Welcome to Late summer!
I was hoping to write a little blog each month from my corner of the world but it’s summer! Summer is my life blood and I am outside taking in all mother nature can offer during the season of heat and humidity! Call me crazy but I love sun, heat, humidity. However, I have landed inside today because it’s storming so why not share my thoughts on living some life outside during any season !
SO let me start by asking you a simple question as an adult.
Are you a box dweller?
- Your day begins in a box, your bedroom
- Rise and shine from bed, a geometric box holds your mattress
- Shower in a box
- Eat breakfast from a box
- Grab clothes for the day from a box disguised as a closet or dresser drawer
- Pack lunch in a box
- Ride to work in a box on wheels
- Go to box shaped offices
- Grab take out dinner in a box heading home
- Entertainment for evening at home is from a box
- Wow, one form is even called X BOX
- Days end, you head back to your bedroom, a box
- You are boxed indoors for the better part of our 24 hour day
If this describes your individual or family lifestyle then you are a box dweller.
Bet you have never been called that name before!
Cabin fever
Did anyone you know get cabin fever during the lockdowns that forced us into the box dweller lifestyle? Cabin fever is described as a series of negative emotions people may face when feeling cut off from the world resulting from long confinement or isolation indoors. Can you relate?
Where did millions flock in search of a cure for this extreme cabin fever? Outdoors!
Millions? Am I exaggerating? Just read the link below.
The Pandemic Has Forever Changed The Active Outdoor Business (forbes.com)
So it took a global pandemic to bring awareness to millions of Americans that the great outdoors has magical healing powers both physically and mentally! Oh well, better late than never I guess. Cabin fever was cured with the help of mother nature for free. No pharmaceutical company or co pay was required.
Get teens out of the box life!
Let’s bring the spotlight on box dwelling teens. Where do most teens spend a bulk of their structured box dwelling time each year? School of course.
The math is simple.
- Teens spend an average 180 days in school required by law
- Ironically the180 days by law is often referred to as “seat time”
- On average their school year takes about 9.5 months with the bulk of instructions inside classrooms with 4 walls – a box.
As if that isn’t alarming enough, daily headlines are splashed about climate issues, the green new deal, sustainable farming, plastic pollution etc. and yet we have the audacity to tell this generation:
“You are the stewards of the environment ! You are our hope to save the planet”
How can we expect teens to save the planet if they never get to experience full emersion of their natural world? They spend almost 10 months of the year in “seat time” in a box disguised as school.
How can we expect them to gain critical thinking skills to solve basic problems, let alone the complex issues of saving the planet.
Why teens need nature
- Decreases anxiety & depression
- Reduces stress
- Improves mood
- Boosts immune system
- Regulates metabolism
- Sharpens balance & muscles
- Helps maintain healthy weight
- Confidence builder
- Encourages appropriate risk taking
- Nourishes curiosity
- Combats screen time
What do teenS want to do outside?
I asked 200 of my high school students, ages 14-16 from Virginia Beach in June 2022, “what do you like to do outside?”
Here are the most common answers.
- Bike
- Hike
- Surf
- Kayak
- Fly drone
- Camping
- Star gazing
- Outdoor art
- Nature photography
- Hang out in hammock
- Fire pits just after sunset
BTW, many said it’s better outside with a friend or family!
Comparison is the thief of Joy
Parents, please do not fall into the trap of looking at social media and begin comparing your lifestyle to the parents who will literally photo dump 55 family pictures from trips to Aruba, Alaska, Austria and more.
We all live different lives, have different family values, work different jobs with different schedules so comparison to others is irrelevant when it comes to family time outdoors!
Mother Nature could care less aboutwhen and where you come from.
She greets you in any season.
She allows teens to be wild, to run, laugh, explore, reflect and get dirty without the boundaries and arbitrary rules found in schools.
She is the best teacher by never giving homework while secretly teaching common sense, teamwork, while making memories and strengthening relationships without every saying a word.
Let your teens take the lead to plan an outdoor event of any kind or let the adult takes the lead. Just get your teens outside! Start simple!
- game of flashlight tag at night,
- lay on blankets and look at the stars,
- have a backyard picnic
- teens still like sidewalk chalk
Mother nature has a spot for you in your own backyard! Just open the door!
GET YOUR TWEENS and TEENS OUTSIDE
Last thoughts
So are you a box dweller as an adult? Is your teen a box dweller?
Here’s a twist on perspective:
Maybe it’s not the outdoors making us WELL
Maybe it’s the indoors making us sick
I always like to leave you with helpful information so here ya go.
Did you know that Nature Deficit Disorder’ Is Really a Thing?
(I promise it is not click bait or trying to sell you anything!)
As always
Spend some simple time with a teen
Slow teen life down OUTSIDE!
Much love,
Conni
PS
This is my son at 16. He had his own style of kayaking when he came with me reluctantly…more like an old man napping but hey…he was outside! Fast forward 4 years. He spent two summers as a kayak and paddle board instructor. Who knew! Just get them outside and let the magic happen.
