This week is Mental Health Awareness Week, and this year’s theme is nature. Connecting with nature has been a constant conversation topic between ACEVO’s staff: we regularly send each other photos of our walks, plants and gardens, so we decided to write this blog to share how important it is for us to step back from our screens (not only during working hours) and immerse ourselves in nature – whatever form it might be.
A narrated version of this blog is available at the bottom of the page
Natalie Westerman, membership and marketing manager
My favourite way to connect with nature is being by the sea. On days when I feel blue and the fog won’t shift, I’ve been known to tell my partner ‘I need to see the sea.’ The vastness of the sea makes me feel calm, even when it’s stormy. The sense of perspective takes me out of my thoughts. During lockdown that hasn’t been possible as I live in South East London and it’s been hard not being able to look out to a horizon. So instead I have connected with nature by caring for plants. I’ve enjoyed learning what each plant needs and not treating them all the same. I like watching them grow and change through the seasons, silent and strong. And there is nothing I love more than shopping for a new plant pot.
Heloisa Righetto, communications officer
I can’t imagine how the past year would have been if I didn’t have my plants. I have been a plant person for quite a few years, but since the beginning of lockdown and working from home, this hobby became an important source of calm and happiness. I have transformed my balcony into a personal oasis, and every time I need a screen break, that’s where you will find me. I am also a keen hiker, and driving to the countryside and walking miles and miles among woodlands, fields and lovely villages is so much more than exercising. It’s a necessary boost to my mood, and it amazes me how I can be away from checking social media for many hours whenever I am hiking. I’ve also found solace in writing a newsletter about this connection with nature (it’s in my mother tongue, Portuguese, but if you are curious, here you go), and, of course, planning hiking holidays all over the country!
Tom Andrews, head of member support
My connection with nature is hard to quantify. It’s a sort of wellbeing wifi that enhances my life when I’m in range. I don’t know how it happens. I look at a budding tree or step onto grass, smell a scent or hear a bird, and it’s as if my depleting reserves are renewed. Sometimes this is a rush, but more often it’s a gradual refilling and a sense of perspective. Nature provides clear evidence that I’m not the centre of the universe. This tree will continue to grow irrespective of my ups and downs. I love listening to music alongside nature. I walk, stretch out my arms and I’m not just this fragile human, I’m something more.
More blogs about wellbeing and mental health
Melanie Jeanton, membership administrator
“Park closed” was the sign that left me pacing around my neglected garden and the boring local streets at the beginning of lockdown. As soon as it reopened I couldn’t wait to walk around every part of it and felt like I could breath again and have moments of peace. Then winter came with lockdown two and everything was grey and dying. “Not dying” my colleague Jenny told me “just resting” and she recommended reading “How to be more tree” by Annie Davison. How right she was. I now no longer neglect my garden and remember how lucky I am to even have one. Over the last year nature has taught me to be a bit more patient (because I’m so impatient), look for the positive, calm down and spring back to life.
Kristiana Wrixon, head of policy
I am very fortunate to have a big recreation ground about a 3 minute walk away from my home. Before lockdown it always seemed a little plain to me, somewhere we walked the dog when we couldn’t get to the nicer parks with the bigger trees, prettier flowers and better play equipment for the kids. Since the first lockdown, well it is still a big green space with a small playground, but it has also become what feels like a community space. In the summer there were loads of different groups of families and friends having picnics, BBQs and drinks. I have seen so many people happily sharing socially distanced walks, there has been a new fitness class and a new dog walking group. I don’t know, and haven’t talked to many of these people but at times just seeing them and knowing they were close by has made me feel more connected to the community I live in.
I appreciate that the theme is nature and it may not sound like I am talking much about nature, but I think what I am trying to say is that as well as feeling connected to the natural space, the natural space has helped me feel connected to people. And in this year when connection with anything or anyone has felt so difficult, it has brought a smile to my face many times to look around that plain but wonderful park and feel connected to the people sharing it with me.
