Why it's important to feel connected to nature

Concrete jungle.  Office jobs.  Technology and screens.  Grocery stores.  All of things and thousands more of our civilization-related inventions have disconnected us from nature.  What do I mean by nature?  I mean understanding how your daily life aligns with your environmental surroundings, with the changing of the seasons, with the changes in weather, with the expanding or contracting ecosystem around you, with the reality that you are by definition an animal but live very differently that all other types of animals.  Many, many things.

That last bit is why feeling connected to nature is so important, because we ARE animals.  Light and dark are essential to our survival.  We need food and water and air to breathe.  We need love, safety, and a home to dwell.  All of these things are equally true and important for all animals.  Not providing or creating or positioning ourselves directly to receive these things is part of why we easily forget them and take them for granted.

Think about how some Native American tribes used to live.  Their homes were rooted in nature and the stars were their ancestors.  The food they grew and hunted, the clothes they made, the means of celebration all were from the earth, performed with the earth, and didn't impact the earth in any dismissive way (no waste).  Now stop, I'm not going to transition to a climate change, sweat shop, industrial agriculture condescending diatribe.  I only mean to point out that as people we've live in other ways much more connected to nature than most of us do now.

How would one go about becoming more connected with nature without turning one's life upside down?  That's simple.  Just with small things.  Maybe it's making sure to live in a place that has seasons, and find things for you to do distinctly separately in each one of them so you can foster a built-in appreciation for the annual lifecycle of our planet.  Maybe it's learning how to garden and all the yearlong components.  Maybe you grow some of your own food so you appreciate how it got onto your plate.  Maybe you hunt for a deer, dress is in the field or take it to a butcher and strive to use and consume every part of that animal.  Maybe you learn how to sew and make pajamas for all of your family and friends.  Maybe you go on a completely different kind of vacation where you're surrounded by a very different climate or culture - and not a sanitized homogenized resort that leaves you feeling like you aren't anywhere in particular.  Or maybe you just find somewhere in nature near where you live that you love and you meditate for 20 minutes once a week in that space.

People often talk about the importance of filling up your cup.  Often this can involve spending money, taking time away from important things to indulge in frivolities, or jumping through a bucket list.  There's another way to recharge, get energy, and extract joy within your regular life - one of those ways is guiding yourself back to a deeper connection with nature.  Part of why we are all so stressed out and sometimes lost, is because we're animals almost completely divorced from an experience of feeling connected to nature.