13min
As humans, we have an innate and instinctive love of nature, but our daily lives often prevent us from spending time outdoors. Outdoor Kids in an Inside World: Getting Your Family Out of the House and Radically Engaged with Nature explains the importance of encouraging our children to experience activities outside the home, as the happiness of feeling ‘part of a whole’ is one of the most powerful tools for growth.
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Analysis and key concepts
01.
Biophilia is the natural sense of happiness we feel when we are in contact with nature, when we are connected to our environment, and when we feel like we are an active part of our surroundings
02.
The real problem is not a lack of time or life in the city: what we need to do is change our habits
03.
We need to teach children that death is a natural part of life, but sometimes words are not enough, and nature can help us in countless ways
04.
Some say that the Gaia theory is unscientific, because it suggests that the planet survives thanks to the deep interconnectedness of everything, both living and non-living
05.
In order to restore a child’s bond with nature, we have to focus on enjoyment, rather than a sense of duty
06.
Hunting for meat is not for everyone, but fishing is a little easier, and foraging is really quite simple: it is important to choose the right family activity for us and our children
07.
Quotes
08.
Take-home message
We have probably all experienced, at least once in our life, a feeling of happiness while watching waves crashing on a beach, or while walking among the trees in a forest, or while lying in a field and looking up at the sky. The biological term for this instinctive sense of fulfilment is ‘biophilia’.
Biophilia simply means that human beings, and especially children, have an innate tendency to seek connections with nature and other life forms. All we have to do is observe a child’s reaction when they stand at the edge of a pond, if we let them peek into a bird’s nest, or help them turn over a rotting log to look underneath: their surprise and joy at the life they discover ‘hidden’ in nature is immediate and wonderful to witness.
Many of us live in towns or cities that offer little chance to connect with nature, because everything around us often seems to have been created, or at least heavily manipulated, by humans. Wherever we are, however, there are always plenty of opportunities to let children turn over a rock, for instance, and observe life in nature, even if we are surrounded by the uninterrupted sounds of cars passing by in the background.
If we are really honest, what usually stops us from connecting with nature is a lack of time, and children are typically just as busy as adults nowadays with school, sports, and music classes. These endless commitments tend to make us a little lazy, because at the end of a busy day, lounging on the sofa is usually more tempting than going for a walk in the park. Still, if we do manage to go outside, the rewards are truly enormous, as we remember that we are creatures of the Earth and are intrinsically connected to the natural world: building a strong relationship with nature satisfies our innate desire to feel that we belong to something bigger than ourselves. Every time a child turns over a rock, and takes a closer look at what is underneath, it helps them to strengthen this relationship with that sense of ‘something bigger’.
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The author
Steven Rinella is an American writer and journalist, and has become famous as the host of MeatEater, a TV show inspired by his hunting and fishing adventures. Rinella is passionate about encouraging our human connection with nature through outdoor living, foraging, hunting, and fishing.
Edition
Publishing house:
Random House
Year:
2023
Pages:
320
ISBN:
978-0593129685