“Landscape illustration from Bijutsu Sekai (1893-1896) by Watanabe Seitei, a prominent Kacho-ga artist.” (credit below)
We Should think of soundscapes as medicine
– Joshua Smythe *
Science is just beginning to understand nature’s role in maximizing well-being and optimizing human potential. How much time do you spend in nature?
Here’s why getting your a** outdoors may help:
The natural world offers the possibility of a new perspective, a way of being and feeling ourselves in the world. Growing up in the marshlands of Minnesota, red-winged blackbirds were my soundscape. I wondered at great blue herons, witnessed beavers building dams and watched deer swiftly herd-up determining who was boss as they felt the weather change before an ice storm. I lived close to the land. My skin felt the extremes of air gone thick and humid, as well as penetrating and dry. Nature invited me to stretch-out wide, my wingspan was welcomed and it benefitted me. It is no accident that today, so far from “tribe and fire,” research is proving how impactful and necessary time in nature is for the human animal in us. Nature offers a new partner in our work – you may even get a nature prescription or schedule your therapy session during one of my outdoor times and get the benefit of both experiences.
* Joshua Smythe quoted in “The Nature Fix”, Florence Williams, 2017