Go outside and plant a tree

Yesterday I finished the book, The Man who Planted Trees: a story of last groves, the science of trees, and a plan to save the planet by Jim Robbins. It was good. It was incredibly depressing, but it was also fascinating. I recommend it, but know it advance that it will make you despair a bit.

Other than realizing that the world is going to hell in a hand basket in more ways than one, the book was also fascinating because it shares how much we do not know about how trees work. It seems they are so much more complex and interesting and weird than we ever expected, as well as being able to do so much to heal our very broken planet. Truly, it made me want to run out and buy trees to plant in our yard.

Now you may think that the healing that trees can do is pretty much ecological, and you would be correct, but it seems that trees and growing things and green spaces also heal on a different level as well. Take, for instance, this example,

"Kuo and her colleagues  [Dr. Frances Kuo with others at University of Illinois] have also studied the effects of green space on children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In one case they looked at the ability of children to concentrate before and after a walk in the woods, and before and after a walk through urban Chicago. The kids, scored by people who did not know where they had been, were substantially better able to concentrate after a walk in the woods. Another study found girls in a housing project with a view of trees had better self-discipline - they could concentrate better, inhibit impulsive behaviors, and delay gratification, which meant better grades and better life decisions.

Researchers in Europe and Japan and in other parts of the United States have made similar findings. In a very large study, of 340,000 people, Dutch scientists found the amount and proximity of green space to a person's home was a reliable predictor for generally improved mental and physical health. People who live within a kilometer of 10 percent green space had anxiety disorders at a rate of 26 per thousand, for example, while for those living within a kilometer of 90 percent green space, the rate of anxiety disorders was 18 per thousand. Depression rates were similarly reduced. Green spaces, the researchers wrote, create a halo of health around them." (pp. 56-57)

I believe we were created to be outside amidst growing things. We were created to be in nature, to live in it, walk in it, appreciate it. When we divorce ourselves from the natural world, there are steep consequences. And like so many other things, the effects of this on children are even greater than in adults. Children spend so much more time holed up inside buildings, often staring at screens, than they used to. They need to play, and they need to play outside. They need to explore, climb, get dirty, look at bugs, play in water, make forts, and just sit quietly. This is more than the organized soccer practice or softball game. Not that those things can't also be good, but it is the free time, the self-directed time that is truly vital.

So go outside. Wonder at the amazing world God has created. Weep that we haven't taken better care of it. And plant a tree or ten or twenty.
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After a fairly long hiatus, I am back to writing to Adoption.com. My most recent article is published. Please read and share to your heart's content. Adopting as an Older Couple

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