Inside People

I wrote this Tuesday night, but I haven’t had internet access to post it until now:

For the record, I’ve been a little angry at nature lately. It’s October, it’s supposed to be fall, my favorite season, but instead we’re experiencing record high temperatures. Why am I surprised that the weather in Memphis isn’t cooperating with me? When has Memphis weather ever been agreeable or reliable? So, given my generally unhappy feeling toward everything outside right now (come on, leaves. Change already!), it was only fitting that I find myself in some outdoor-type situations today.

And the outdoors worked their magic, of course. I was feeling a little guilty about the handful of trail mix I ate earlier (by “handful” I mean enough trail mix to fit in the palm of Lou Ferrigno’s hand) so before I allowed myself to commit to dinner plans I decided I had to go for a walk. I’m housesitting right now, and I love walking through new neighborhoods and tracking my route on my handy iPhone app. I get bored with the same old walking paths, so I decided to venture into a zero-lot-line neighborhood nearby which I had always driven past but never explored. Those little houses are so quaint, all neatly lined up in rows with their tiny yards and impeccable landscaping. But they tend to look so… suburban. Stepford-esque, even. So when I noticed a little asphalt path leading out of the neighborhood, I took it, of course, and found myself in a park! It was just a random little path around a semi-dried-up pond, but beyond that was a really pretty view of the Wolf River. I stopped walking and climbed up a little sandy hill so I could really get a good view of the meandering river. The area was so peaceful and secluded. The only other person nearby was a boy circling around and around the pond on his bike.

That little boy on the bike got me thinking too, just about the effect that nature has on kids. Studies have shown (or so I’ve heard) that nature is calming to children. Take those kids who act up in a classroom, put them out in nature… and they’re so well behaved. I think I just assumed that those mischievous students are the ones who are most likely to get outside and start rubbing sticks together to make fire, or torturing ants under a magnifying glass, but that’s not true. They really show an appreciation for the outdoors. I went on a field trip today to the Botanic Gardens, and it was really great to see all those kids outside. They all behaved wonderfully. They were engaged in our activities, they were exploring and discovering nature, and it’s just really cute to see kids get so excited about looking for leaves and talking about seed pods.

I think that kids in general, and really just all people, don’t spend as much time outside as they used to. I know I sound like an old lady when I say this, but I remember playing outside all the time. We rode our bikes everywhere, we invented games, we swam, we climbed the magnolia tree… video games (and by that I mean my dad’s old Atari games) were a rare thing. They weren’t even really a luxury. Just something we would pull out from time to time once it got too dark to play outside. And just for the record, I’m 26, so those days weren’t too long ago. So now I’m an “indoor girl,” as someone called me. I’m not a huge lover of the outdoors. I don’t camp, for example. That doesn’t mean I don’t like to be outside; I’m just allergic to it all. And I’m terrified of spiders. But really, haven’t we all become indoor people? I don’t know any parents who let their kids run around outside unsupervised. And I really don’t know more than a handful of people who spend substantial amounts of time outside. And, speaking as an indoor person, that’s really unfortunate. I know I’m in the wrong here too, but where is there a better place to find peace than out there among all of God’s creation? I remember when I was younger, middle school or high school, I would ride my bike all the time. Whenever I got really mad or frustrated about something, I could hop on my bike and as I picked up speed I could just feel the frustration melting away. By the time I got to my destination, assuming I even had one, I couldn’t even remember why I was mad in the first place. My point here isn’t that I think I should ride my bike more. My frustration toward bikers is a topic for another day. I’m just saying that there’s something peaceful about being outside, being at one with the majesty of God’s creation (even if you are in the middle of suburbia), and that maybe I should remember that the next time I need to center myself.