Connection – the state of being connected.
Connect – Bring together or in contact so that a real or notional link is established.
What does it mean to be connected? Different meaning for different folks.
There was a time when we spent time with family, friends, and colleagues on a regular basis. And kids played outside – riding bikes, building forts, damming creeks, climbing trees, playing games – often with little or no adult supervision.
What does it mean to be ‘connected’ today?
Technology – computers, phones, social media. The world wide web. People spend hours per day with and in front of electronics, working on computers, connecting via smart phone, watching TV, viewing social media.
But Nature has its own webs – spider webs, food webs, mycelium webs.
Research by Suzanne Simard at University of British Columbia and others is revealing that within a forest, trees have an underground network. They connect with each other; they communicate with each other through a network of mycelium. Yes, we are talking about fungus! There is so much going on in the soil that we are just beginning to understand.
Older trees help young trees get started. Nutrients are passed underground, through mycelium, to young trees and to sick trees. These ‘mother trees’ of old growth forests are serving as hubs and doing so much to help the next generation.
This I believe – We are a part of nature. People need nature. Being outside, in nature is part of being human. A connection to nature is vital to our health – physical, mental, and spiritual.
This I believe – that being disconnected from nature on a regular basis has led to some of the issues facing our society and world today.
We must reconnect with nature. We must be outdoors and in nature. In a yard surrounded by trees. In a local park. Outdoors on a regular basis and not just during a vacation.
But how do we connect people with nature again or for the first time? Sometimes they need a guide. Or someone to prompt or push them.
Some doctors are handing out ‘nature prescriptions’ telling their patients to go outside on a regular basis.
PLT challenges you. Be a mother tree (or father tree). Be a ‘hub.’ Reconnect to nature. And take another human with you. Help someone else connect to nature.
Take a hike. Better yet – take two hikes and call us in December.
