In the past two and a half
months of living in Sólheimar, I have felt myself connect with the natural
world in a way that I have not experienced since I was a child. I feel that this
connection can largely be traced to the fact that Iceland is an incredibly
beautiful country and that we as a group have spent a great deal of time
experiencing this beauty first hand - through hikes, late nights spent viewing
the aurora borealis, overnight stays in historic turf houses, etc. - but I also
feel that my lack of technology use since being abroad has also played a
significant role in this.
I like to think of myself as
someone who cares and appreciates the world that we live in very deeply. At home, I try to spend my weekends going on
hikes with friends and camping out when it’s nice enough, I practice
sustainability as much as possible within my own life, and I study
environmental science and photography in school, working to combine my passion
for and knowledge of the natural world with physical photographs in attempt to
remind those around me how precious the world we live in truly is. But I’ve
realized since living in Sólheimar that my constant connection to technology -
through my cell phone, computer, and iPod - has actually hindered the
relationship I have with the world around me. I mean, in reality, I sit in a
classroom and listen to my teachers lecture on about the global climate crisis
and I spend hours working in the darkroom developing photographs and I recycle
and compost as much as I can but I am really not spending as many weekends as I
should be hiking through the woods, disconnected from the technological world.
Instead, I’m spending weekends hidden behind my computer doing whatever
homework assignment is due next or watching movies inside with my best friends.
Since coming to Iceland, I
have been pushing myself to disconnect from the technological world as much as
I can. I talk to my parents once a week on Skype and I do my homework on the
computer and text friends occasionally but I have been making a conscious
effort to spend the rest of my free time exploring Sólheimar -walking up to the
ridge to watch the sunset or hanging out at the greenhouse café with the home
people or going on walks down to the river. And when the weathers bad or its
dark out or I’m feeling tired, I’ve been pushing myself to read or talk to the
girls in my group instead of wasting time aimlessly surfing the internet.
Through this conscious disconnection from technology combined with the
incredible trips we’ve gone on throughout Iceland, I’ve felt significant
changes within myself. I feel rejuvenated in the sense that I feel an
excitement about being alive that I haven’t felt since I was young. And through
this newfound enthusiasm for the life I’m living, I have felt a compassion
towards the natural world that I don’t think I’ve ever experienced.
As part of the CELL program,
we have spent a great deal of time discussing and experiencing sustainable
living and through this we have been learning, in great depth, about the
climate crisis that is occurring. While a lot of what we are learning about the
current state of our planet can be depressing and overwhelming at times, there
has been a lot of hope incorporated into our lessons. All that we have been
learning has inspired me make changes in my home community once the CELL
program ends and I don’t think I would feel so dedicated and inspired to do
this if it wasn’t for this newfound appreciation and care for the world around
me that I’ve gained through trying to leave technology behind and pushing
myself to go outside and, often quite literally, get my hands dirty, and
experience - truly experience, the world around me.
If there’s one thing I can
think of that every single person who’s reading this blog post can do to
contribute to help the state of our planet, it’s rekindling the connection with
the natural world. I encourage everyone to spend any and as much time as
possible going out into the world and experiencing it for all that it is. I
encourage you to leave your cell phone at home and go on a hike through the
woods, either by yourself or with people close to you. I encourage you to stop
spending idle time on your computer and instead go outside and get your hands
dirty like I have come to love through working in the greenhouses here in
Sólheimar. The possibilities of what you can do in your own community to
reconnect to the world around you are endless and vary based on where your from
but I promise you that wherever you live, whether it’s a city, a suburb, or a
rural community, there are things for
you to do in nature if you just open up your mind. I believe that if you start
incorporating outdoor activities into your daily life as much and in any way
that you can, you will start to feel a sense of compassion for the world we
live in that you may not have felt before. And through this newfound
compassion, I believe that you can do great things for this planet - whether
it’s encouraging those around you to do the same or if it’s something on a
larger scale like starting an environmental movement in your community or even
a community garden to bring back that sense of oneness with the earth not only
for yourself but for those around you as well. These might seem like small things
but trust me, they add up and have the capability of making a huge difference
in helping to preserve this world for all of the generations that come after
us.
Here are a few links to
articles that discuss the importance of reconnecting to the natural world and
how this reconnection can actually inspire people to live more sustainably:
Underestimating Nearby Nature: Affective Forecasting Errors
Obscure the Happy Path to Sustainability
Sustainability – relationship
with self, other and the natural environment
By: Margo Feingold
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