A new thought on why 'nature' is good for us
It’s the new health mantra isn’t it? ‘Walk in nature’ — and obtain multiple health benefits.
As a photographer, I do a lot of walking in nature. I’ve always been aware of the effect of the colour green on the human mood, and indeed there are studies on why grass is so loved by so many — beneficial in the non-obvious ways.
Then I thought about the landscape itself — trees specifically. It’s the rustling of these which provides the acoustic backdrop to such walks. Maybe that was a part of the esoteric magic?
However — there is simply so much in the annals of philosophy about the sheer power and potency of walking in nature (‘Angels whisper to us when we are out alone’ — Anon?), that it occurred to me that there must be something more to it — something equally mindblowing more to it.
A quote from Nikola Tesla helped bring this thought-train to its current station - wherein he speaks of a ‘Universal core’ — wherefrom all knowledge issues.
My epiphany therefore was — it’s not nature which is so good for us — but space!
Out in the open, under the sky — is exactly the result of walking in nature. This occurred to me at night — where the connectedness between each one of us and the infinitude of space (literally the Universe) became utterly obvious. Actually — literally awe-inspiring.
When looking at a star — there is literally nothing between us and it. Equally — the entire vastness of space — all right out there — the Earth may as well disappear, and we are floating in the midst of pure Infinitude. I have this theory therefore — that there is some connection, some force, energy, some ‘source’ which Homo Sapiens are accessing when directly open to the sky.
I ‘tested’ my hypothesis with some thought experiments.
We’ve heard of people left in dungeons for years or even decades — but a shaft of sunlight or little square opening in a high roof where they could see the sky from — somehow helped them and gave them strength. Sure — there are a million conclusions which can be drawn — but I have an angle here.
The call to come out in nature is universal — so it can’t be about the ‘beauty of the landscape’, as just going for a walk in a busy city can confer the very same benefits.
It can’t be about ‘fresh’ air either — in some countries, including my parents’ — open sewers make for the notion of fresh air quite conceptual. However — the power of ‘nature’ still prevails.
The one common denominator — you must be outside. You must be in direct contact with Infinity.
I suspect and believe that there is a Universal ‘Dialogue’ — about which poets, philosophers and scientists from aeons have had much more sagacious things to say than I ever could.