accept that, it will be easier to understand what Louv is talking about. Like all other animals, we can’t live outside our natural habitat for long without developing some kind of disorder. Once in a while, we need more nature than what we find in the supermarket’s vegetable display.
Many hikers already know this. They know the feeling of being one with nature. Being in nature for a long time is addicting. It’s calming for the body and mind. Especially pilgrims experience this feeling. Walking Camino de Santiago is almost like a spiritual journey. The feeling nature leaves you with is a feeling of something bigger. It makes you rethink a lot of things. It heals you in a way.
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
- Lao Tzu
10 Ways nature benefit us
When we walk in the forest and look at nature, like really look at the details, we learn just how little we know, despite all the things we think we know, you know.
Nature opens our eyes to what's possible. It shows us how insignificant we are. We are just small fish in a massive pond. And for nature, we are only in the way. As soon as you look the other way, nature attacks your patio by spreading weeds in every crack. Mother Nature is patient, but she’ll always take back what’s rightfully hers.
Instead of trying to fight nature, try to be curious. Open yourself to nature's teachings.
1. Creativity & Ideas
Many great thinkers, artists, and authors found inspiration in nature. There’s a reason for that. Out there, between bird songs and fresh air, ideas emerge. Ideas that wouldn’t have found their way to the surface behind a desk.
When you immerse yourself in nature and let your mind free, a world of thoughts opens before you. You can compare it with taking a shower. New ideas push their way through, and you damn yourself for not having a waterproof notebook.
Philosophers and authors, whose books are still read today, were born in a time without screens. Their minds weren’t suppressed by constant entertainment from social media and streaming services. Your brain will benefit from it if you take a break once in a while.
Try letting your phone stay in your pocket while going for a walk.
2. Mental health
One study shows that people who often find themselves in nature are happier. They have more energy and feel greater meaningfulness in life. Nature is so impactful in humans that having plants in hospitals increases happiness and healing among patients.
3. Life’s big questions
Often when you find yourself in nature, your worldview change. Your mind finds peace. You start pondering about your life. Maybe you begin questioning if the life you’re living, is the life you want to live. You’ll also find it easier to make decisions about your career path.
If you let the silence fill your soul, deep questions and answers will find their way to the surface.
4. Respect
The more time you spend in nature, the more you learn to understand and respect both plants and animals. You’ll likely develop a stronger empathy towards nature, which, in turn, will affect the way you treat your fellow human beings. Your willingness to protect nature increases too.
5. Gratitude & The simple joys of life
In nature, you let go of the worries. You forget whose turn it is to do the dishes. Quarrels become insignificant. You learn to be grateful for all the positive things in life. Grateful for even having someone to do the dishes with.
We are so focused on the news, social media, careers, and all the negative things in life. We’ve lost the ability to figure out what truly matters. The ability to look at all the good things in life.
When you learn to enjoy the simple things, you’ll need less to make you happy, if that makes sense. Suddenly, you’ll find happiness listening to a bird singing outside your window. Material things start to have less value.
It’s not important to own the latest phone to be happy.
6. Patience
Many people experience busyness, stress, and the feeling of always being behind. Nature can teach you a lot about patience and peace — a rarity these days.
Try finding a quiet place in the forest with lots of birds and a great view. Observe the world around you. A cloud floats over you; casts a shadow over the landscape. It doesn't hurry, it doesn't try to impress anyone, it just exists, and yet it will accomplish everything. The cloud is the embodiment of now.
7. Accept changes
Nature doesn't oppose change. In the summer, trees stand tall. They proudly show off their new fresh branches with light green leaves shining down on you. But they aren’t too proud to accept the fall. Colors changes, but the trees still stand tall with their roots deep in the ground. Through the cold season, they are vulnerable. They learn to live with the changes. They trust that it won’t be like this forever. Everything will be fine again one day.
Like the sun sets and rises every day, changes don’t mean your life stops. Darkness doesn't last forever. You must trust that you’re on the right path. Even how bad it seems right now, trust the process. Keep your head high.
8. Freedom
Freedom is very individual, but for most people, it means being able to do what you want when you want to. Maybe you’re stuck in a 9–5 job and want to try something new, or maybe you dream of being self-employed. Maybe, you want to move abroad.
Like birds, it all starts with daring to fly. They learn to fly early in life, take chances, and aren’t afraid of headwinds. Claim your freedom by taking the first jump into the unknown.
9. Forgiveness & Love
Most dogs and cats are quick to forgive if you step on their tails by accident. Even though cats often don’t show it, their love for you is strong enough to forgive you. They don’t use words to express it. Still, you can tell by their eye contact, body language, and physical contact. They know you didn’t do it on purpose.
Forgiveness is often, if not always, the best way to get on with your life. Grudges lead to nowhere.
10. Be yourself
Nature doesn't judge. You are free to be who you are, not who society wants you to be. You’ll learn how unimportant other's opinions about you are. Do you like bucket hats? Wear a bucket hat. It’s practical, keeps the sun out of your eyes and the rain off your face.
Nature gives you space to be exactly who you want to be. And who you are is awesome!
Get outside, look around, be curious.
Greet Mother Nature with an open mind, and she will show you how beautiful the world is.
