I live in New York City. The "Concrete Jungle," some call it.
There's an LCD Soundsystem lyric that I often think about: "New York, I love you, but you're bringing me down."
For all that's great about New York, one of its obvious down sides is that it's largely divorced from nature.
The city can often feel cold and drab.
Lack of greenery, it turns out, is bad for us.
According to a new study in The Lancet, engaging with nature can actually help combat feelings of loneliness.
Conducted in Barcelona, the study found that nature-based social prescribing (NBSP) "alleviated loneliness among 18+ vulnerable participants in urban areas at M3 by an average of 10.5 percent and these reductions increased through M12 by an average of 16.8 percent."
This, from the Foundation for Social Connection:
We've got some beautiful parks. That's true. But largely insufficient.
I found a cheat code, however, in the world of fish tanks.
I have three nano tanks around my apartment: a 5-gallon, 6-gallon, and 10-gallon.
These are my little slices of nature.
I propagate freshwater plants, breed fish, and cultivate self-sustaining ecosystems.
Every morning, I make a pot of coffee, sit on my couch, and watch as my rasboras swim in a tight school, and my guppies pick on hair algae.
In this video, aquarist Corvus Oscen talks about the aquarium hobby as something that allows you to escape the "sadness of a cubicle."
It makes sense: we weren't meant for a world of DoorDash and Excel spreadsheets; we were meant for rootedness, place, and communion with nature.
Wendell Berry once wrote that "the ancient, sacred bond between land and people has been broken."
Too many on the coasts have become rootless city-dwellers. And that's just no way to live.
My advice, not that I'm any kind of expert: if you're like me and you live far from nature, introduce a slice of it into your living quarters.
Make your apartment verdant with house plants, aquariums, terrariums, and the like.
Watch this music producer. He works with computers and hardware all day. But he's made it a point to ensconce himself in plants and foliage.
For all that's great about New York, one of its obvious down sides is that it's largely divorced from nature.
The city can often feel cold and drab.
Lack of greenery, it turns out, is bad for us.
According to a new study in The Lancet, engaging with nature can actually help combat feelings of loneliness.
Conducted in Barcelona, the study found that nature-based social prescribing (NBSP) "alleviated loneliness among 18+ vulnerable participants in urban areas at M3 by an average of 10.5 percent and these reductions increased through M12 by an average of 16.8 percent."
This, from the Foundation for Social Connection:
When linked with nature-based programs, social prescribing can promote nature contact to foster restorative and social benefits. Group-based activities that include natural elements have been found to cultivate connection and belonging, and increased program length is correlated to increased benefits.I live in a studio apartment in Brooklyn, though. I'm not really familiar with nature-based anything over here.
We've got some beautiful parks. That's true. But largely insufficient.
I found a cheat code, however, in the world of fish tanks.
I have three nano tanks around my apartment: a 5-gallon, 6-gallon, and 10-gallon.
These are my little slices of nature.
I propagate freshwater plants, breed fish, and cultivate self-sustaining ecosystems.
Every morning, I make a pot of coffee, sit on my couch, and watch as my rasboras swim in a tight school, and my guppies pick on hair algae.
In this video, aquarist Corvus Oscen talks about the aquarium hobby as something that allows you to escape the "sadness of a cubicle."
It makes sense: we weren't meant for a world of DoorDash and Excel spreadsheets; we were meant for rootedness, place, and communion with nature.
Wendell Berry once wrote that "the ancient, sacred bond between land and people has been broken."
Too many on the coasts have become rootless city-dwellers. And that's just no way to live.
My advice, not that I'm any kind of expert: if you're like me and you live far from nature, introduce a slice of it into your living quarters.
Make your apartment verdant with house plants, aquariums, terrariums, and the like.
Watch this music producer. He works with computers and hardware all day. But he's made it a point to ensconce himself in plants and foliage.
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| Legowelt producing music |
These things take upkeep, of course, but it's less than you think.
Touch grass, and if there is none, import it.
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| Fish tank in my parent's apartment. |
