Seeing

            Welcome to my new site and my first blog! As part of a project on sustainability for a class I'm taking, I've set my intention to write about the effect of psychological well-being on pro-environmental behavior (PEB). PEB, it’s a thing! I have a theory, an informal hypothesis born of a long career as a mental health clinician, which is this: Simply put, when we feel good inside ourselves and about our life—peaceful, happy, centered, and grateful—we are more likely to care about what’s outside of us, in this case the world of nature. But a lot of us don't feel that way about ourselves or our lives.

As far back as 1943, when Maslow first proposed his hierarchy of needs, there was some recognition within the field of psychology that we as humans first have to attend to the fulfillment of our basic needs--food, clothing, shelter, safety (emotional and physical)-before we can focus on what may feel like other, non-essential areas of life. In my 30+ years as a clinical social worker, I have time again found this to be true. A parent working two jobs to put food on the table, a youth being bullied at school or worried about a sick sibling, a mother trying to figure out how to leave an abusive partner, or a senior whose benefits barely cover rent are generally not focusing on garbage in the street or climate change. They're figuring out how to survive the life right in front of them. Nature and what's going on with the environment may well feel like a distant concern, if a concern at all. Totally understandable.

And yet, with a little widening of the aperture, there's an opportunity not only to see, but to feel differently. Research now shows that spending time in nature and with nature makes us feel better: calmer, less anxious, softer, more present, and more connected to the world around us. Our breath slows (or we start breathing if we've been unconsciously holding it!), our muscles relax, we notice things outside of us, and we realize we're not alone. We might rub our dog's ears or belly, walk in the park or on the beach, ride our bike, look up at a tree (or even hug it!), or smell a flower in bloom. We might even notice a person walking towards us and smile, or smile back, at them. Humans are part of nature too!

There are countless small ways to connect with nature, to really see it and allow it to affect us, to make us feel a little better. And when we do, we can even choose to do a little something for nature, to express gratitude for its gifts to us. Whether we pick up a piece of trash off the ground, take our dog for a walk, or just say a little prayer of gratitude for that moment in nature, we are reciprocating, participating in a flow of goodness that sustains all of us, making everything just a little better. <3