Finding Nature

This closing post of 2015 looks at a couple of research papers published in the last month or so. One related to pro-social benefits of nature and the other on the familiar theme of wellbeing, although more evidence related to a favourite angle of mine – nature’s beauty.

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I was at a talk on compassion by Professor Paul Gilbert OBE last week where he said something along the lines of, ‘Our brains are a mess’. This aside was based on the evolution of the brain, back through time from reflective human, to behavioural mammals, to visceral reptiles simply responding to threats and opportunities. This evolution is the basis for some human ailments, to feel good we need emotional balance – happiness and contentment comes through balancing threat, desire and affiliation. For example, when our threat response is overactive, our positive affect is reduced and we can become anxious or depressed.

Finding Balance Through Nature

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I’m on a train to London writing this blog post, heading to the city to discuss our connection with nature, because nature matters. Coincidentally, while driving to the station Lucy McRobert from The Wildlife Trusts was on BBC Radio 4 Today programme talking about the new #EveryChildWild campaign, because nature matters.

Few people on the train are gazing out of the windows, for me that is one of the pleasures of a train journey. There’s a background of papers rustling, keyboards being tapped and a bit of screen time. The landscape leaving a foggy Derby station is modest, hardly a compelling view, but there’s nature to be found in the form of scrubby hedgerows and trees, their remaining leaves hanging forlornly.

This reflection on our nature, and the nature ‘out there’, is part of our connection to it. Those with a trait for open curiosity tend to have a more embedded place in nature – a greater connection to it. This brings me onto the topic of this post, what leads to a connection with nature, and why does nature connection matter?

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Oddly, it was getting a smartphone back in 2010 that led to my reconnection with nature. I began writing on foot, using the phone to note nature, simple sentences about the natural stimuli and my response. Through 200+ walks in 2011, the writing grew from attentive observation to 50,000 words celebrating nature and a personal reconnection to it.

After 5 years of use, over 100,000 words and two books, the phone has been forced into obsolescence, becoming slower and slower as the software leaves the hardware behind. So this week I’ve had to get a little more up to date and the new phone has brought slow motion video. Naturally, the first thing I did was to use it to engage with nature.

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I was wandering past a newsagents yesterday and noticed an ad (it was very large) for a celebrity magazine with the strap line “The stars you care about”. After thinking that it’s  more important to care about the state of nature, I wondered what a celebrity lifestyle magazine for nature might look like. It actually looks better and more appealing than I imagined! Although a bit of fun, this is an important point, we need to frame and communicate the benefits of nature in a way that appeals to a wider audience.

Nature! The wild celebrities you should care about

Although meant to be a spoof, the cover captures some of the research into our connection to nature. Firstly the benefits, how contact with nature makes us happier and lowers anxiety. Then the importance of noticing urban nature as most people live in towns and cities. Finally, a few of the pathways to nature connection, experiencing emotions such as awe, an appreciation of nature’s beauty and compassion – caring about nature.