COVID-19 Has Made Us Rethink Our Relationship With Nature

In pre-pandemic times, before the devastating COVID-19 virus swept across the globe, affecting everyone and everything, going outside was not that big of a deal... at least not for me, anyway. Leaving the house was just a regular part of my life, casually etched into my daily routine. As for connecting with nature, I like to think that it has always been a constant fixture of my life. Before COVID I had to walk through a nature reserve more or less everyday to get to school. On my walk I was surrounded by greenery: tall, towering trees and a flowing river. I suppose I thought that that was enough nature for me. I realise now that I never properly appreciated my walk to school. I was so used to it, that I didn’t ever take a moment to just drink up the world around me. Instead I was too wrapped up in my own world to recognise the beauty  or the significance of the prevailing scenery. 

With the power of hindsight, It's obvious that I took the outside world majorly for granted. As soon as we weren't allowed to leave our homes, it became the one thing everyone-myself included- most desperately wanted to do. Don’t get me wrong, I love the comfort and safety of my home, but being forced to stay inside made everyone- myself included- extremely eager to go outside. For the first time in a really long time, we craved the outdoors. We yearned to swap the interior with the exterior. It had never really mattered that much before because going outside was such a simple thing. Of course we could go outside… whenever we wanted, wherever we wanted, with whoever we wanted. To have such a simple luxury taken away from us, something that we have all so wantonly taken for granted, is a massive shock to our systems.

It has resulted in incredible excitement on the occasions when I have been able to leave the house. A visceral thrill when I get to put on my coat, open the front door and leave the house (following COVID rules, of course) even if it’s not the same as before- hand sanitizer and masks never played a prominent role when we used to go outside. Now, even just going on a simple walk feels like an adventure. I notice nature a lot more now than I did before. I notice the fresh, crisp air that I breathe in when I walk through the nature reserve. The air even smells different in nature- cleaner and fresher compared to the pollution and smog stink that is present beside busy roads and in city centres. I take interest in the shrubs and plants around me that I used to pay so little attention to before- I simply dubbed them as ‘green things’ and carried on my merry way. Now I look at them and am amazed by their innate intricacy. 

I am in awe of nature: the way that the leaves change colour from season to season-  chartreuse and shamrock greens in summer contrasting with the deep reds and tawny coppers and burnt auburns of autumn, the fragility of delicate flowers that somehow manage to survive the harshest of storms. Nature is so beautiful and so powerful. 

Although the pandemic has been awful, it has at least served as an important reminder that nature is important. It has explicitly proved to us how essential nature is, the positive impact that it has on our moods, how much we miss it when we have to stay inside. 

Lockdown has also afforded the planet precious time to breathe. Studies have shown that the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown (which saw less people travelling) has lessened water pollution, reduced carbon dioxide emissions and has increased air quality- on a global scale! 

The pandemic has taught us not to take nature for granted. Hopefully this is an ideal that we can continue to strive for, even after this miserable pandemic is over. This unprecedented period of time has been undoubtedly dark and gloomy at times, but on the plus side it has shown us an alternative way of treating the environment and of respecting nature.  

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