Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction. E.O. Wilson
I had a moment this morning that was a window into why I love the ocean. After a week of beating into southwest winds, rolling seas and adverse currents, it was heartening to awake to a more favourable northwest wind and the prospect of a broad reach on calmer seas.
I awoke at 5 a.m. (no alarm clock needed), got dressed, had a bite to eat, got the boat ready: turned on the navigation lights, started the engine, cast the lines from the dock and headed outward bound in pre-dawn darkness. When sailing at night, your senses fully awake to life around you: the sound of gulls and the crashing of waves on hazardous shoals waiting to sink the boat of a distracted mariner, the meticulous search for seaward navigation lights on buoys and lighthouses and the sounds of whistles, gongs, and bells that beckon safe passage, the saltwater smell of seaweed and of spruce trees on land that portend hazardous closeness… When sailing at night, your senses leap to full attention of the environment around you.
Once through the narrow harbor channel at Point Judith, RI – where a slight mistake could result in going aground, I broke into the open bay with its promise of safer, deeper water and more
Sunrise over Port Judith, RI
expansive views, and breathed more deeply. Gradually, darkness gave way to the inevitability of our closest star’s first light, and I looked back over the port quarter of Tuzen Takk and said: “Oh my God” (an acknowledgement of divine creation) and snapped this picture. Sunrises and sunsets are spectacular over the water and seem to invite deeper reflection rooted in a calmer, more contemplative energy – less cluttered by the distractions of things that really don’t matter much…
This moment alone on the ocean sailing on a Thousand Thanks, invited me to wonder about my life-long fascination and love for the ocean. I wondered why I have always been drawn to the sea. I wondered what impelled me to commit to this journey, and why I want so desperately to protect salt-water marshes and marine estuaries, coral reefs and intertidal zones, bays close to home and the depths of Big Blue far away…
I suppose science has one explanation. For example, according to a 2014 Guardian article – “Ten reasons why we need more contact with nature,” Richard Louv outlines scientific reasons for our love affair with nature, including:
- The more high-tech our lives become, the more nature we need. Some people today advocate that every person has a right to access the internet. “How much more should every person have a right to access the natural world, because that connection is part of our humanity?”
- We are hard-wired to love – and need exposure to the natural world. Researchers, for example, have found that regardless of our cultural background, we all gravitate to images of nature, and we prefer to live in houses with views of the natural world.
- We suffer when we withdraw from nature. Louv cites an Australian professor, Glenn Albrecht, director of the Institute of Sustainability and Technology Policy at Murdoch University, as having “coined the term solastalgia. He combined the Latin word solacium (comfort — as in solace) and the Greek root – algia (pain) to form solastalgia, which he defines as ‘the pain experienced when there is recognition that the place where one resides and that one loves is under immediate assault.’” Perhaps this is why so many people feel so passionately about protecting the natural areas they love…
- Nature brings our senses alive. Scientists have recently discovered that humans have the ability to track by scent alone. Studies done by the Military show that some soldiers in war zones see nuances others miss, and can spot hidden bombs, for example; these individuals tend to be soldiers who grew up in rural areas and more conscious of their surroundings.
- Individuals and businesses can become nature smart. Evidence suggests “spending more time outdoors nurtures our ‘nature neurons’ and our natural creativity. For example, at the University of Michigan, researchers demonstrated that, after just an hour interacting with nature, memory performance and attention spans improved by 20%. In workplaces designed with nature in mind, employees are more productive and take less sick time.”
- Nature heals. Louv cites Pennsylvania researchers who found that patients in rooms with tree views had shorter hospitalizations, less need for pain medications and fewer negative comments in the nurses’ notes, compared to patients with views of brick.
- Nature can reduce depression and improve wellbeing. “Researchers in Sweden found joggers who exercise in a natural green setting feel more restored and less anxious, angry, or depressed than people who burn the same amount of calories jogging in a built urban setting.”
- Nature builds community bonds. Researchers at the University of Rochester report that exposure to the natural environment leads people to nurture close relationships with fellow human beings, value community, and to be more generous with money.”
- Nature bonds families and friends. In Europe, families go hiking, gardening or engage in other outdoor activities together. In the UK, families are forming “green gyms” to bring people of all ages together to do green activities.
Additionally, an article entitled: “Why We Love the Ocean” in a special 2017 issue of Maine Boats, Homes and Harbors by Catherine Schmitt probes how spending time near the water is good for our mental and physical well-being and makes most people happy. There is a growing body of research offering evidence of our instinctive love for the ocean.
Research, for example, indicates that people around the world favour the color blue, perhaps because of its association with clean water and clear skies. Landscapes that people rank as more pleasing often have large proportions of blue. Experiencing the wonder of natural beauty appears to decrease depression, autoimmune diseases and other health maladies, according to researchers. Breaking waves and splashing surf hydrate the water with negative ions, tiny molecules that have been linked to improved moods, perhaps by oxygenating the blood, as some researchers suggest.
The earth is 70% ocean and did you know that phytoplankton, tiny marine plants, produce 50% of the air we breath?
Edward O. Wilson, perhaps the greatest ecologist the world has ever known, introduced and popularized a concept called biophilia – an innate tendency of humans to seek connections with nature and other forms of life – in his book by the same name Biophilia (1984). Check out this link for more information.
As E.O. says: “Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.” And while sailing peacefully into the promise of a new day with the brilliant colors of an inspiring dawn rising in the east, I understood what these words meant. And in this moment of connected consciousness, I felt rooted to something larger than myself. I felt connected to the natural world. I experienced biophilia, a love for nature, a love for the ocean, and an understanding that I have never for one nano-second been separated from the natural world. We are nature and nature is us.
So, as I sail into this climate and ocean conservation adventure, I wonder how I can impart not simply information about our environment, but, more importantly, a deep connection with and love for that which we seek to preserve. Re-engaging with our natural world, reconnected and renewed, may be the largest need in, and highest purpose of, education today.
And as E.O. says: “The future is at stake. The natural world’s benefits to our cognition and health will be irrelevant if we continue to destroy the nature around us, but that destruction is assured without a human reconnection to nature.”
Today, tomorrow, every day we have an opportunity to reconnect with nature and renew a sense of wonder. And this connection may profoundly change your life. We would love to hear your stories, ideas, thoughts on how to reconnect with nature, and we may add them to a future blog.
For more information on biophilia, check out this link: to an interview with E.O. Wilson.
For additional reading, check out:
The Nature Fix by Florence Williams
Blue Mind by Wallace Nichols
The Nature Principle by Richard Louv
Naming Nature by Carol Kaesuk Yoon
Stay tuned for our New York City Climate Action Now (CAN) blog next week.
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*CELL is currently accepting applications for college sustainability focused study abroad programs, to Iceland, Central America, Ecuador, and Scotland. Faculty may contact CELL regarding custom programs for your college. Go to cellonline.org for more information and to apply.”