Anima natura

In natura gloriam est. Or something like that. How often have I forgotten or neglected the true power of silence filled with noise easy on the ears, pugnant smells free of heavy metals, fears immediate and easily explained after a great mystery.

In simple terms, being outdoors is what you and me both are most fitted for. We might envelop ourselves in comfortable habits, under a great woolen blanket in front of a droning television set, full of blurb and praise of all man made. Be sure though, that your body will never seize to react to the fresh air after heavy rain, the changing light of the day or stop reacting to the smell of wild strawberries. No matter if you experienced any of these things, as soon as you spend ANY time in surroundings giving you those things, you will react.

Funkadelic Parliament have an album called Free your mind and your ass will follow. In essence, yes, I agree. I also believe the opposite is true - Free your ass and your mind will follow.

I am straying from my path. Let me more concise.

Light
Over the course of the day, our bodies secrete a number of hormones meant to regulate everything from food intake, alertness and sleep pattern. We are born under a sun, or rather, circling a sun giving a rhythm we cannot escape. Time define us as much as we try to define time. Seasonal anxiety disorder comes from lack of light, due to the fact that biologically we are all from equator and expects time to tick with an easily predictable rhythm. Living up north or down south, where there are great variations in the amount of light our bodies and eyes receive, the secretion of our glands comes out of whack with available goods to be delivered from the surroundings. Mistreating your body by being in an artificially lighted room when there is plenty of natural light is a not so effective thing to do to yourself.

Oxygen
We are not very happy in an office all our lives. We cannot be. Our bodies functions much better outdoors after a heavy rain, when most microparticles, dust, pollen and the like are washed to the ground. Our lungs gets a much better oxygen uptake in fresh air and our brains suddenly goes harmony. Fresh air promotes physical activity, which in its turn promotes an even more effective oxygen uptake.

Sound
Again, we are wired with a propensity to adapt to our surroundings. If you are in an environment with no or few unexpected variations in the level, pitch and frequency variations, you are much more alert and relaxed than in an enviroment full of noise. Noise is a major health hazard. Stress hormons are produced over an extended period of time and you overload both your nerveends in your ears and the ability to relax.

Ok, enough with such boring descriptions of what our bodies are able to and best suited to do. I could go on with how touching petals make you feel different than say rubbing plastic on a keyboard, or how subtle changes in barometric pressure or direction of the wind makes you feel alive, or how the pulse drops after half an hour in the woods.

I have no idea how to describe the joy I have of nature. My eyes are pleased, I feel invigorated, I feel relaxed as if I am one with everything. I am happy as in the arms of a loved one. I am more able to see nuances in colour, to hear subtle variations and to sense the mood of those I speak to when I return. Balanced, I guess that is what it makes me.

Western society prides itself on its great advances in technology and comfort. Bugger that. Technology was a matter of necessity, in order to survive in harsh conditions. With no doubt, nature have made western, or rather northern societies more adept at change than societies not having to think of tedious details like planning ahed for winter. We have just gone a bit too far, when our technolgy makes us forget how wonderful the real thing really is.

Next thing I'll write about nature will be strictly based on some story or the other, better able to describe a good experience. The mad cat Mono is sleeping in front of me on the desk.