{"id":153608,"date":"2020-04-01T17:53:59","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T00:53:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=153608"},"modified":"2024-09-21T13:41:43","modified_gmt":"2024-09-21T20:41:43","slug":"op-ed-finding-nature-and-each-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/stewardship\/op-ed-finding-nature-and-each-other","title":{"rendered":"Op-Ed: Finding Nature\u00a0and Each Other"},"content":{"rendered":"

This op-ed reflects the opinions of\u00a0Richard Louv<\/a>, author\u00a0of\u00a0\u201cOur Wild Calling\u201d and\u00a0\u201cLast Child in the Woods.\u201d<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n

A<\/span>\u00a0few years ago,\u00a0Sarah Walker, a\u00a0college student\u00a0in Kingston, Ontario at the time,\u00a0shared with me a benefit of nature connection that I\u00a0had not considered before.<\/p>\n

She described her special place in nature\u2014her \u201csit\u00a0spot\u201d\u2014near her home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am\u00a0sitting on a hill\u00a0overlooking a wooded forest that defines the landscape of my favorite place in\u00a0the whole world. I lie with my back against a snowdrift and my snowshoes are\u00a0strapped to my feet,\u201d Sarah wrote, in a piece<\/a> for the Children & Nature Network<\/a>, a nonprofit that works to connect children, families and communities to the natural world. As she gazed up into the\u00a0cloudless\u00a0sky, she found herself trying to put a name to what she was feeling. \u201cToday,\u00a0for the first time, I can tell you with one word \u2026 [the reason] I sit outside in this\u00a0frigid weather:\u00a0security.\u00a0As I sit atop this hill, I\u2019m\u00a0about to finish school in the next couple of months, and I\u2019m not really sure\u00a0what my next step will be. In spite of this, I know that no matter what life\u00a0brings my way, I can sit in this spot and\u00a0watch the sun rise and set below this\u00a0tree line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Security. Before I read Sarah\u2019s piece, I had never particularly\u00a0connected that word with experiences in the natural world. But there it was,\u00a0and true.<\/p>\n

Today, her statement\u00a0carries special resonance. How many of us stand at the edge of our yard, or on a balcony, or at the edge of a closed park, and yearn for that sense of security. We can still feel it. The view of a tree line, a distant turning wave, a pigeon on a window ledge, a deer with antenna ears raised toward us, eyes intent, all remind us that we are not alone in the world and that life always finds a way.<\/p>\n

\"Tree<\/p>\n

The stock market may be rocky, but the value we place on nature, particularly outdoor spaces close to our homes, is surging. So is the research<\/a> showing the value of a connection with nature to our well-being. In a review of the scientific literature, Ming Kuo, a University of Illinois professor, writes<\/a> that just seeing nature from a window can \u201creduce sympathetic nervous activity and increase parasympathetic activity, restore attention and promote healing from surgery.\u201d<\/p>\n

In rehabilitative or residential care settings, animals have been shown to calm and comfort people of all ages. Some\u00a0mental-health practitioners use animals and green environments as part of the therapeutic process. Some pediatricians now prescribe nature<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the coming months, recognition of nature\u2019s therapeutic value will likely grow, perhaps especially after the pandemic ends and the traumatic effects continue.<\/p>\n

When we consider the social capital of a community, why do we include\u00a0only one species\u2014humans?\u00a0We are also part of a larger web of nurturing relationships.\u00a0Research<\/a> indicates that urban parks with the greatest biodiversity have a higher reported benefit to human psychological health. Studies<\/a> also suggest that when we interact with companion animals, the neurochemicals and hormones\u00a0associated with social bonding are elevated. Our positive contact with the wider family of animals may have a similar effect. Nature, as it turns out, can be a\u00a0civilizing\u00a0force.<\/p>\n

Even before pandemic-induced social distancing, many health care professionals were concerned about an epidemic<\/a> of loneliness, and that social isolation rivals smoking and obesity as a risk to health. The rise of human loneliness is caused by many factors, but as I suggest in\u00a0Our Wild Calling<\/em>, it may\u00a0also be rooted in species<\/em> loneliness\u2014a result of our growing nature deficit.<\/p>\n

