We are changed because of what we’ve touched, heard, tasted and seen.
Researchers through hundreds of studies have found that time outside, almost no matter the landscape, alters us. It makes us kinder, friendlier to strangers. It calms our restless minds and spirits. Our blood pressure goes down. We gain optimism. One study compared an apartment complex without any landscaping with a similar complex with trees planted around the exterior. The residents of the complex with the trees formed connections and social bonds while the residents of the other remained distant from one another. How far does this effect go? One study found that just a single plant in a patient’s hospital room correlated to faster healing, sooner release compared to patients without a plant.
Why are we so enlivened, rested, healed, restored in the company of Creation?
Because “the earth is full of the love of God,” the psalmist writes. "The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God, as the waters cover the sea." Nor are the skies silent:
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
Isn’t there SO much to see and to hear?
