Since the dawn of human existence we have all needed the three big essentials: food, shelter and clothing. I don’t know how much thought you’ve ever given to those three but, being prone to ponder things, I think it’s interesting that one of them—food—is about deriving energy from nature, but the other two—shelter and clothing—are about insulating and protecting ourselves from nature. I would argue that these days we pretty much insulate ourselves from nature in the way we eat food too, but that’s another conversation for another day.I’m a proud participant in the shelter business because providing shelter is a noble and a good thing—a very good thing. But, as someone in the shelter business I also want to remind you that you can have too much of a good thing. Even though I want to protect and insulate you from the harsh and extreme elements of nature, I never want your home to cut you off from nature. There’s a kind of paradox there—almost a full blown contradiction—that lives at the heart of my design theory and always keeps me on my toes to embrace the tension of properly insulating you from nature while somehow simultaneously reinforcing your connection to it.Easier said than done.But, thanks in part to this microphone, I have another way to encourage you to reconnect with nature. That’s to simply say, “Go outside.” So I’m saying it, “Go outside today.” Memorial Day weekend—in addition to being a time to honor those who’ve sacrificed their lives for our own—is also traditionally the unofficial start of summer. Summer is a great time to get outside and I don’t know if you’ve noticed but it’s wondrous outside. Here is Southern California right now it is truly wondrous outside but as a nature lover I feel safe saying it no matter where you are. Nature is always wondrous. So, go make contact with that wonder. It will do you good.I have a growing concern about how far we are taking this insulating of ourselves from reality. We’re becoming less competent in interacting with physical things apart from touch screens and keyboards. Definitely less DIY capable on multiple levels. Again, another conversation for another time. But for now, there’s very little debate that our reality is becoming more insulated, more mediated, more curated by others, more augmented and virtual. Our comfort and luxury, information and insulation are all growing. But also so are our levels of stress and anxiety, distraction and disconnection. In the age of social media our lives have become extremely mediated and far less authentically social. Are they related? It’s hard to believe they’re not.So back to outside. My antidote to all of this is always to step outside. And it has become such a proven and powerfully effective antidote that I won’t hesitate to push this pill on you. I step outside of my insulated, mediated world to make immediate contact with the real world. Nature—from the crunch of soil under your feet, to birdsong, to blue sky, to the sound of moving water, to the rustle of branches in the wind, to the scent of wildflowers in the air—nature is an unmediated place. Nature is immediate. A place where there are no stories, no politics, no spin zone, no ads, no influencers, no tiny screens pulling you out of where you are and the people you are with to some other place and some other story. Nature has no story. Nature just is. And in my opinion, we’ve needed that story-less place as much as we do now. When we are fully immersed in it, we just are. And we’re free. Mental health, emotional health, blood pressure, breath, nerves, stress, anxieties … every study everywhere will tell you a good dose of actual reality does good for them all. Yes, nature is an uninsulated place. There’s uneven ground out there. You’ll have to work with it. Problem solve it. DIY it. You might even break a sweat. That’s a good thing too.So, happy Memorial Day weekend. I truly hope and strongly encourage you to use it as an excuse to step outside. Leave behind your...
