We have become disconnected from nature. Discuss

These days we seem to be plugged into everything. Handheld mobile wifi platforms are making it possible to stay connected everywhere we go. Wall-sized, flat screen, high definition televisions dominate our living spaces, feeding us a, never ending, diet of information and advertising. Facebook, Twitter and texting have become the preferred method for keeping in touch with people. There is no doubt that it can be very stimulating to feel so connected and yet it can hardly be denied that there is an feeling of underlying emptiness. We have lost something. The more plugged into things we get, the more disconnected from nature we become.

People spend so little time outside now, they don’t even know what it looks like. We spend too much time in front of the computer, on the phone, watching television, texting, blogging, facebooking or whatever. We lack time to sitting outside, walking in the woods, gardening or otherwise interacting with nature. Even if people live in the city, there are signs of nature here and there. There may be parks with natural areas or small undeveloped areas with woods where you will find native wildflowers in spring.

People have become disconnected from nature. They don’t realize it’s all around them. They don’t care about the air they breathe or the water they drink. To clean up the city, we need to create more parks and squares, more green areas, because lack of contact with nature has negative effects on health. People need to spend a few moments outside to get some fresh air and clean body and soul.

We rush to cut down the forests, mine the mountains, and frack everything else in between. We are destroying the habitats of wild creatures and making much of the world uninhabitable. We don’t realize or even seem to care that we are damaging the web of life and, ultimately, ourselves. When we are disconnected from the natural world, we lose our ability of feeling empathy for what is going on. 

Now, positive event is mass migration of people to the village. Life in the country seems to be attractive and above all healthier than in cities. Air, water and soil are less polluted. There is no doubt that village life is much more in line with nature.

People should spend time outside: go for walks, ride a bike to work, sit and stare at the river for 20 minutes every day, feel the wind on their faces. We need to feel a connection to it for our mental health and for everyone’s physical health. Just look around, explore, take walk.. We need to reconnect with nature to bring our lives back into balance. And I’m not talking about watching a show on the Discovery Channel.