Have you read Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv? (If not, you should – it’s foundational reading!) The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative is like a follow-up to LCITW, and the author does seem to see her work as an heir to his work. While Last Child is more about a parenting/life philosophy, this book looks deeper into backing up that philosophy with scientific studies. And it’s funny to boot. Another great accidental library find!
How much nature do we need? What’s the minimal effective “dose” of nature? And do we need every aspect of nature or will only parts of nature do? Each part of the book looks at a different sense and what studies say about its relationship with nature. Can you get the benefits (or some of them) from smelling nature sounds? What about seeing a picture of nature rather than the real thing out a window? This is such a clever/ingenious way to structure a book about nature!
Even better, if you can’t get outside as much as you’d like (say you live in Finland or are in a hospital), this book can give you ideas on ways to bring more nature inside your home as effectively as possible. We might think of posting pictures on the walls or keeping our curtains open, but would you think to listen to bird calls or introduce woodland smells?
I’ll go ahead and give you the spoiler: what’s the minimum “dose” of nature we need? Five hours a month. According to at least one group of researchers, we only need five hours a month. I had two reactions to this piece of information:
a) Five hours a month?? That’s nothing!
b) Oh crap. We don’t get outside even half that.
And that was my come-to-Jesus moment (a definition if that’s a new phrase for you). I felt actual shame at failing to meet such a simple goal. I’m not the type to shame easily, especially in Mommyshaming. But getting outside is something I valued, even before finding Charlotte Mason, and I’d been studying Charlotte Mason for many months at that point. I was not walking my talk, even though this “standard” was dead easy to meet. And not even close to the standard Ms. Mason set for “tolerably fine” days:
“[T]here is a great deal to be done and a great deal to be prevented during these long hours in the open air. And long hours they should be; not two, but four, five, or six hours they should have on every tolerably fine day, from April till October.” Vol 1, p44 [Emphasis mine]
I’m happy to report that things are much improved, even with the four snowstorms in four weeks. As of the last week, I’ve even gotten us outside TWICE in a day most days!
“All we have said hitherto applies to the summer weather, which is, alas for us! a very limited and uncertain quantity in our part of the world. The question of out-of-door exercise in winter and in wet weather is really more important; for who that could would not be abroad in the summer time? If the children are to have what is quite the best thing for them, they should be two or three hours every day in the open air all through winter, say an hour and a half in the morning and as long in the afternoon.” vol 1, p85
Honestly, I wouldn’t have thought to aim for two visits to our back yard in a day because isn’t one enough?? The coats, the boots, strapping on the baby, picking up the dog poop… It feels harder than staying cooped up in the playroom.
But is it harder to stay inside? Yesterday, I read several chapters in a book. The day before that, I “read” half of a bird field guide. Today, I did my taxes. (I’m living the life, can’t you tell?) When we’re in the playroom, I spend nearly all my time either reading to the Treacherous Toddler or fending off her “READ ME A BOOK”s. And no cleanup needed. Not to mention that the Needy Newborn happily sleeps on my chest almost the whole time we’re outside. The startup cost feels high, but I think the inertial choice of staying inside is actually more work in the end.
Read The Nature Fix if you need a little extra chizuk to get outside or to find ways to bring more nature into your life even when you can’t get outside. And if you haven’t read Last Child in the Woods yet, read that first! (Until you’ve read Last Child in the Woods, can you really call yourself a Charlotte Mason enthusiast? The way people talk about it, you’d think it was printed in the back of the Volumes!)
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