Important concerns
There are things we do and don’t need to concern ourselves with, I would suggest. Do we, for example, need to worry about photons and electrons behaving as both waves and particles? It shouldn’t make us lose sleep, at least. So, no. Should we be uneasy about the prospect of living in a simulated reality created by the media, government spin doctors and by social media echo-chambers that re-confirm our own beliefs and thus contribute to a more and more divided society? Actually, that’s probably a yes. Do we need to be bothered about the state of the environment and our severed connection with it in the face of looming ecological and environmental catastrophe? Unequivocally, yes, we do. If we don’t all concern ourselves with this, we’re in very real trouble.
With this in mind, my family and I have been embracing our enforced staycation to really get familiar with the wildlife close to home, and 30 Days Wild is a useful reminder to us to make every day one in which we get closer to nature.
Getting closer to nature
I don’t think it is crass to be extolling the positives of the Covid-19 crisis at this stage. It doesn’t imply a belittling of the deep personal and economic problems it has caused if we consider, in a hopeful light, that the ‘new normal’ could be better for the environment if we choose to re-set the country along different lines. One benefit of the situation has undoubtedly been a recognition of the value of our green spaces for our mental health, another a deeper appreciation of our own localities.
Lockdown, and whatever form that takes in the next few months, is an opportunity for us practice a whole new level of scrutiny and appreciation of our gardens and local spaces. I don’t think I’ve ever woken up and thought, “Surely today is the day when the yellow rattle and ox-eyes daisies will flower in the lawn”, as I did this morning. I see this as an improvement – a strengthening of the connection between me and my wannabe meadow of a ‘lawn’. By which I mean ‘I want it to be’, rather than ‘it wants to be’; there is an important and frustrating difference, which involves quite a lot of trampling and currently, for some reason, the decapitated heads of Lego people.