Another week, a different outfit, and this time we’re frolicking in an open field in the suburbs. While we’ve ventured out far from the heart of Miami-Dade county on MyXXFLY, from the beach to the Everglades, from Homestead to calle ocho, we’ve found that anything can be picturesque if you look at it with the right eyes.
Growing up in Miami, I remember the large green fields of my childhood. There were designated areas for apartments and houses, but among these there were always large empty fields where I would take walks with my grandparents, throw frisbees with my uncles, and play tag or makeshift baseball with neighborhood friends. Y’all know the kind: first base is a palm tree, second is a patch of dead grass por alla, and third is a hole in the fence.
Urban sprawl is alive and well, especially in cities like Miami where the population grows by the tens of thousands on a yearly basis. The lack of affordable housing inland and the demands by a growing population makes it so that expansion is constant. Wherever developers can squeeze in apartments, houses, and town-homes, you better believe they will. Consequently the empty fields of the past have slowly turned into treeless parking lots and sterile stores, displacing much of the wildlife, and increasing carbon emissions due to longer commutes.
When first starting this blog I yearned for those fields of my childhood and the views of the sunsets before apartment buildings blocked the skyline. There are dozens of charming neighborhoods, and scenic Miami parks that we’ve yet to shoot in, but sometimes an open field is all the location you need to get your point across. So what is the point?
As urbanization takes over our green, we lose our connection to our planet and our fellow man. Studies have shown links between spending time in nature and overall wellness. Harmony with nature helps in psychological well-being, and has been linked to a decreased risk of mental illness. Many times when we feel overwhelmed, anxious, or depressed, we seek refuge in the comfort of our homes, becoming lost in ourselves and our thoughts. In these instances, although counter intuitive, doing precisely the opposite is what would truly help. When we are the least inclined to go outside and experience nature is usually when we most need to. If your agoraphobia is too strong, adding a plant to a space will make your primitive brain mellow the fuck out. Ever wonder why Microsoft’s default desktop backgrounds include scenes of nature? Those clever bastards are privy to the fact that studies have shown simply viewing photographs of nature can produce a calming effect on people. So while you sit in your cubicle, entering one report too many, one pleasantry away from gouging your eyes out, you minimize your work screen, and sigh, that beach-scape. You’re swept up in a daydream about laying on the sand in the springtime and you live to work another day.
Nature gives us perspective on our lives, on the vastness of our universe, and sheds a light on how what we find problematic, is often not as awful as we seem to think. There is a calming effect when we bask in nature because we are more a part of the earth than we are a part of the fabricated societies we live in. Evolutionary biologists posit that there is an intrinsic connection between man and the environment because, for the larger part of human existence, we evolved among nature and our survival as a species was contingent on this connection. The hectic pace of our lives, our errands, our bills, our jobs, these are all man-made. Nature has a humbling effect on us because we cannot box it in the same way we do other aspects of our lives.
Activities like yoga and meditation are so beneficial to humans because they are a way to disconnect from our fabricated surroundings, and remind us that peace exists within us. Practicing mindfulness can be as simple as not going straight for our phones the moment we wake up, and instead silently meditating for a few minutes before we start our days. If we just stop and listen to our bodies, experiencing each moment without letting our minds discern and judge our surroundings, happiness would be so much easier to maintain. But that’s the hard part isn’t it? So go outside and reconnect, spend some time alone, and let us know how you feel about the topic in the comments. See you all next week where we hang out with our boy Felix in Hialeah. Until then, don’t forget the sunscreen, and stay MyXXFLY.
