The Magic of Nature
If we lose our connection with nature we lose our connection with ourselves.
Currently in the UK we're in what could be described as a mental health crisis. There is huge demand for all services relating to conditions involving depression and anxiety, and both these conditions are increasingly prevalent in children. It's a society wide issue, with a multitude of causes, and there's no easy answer to fix it.
I consider myself incredibly lucky, I live in the countryside, surrounded by farmland and nature. I also have a lot of animals which provide me with company, laughter and sometimes tears. They are my family and I consider myself richer in life than any billionaire because I have this.
During the pandemic I blossomed like many introverts did. Freed from the constraints of what I was expected to do I could enjoy long walks in nature and spend time being creative. I was able to be myself. I came to appreciate what I have more than at any time in the past and on a much deeper level.
I can only imagine what the lockdowns were like for people stuck in town houses, often without gardens, or flats in cities. Without doubt modern life has given us so much, but for everything there is a price to pay, and in a lot of cases people have little access to nature around them. When you're shut in like that you have little chance to connect with anything beyond yourself and quite often a screen.
Nature takes us out of ourselves, away from the busy rush. It allows time to pause, to breathe, to experience quiet. Under the vastness of an uncluttered sky we realise what a small part we are in the scheme of things, it puts life into perspective. There are worlds within worlds to explore, it connects us to where we came from and by doing so allows us to reconnect with parts of ourselves long forgotten.
By experiencing nature regularly you come to realise that everything is a cycle, nothing stands still in the context of the universe, there is always change, flux, flow. There are beginnings and there are endings. Nothing lasts forever. Nature reminds us we too are part of an endless spiral of growth, renewal, fruition, die back and dormancy. It is the cycle of the year, and the cycle of our lives. Once we understand and connect to these things we can use them as tools to help ourselves.
As someone with a scientific background I can appreciate how things work, with cells, photosynthesis and so on, and it's a truly marvellous thing. And if you take that further and begin to think of life on a quantum level, with subatomic particles buzzing about, never still, blinking in and out, what is that if it's not magic? We are shimmering beings made from elements forged in the heart of stars and we've forgotten what we are. We should never forget.
