In Honor of Great Outdoors Month: How to Live Closer to Nature

Tending to the complex machinations of industrialized society, most adults in America spend the majority of their time indoors. Children in traditional schools do the same; in preparation for an eight-hour workday, they labor at desks while their growing bones crave the afternoon sun. When it is finally time for retirement, many people move to Florida and/or take up bird watching.

I am a writer (as you may have guessed) and I spend a lot of time inside my head, thinking, and inside my apartment, typing. But given enough time towards whatever problem of thought, I always find an answer was waiting for me in the myriad metaphors offered by the natural world. If you find yourself stymied, my advice is to take a walk.

Advice articles are the most popular form, and as I wish to have as many people read this as possible (so I don't have to work as hard, and I can spend more time outdoors) that is the form these words will take. I want to share with you some of the things I have done to keep myself from drifting too far from the wild truths of the natural world.

If I notice a certain lack of Nature in my life I will simply begin to take morning walks until I feel better. Early morning is when the other animals are most active, and we all sing together and greet each other like cartoons in a Disney movie. Rabbits, songbirds, turkeys, deer, raccoons, I have met on different early morning occasions.

Of course, I have not always lived in such a rural area. When in the city I walked everywhere, all times of day, and I took with me a camera. Amid gray concrete sprawl, I framed the weeds that grew from cracks in the sidewalk, how abandoned buildings became feather-filled pigeon houses, and every sign of seasons changing. Nature is everywhere if you are looking for it.

Weather permitting, I also like to eat my meals outside. Even if there doesn't seem to be any time in your schedule for an outdoor activity, you will always have to eat! So why not take your lunch into the sun and let the ants take care of any dropped crumbs?

Keeping touch with Nature means paying attention to the interstices, such as appreciating the beauty of a hawk flying above as you walk to your car, noticing which direction the wind is blowing, stopping to smell literal roses. As we honor the Great Outdoors this month, let us also honor ourselves and our personal experiences within this intricate web of life.