N is for Nature Deficit Disorder

The idea here is that if we don't have enough outdoors in our lives, then we aren't going to be as healthy as we could be. I wouldn't call it a disorder and I think Richard Louv used the term more as an attention-grabber than anything else. Maybe it's just me, but I consider this just plain old common sense.

Do a quick search for strategies for dealing with stress and mental health and you'll find a plethora of suggestions to go outside.

Spend time in the sunlight. ---- Breath in the air outside. ---- Walk. ---- Bike. ---- Run. ---- Stroll. ---- Lolly-gag. ---- Whatever, just do it outside. ---- Leave the concrete behind. ---- Go to the park. ---- Go to the river. ---- etc.

We know all these things.

I take a walk (or a run) around my neighborhood when I need to shed the stress and frustration of my day before engaging in anything with my family and friends. I love them and don't want my emotional sludge to poison their environment. I know the physical exercise helps but if that was all there was to it then I would just use a treadmill and stay in the A/C.

I dance in the rain. Yes, I really do. Something about being among the drops falling all around me is beautiful and moving. Sometimes I sway slowly with my head back and my face to the heavens. Sometimes I jump and splash like a child enjoying the sound and sensation and sheer joy of it all.

Poets forever have written about the way the leaves of our trees move and shimmy in the breeze. They've written of bare feet on grass, trails through woods, oceans, skies, caves, animals, and all manner of things provided by our planet.

It's instinct to connect with nature and human nature to crave that connection. Without it, we are incomplete.

photo (c) Jennifer Clark 2012