The open and sustained circuit of life

"Land, then, is not merely soil; it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants and animals. ... The circuit is not closed; ... but it is a sustained circuit, like a slowly augmented revolving fund of life." – Aldo Leopold, from "The Land Pyramid" in "A Sand County Almanac"

And I add humans to that circuit...

Folks who know me know I hike every day with my dog Arrow. We have to. And trailing behind her makes every foray an immersion – in that open and sustained circuit. But it's far more than simply getting physical exercise. Our forays are deep dives into that which is a necessity.

I recently read an article written by Montana author Jim Robbins and published by the Yale School of the Environment, "Ecopsychology: How Immersion in Nature Benefits Your Health." While the focus of the article is on more heavily populated urban areas, the premise can be applied anywhere: Being in a natural environment is highly beneficial for our mental and emotional well-being.

According to Robbins, "A growing body of research points to the beneficial effects that exposure to the natural world has on health, reducing stress and promoting healing." Robbins details a study of 20,000 people conducted by the University of Exeter that found that two hours spent each week in a "green space" produced measurable benefits to good health and well-being. And those two hours can be spread throughout the week. Further, they found that there were no measurable benefits if that time was reduced. They included a broad spectrum of individuals from different ethnic and economic groups and also included those with disabilities and other health afflictions.

According to the study's lead researcher Mathew White, "It's well-known that getting outdoors in nature can be good for people's health and well-being, but until now we've not been able to say how much is enough..." In other words, the premise hadn't before been quantified.

Prior to the University of Exeter study, Harvard Medical School produced a web site detailing the benefits of spending time in nature and how it can reduce stress, anxiety and depression.https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/sour-mood-getting-you-down-get-back-to-nature

And I believe it's far more than just a dose of nature...

On a closely related theme, in 2018 for another "A Place for All" column, my essay focused on a question I asked various friends, "What is wild." Several made a distinction between humans and wild, separating humans from wild. I've been giving a lot of thought to what I perceive as wild and where humans fit. When asked what "wild" means to her, one friend responded, "Wildness evokes the feeling I have when I'm in a place or see something that makes me comprehend how insignificant I am and yet how much a part of a bigger world I am." That comment articulates two critical points: Our insignificance and how we are a small part of a much larger whole.

In a long-ago era, humans were a functioning part of our planet's "wild" landscape – nature if you will, living what I call a balanced "connectedness."

In modern times many people seem to separate or disconnect humans from that landscape. They feel that the only true wild exists without humans.

But I believe we are an integral part, and that the result of others' belief in separation ultimately removes us from the "current of nature." That artificial barrier may further our distress.

We are so fortunate to live where we're surrounded by public land. My mental and emotional well-being are centered on daily hikes with Arrow, year round. And following her takes my immersion to a far deeper level as she tracks odors with her nose, where we find tracks and scat of wild critters, where we find mountain lion cached kill and often observe or hear those animals. For me, even just hearing breezes blowing through larch and pine trees, watching as the seeded tops of bunch grasses sway in those breezes, notice how the scents around me change with the seasons, and all the other subtleties that I can detect once I'm free of those artificial barriers, deeply sustain me. And especially now with the issues of 2020 caused by the pandemic, my time with Arrow on public lands has never been more critical for my mental and emotional well-being.

What makes this so notable is that the underlying issue is that it's far more than a "love of nature." Simply and more broadly stated, I believe that all life is interconnected, meaning all life is interrelated. Nothing and no one exist in isolation or is independent of other life. There is no separation. Nature is an intrinsic part of us but much of modern living and its distractions can become a barrier, like cutting off blood flow in an artery.

The reality: We are nothing more and nothing less than that herd of migrating elk we might see near Boy Scout Road this winter.

"In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land community to plain member and citizen of it." - Aldo Leopold