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Touch, taste and meditate on nature

It could be worthwhile making a little list: how many man-made items did you touch today, and how many God-made ones? Count every device and tool as manufactured by man and compare it to every human, animal and plant that you touched (stroked!) today. Perhaps you don’t even need to make a list, because you know already which list will be longer.

For this edition’s theme, Closer to Nature, the sobering thought is this: What does it do to our psyches when we touch, use, see, smell and savour more man-made things than natural things in any given day? One may ask whether it matters, at all.

Can we build our well-being on just about anything, or do we need to re-think? Should we come closer to nature?

Gardening advocates tell us that a day not spent with dirt on the hands is a wasted day, a half-day. They enthuse about the therapeutic benefits of working with soil and plants. And let’s not even begin wondering what the horse whisperers or the doggy parlour owners have to say. Contact with nature is great, period. Alfred Austin, British poet and journalist from the late 1800’s said, “The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.” And some 150 years later, Alice Sebold (recent USA author) agrees with him when she says, “I like gardening, it’s a place where I find myself when I need to lose myself.”

Planteria is a huge family gardening business in Britain. They describe biophilia as “a love of life or living things. Humans have a deeply engrained love of nature which is an intuitive and natural drive imprinted into our DNA. Researchers believe this to be a reason that we have thrived as a species, helping us to locate the most fertile land, cultivate food and nurture new life. We have a physiological need to be in contact with nature and the natural world.”

Architects and interior designers take this physiological (and psychological!) need a step further when they incorporate natural living objects into their designs. Not only is this trendy, but biophilic design has been found to support cognitive function, physical health, and psychological well-being.

Consistent exposure to natural elements, through biophilic design, will supposedly allow us to live longer. It ensures that future generations maintain a link to nature, in the hope that they will one day be stewards of the wilderness that make our planet – and our Namibia – so special.

Even better, encourage young and old to get outside and bond with God-made reality instead of the artificial reality on screens. Share your kittens and puppies with the elderly so that the resultant pheromones may ease their aches and inner longing.

If you have never held and marvelled at a snowflake, why not? Or if that is a hemisphere away, take hold of a hail stone instead. Touch, taste and meditate on the wonder of the world.

Christine Stoman