Connection to Nature

I read recently that we have lost our connection to the land, to nature, to wildlife, to the weather.

I should point out that the piece was written pre-COVID (or PC as will forever be known and AC for After COVID).  A world away from where we find ourselves now but still, it did make me wonder how connected are we to all things green or wild and indeed how easy it easy to re-connect?  And more importantly – what does it mean to connect in the first place?

Heading Outside

For those of us fortunate enough to not need to completely shield from a virus we can neither see nor touch, our daily exercises allowed us a chance to go out into our local area and spend time enjoying a walk or bike ride.  For many, this was a new way of exploring in itself as many people would just get in their car or hop on a train to visit “pretty” or “tourist” spots for exercise.  

Now, we’ve been given more freedom to travel for exercise will we be inclined to get out into nature?

Nature has many benefits for our health and well being.  For one thing, just soaking up the sights and sounds can be a fantastic way of connecting with nature.  Whether that’s at a beach, a cornfield, a park or a woodland, every space that encourages nature to flourish will, in turn, help us too.  As a child, our inquisitive self would have eagerly explored the outdoors, maybe first in a garden and slowly, as our confidence grew, further away into nearby parks and wildlife attractions.  

As we get older other things become more important – life, working, having children and the tiredness that comes with it sometimes means snatching a few minutes here and there in the garden, or heading out for family walks at a weekend.  We don’t connect, we merely acknowledge the hills or the mountains – aren’t they pretty, while we worry about whether we put enough money on the car parking ticket.  We get lost on a walk and it’s the worst annoyance ever.  We get sand in the car, or mud on our trousers and all we want is to be back at home again.

Connecting to Nature

But, in the still of a pandemic with nowhere else to go, and nothing else to do we realise that nature is still carrying on, and it is simply lovely.  We notice the birds singing, we notice the tree’s getting greener, the grass getting longer, the hedgerows filling out.  We go for a local walk and notice the ducks on the ponds squabbling.  A blackbird with its mouth full of nesting material, flowers beginning to appear.  We enjoy the sunshine and the quiet time at both ends of the day when the shadows are at their longest.  We find ourselves beginning to actively seek out new bird noises as we find new local walks, ones we had no idea existed. On foot, we see scenery that looks completely different from inside a car.  We get wet, we get cold, we get hot and get worn out from walking so far in all types of weather.  With nowhere else to be.

The seasons slowly change from one to the other and this time we watch it all.  The same birds coming into the garden or the allotment, the increase in the bees.  We notice which flowers and plants they are attracted to the most and which are avoided.  The fields continue to be turned and watered and planted and the first shots of green begin to sprout up.  Instead of just fields, they are now known by what each grows in them – the corn, the wheat, the broadbean and the potato.  We begin to favour certain walks for the colour and cheerful noises it brings with it.  

Connection to nature can begin at home or it can start on a walk.  It can be near, to make it easier for learning and understanding it’s ways, or it can be far to appreciate it’s beauty in pockets of gratefulness.  But we all have to work hard to become natures best, most fearless protector.  To look after it and respect it so that others may enjoy it after us.  

Thank you for reading.