We're all cut off from nature. Seasons barely mean anything. We live our lives moving from one almost - hermetically sealed bubble to another. A morning coffee on the back deck, maybe a weekend hike? It doesn't matter how nice the zoo enclosure is, it's not the real thing and the animals inside know it.
We're cut off from each other. We all know about capitalist alienation here. We live in cities great and small and barely speak to anyone. Too tired and beaten down to go meet people in real life, we resort to choosing madness by arguing politics online. Our need to connect will prevail, even if it's forced down the most twisted paths.
We're cut off from ourselves, our own inner lives. How many of us feel like spectators to our own lives? More and more we have to choose life paths and ever-lengthening careers to avoid starvation and misery. Less and less time is left to us to think and feel and ponder and reflect. What little time we do have, we frantically rush to avoid thinking by endlessly scrolling and/or binge-watching. Our fountain of inner life ebbs to a trickle.
I don't know my neighbor and "nature" is a local park or that cold white shit on my car. No wonder we're all going fucking insane
Making regular hiking a priority, and especially moving to the Rockies so there's always a bigger challenge, was immensely beneficial. The disconnect from nature is a lot less impactful when you're constantly immersed in it and planning around conditions. Do it with someone else and it's a big bonding experience where you're bringing out the best in your partner. The community up there is close-knit and positive, with people helping each other to summit safely and lots of naturalists excited to talk about the flora/fauna/geology. It's the perfect hobby and platform for further self-actualising ones.
I actually do live right in the Colorado Rockies foothills, and it does indeed help me immensely. And I plan on leaving the state in a few months to an area with similarly incredible nature opportunities. But here I was speaking more of daily life
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Definitely a niche case with a lot of opportunity sacrifice. If someone can swing it though, it'll probably be one of the best decisions of their life. Being caught in the Separation of Town and Country is a losing battle.
Right now I live for the vacation days that I get to spend portaging through Algonquin Park with friends and partners.