So how, in the time of pandemic and temporarily closed parks and beaches, do we find the nature we need?\u00a0<\/a>First by paying attention to the life just outside our windows. Even in the most densely populated neighborhoods, we can notice things about songbirds and raptors and other animals in ways we never knew or took for granted. We can create \u201csit spots\u201d in our yards, or even next to a window, where we can use all of our senses to quietly immerse ourselves in the life around us. We can send for mail-order seeds to plant a pollinator garden for butterflies. Or, as entomologist Douglas W. Tallamy advises in Nature\u2019s Best Hope<\/em>, we can help create a homegrown national park by replacing part or all of our lawn with native species. And then watch insects and wildlife that we may have never seen before come home.<\/p>\n

\"Butterfly<\/p>\n

This pandemic will either fracture or strengthen our relationships with nature and each other. Surely absence makes the heart grow fonder.<\/p>\n

Our post-pandemic challenge will not only be to preserve the last remaining\u00a0natural places, but to create more of them, especially in cities\u2014and to make sure all<\/em>\u00a0children and adults, not just a few, receive the gifts of nature.<\/p>\n

As time goes on, we can help create urban wildlife corridors and park expansions. We can support the One Health<\/a> movement in public health, which recognizes the interconnection of plants, humans, animals and the Earth itself. We can work to reduce global warming and biodiversity collapse, slow the ongoing destruction of natural habitats and build a community of all species.<\/p>\n

We can find nature and each other.<\/p>\n

In mid-March, sequestered Italians began to sing from their balconies and windows. People in other cities, including Chicago and Dallas, have followed their example. And now that expression of solidarity has come to California.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Mill Valley, we have the Mill Valley Howl,\u201d my friend Suz Lipman reported last week, on Facebook. Each night at 8pm, residents open their windows or step outside to howl into the night. \u201cThe Howl suits this place, at the edge of the wilderness,\u201d she writes. \u201cFrom my house, the Howl seems to start low in the valley and swell and run through the neighborhoods and canyons and up into the hills.\u201d A howl is a call of social animals. \u201cHowling lets others know, distinctly, \u2018I am here. And I see (and hear)\u00a0you \u2026 we\u2019re here in\u00a0our houses, we\u2019re here on the planet, we\u2019re with one another, alone and\u00a0together.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

So, now and\u00a0after the virus fades, don\u2019t mourn, plant. Don\u2019t withdraw from the world, persist. And sing the wild calling.<\/p>\n

For more information on actions you can take, please go to FindingNature.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Editor\u2019s note: Children & Nature Network has been a nonprofit partner of REI since\u00a0<\/em>2007<\/em>. An REI contribution of more than $1.1 million<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>has helped support C&NN\u2019s efforts over the years.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This op-ed reflects the opinions of\u00a0Richard Louv, author\u00a0of\u00a0\u201cOur Wild Calling\u201d and\u00a0\u201cLast Child in the Woods.\u201d \u00a0few years ago,\u00a0Sarah Walker, a\u00a0college student\u00a0in Kingston, Ontario at the time,\u00a0shared with me a benefit of nature connection that I\u00a0had not considered before. She described her special place in nature\u2014her \u201csit\u00a0spot\u201d\u2014near her home. \u201cI am\u00a0sitting on a hill\u00a0overlooking a wooded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":158223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[637],"tags":[1999,1749],"internal-tag":[],"class_list":["post-153608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stewardship","tag-covid-19","tag-opinion"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/stewardship\/op-ed-finding-nature-and-each-other","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Op-Ed: Finding Nature\u00a0and Each Other","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/stewardship\/op-ed-finding-nature-and-each-other","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/stewardship\/op-ed-finding-nature-and-each-other"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/04\/Wells_030519_5692-2000x1200-1.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/04\/Wells_030519_5692-2000x1200-1.jpg?fit=2000%2C1200"},"articleSection":"Stewardship","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michelle Flandreau"}],"creator":["Michelle Flandreau"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["covid-19","opinion"],"dateCreated":"2020-04-02T00:53:59Z","datePublished":"2020-04-02T00:53:59Z","dateModified":"2024-09-21T20:41:43Z"},"rendered":"