A preliminary note: you will be in no doubt when you read this post that, unlike the previous entries dating back to the start of the year, it was written without any help from Artificial Intelligence. I am a huge supporter of technology and spend most of my life working with it but also highly value the traditional way of creating works, including those that are written. While I will continue to use AI in ways that I consider to be appropriate and constructive, this blog will from now on contain material that comes only from inside my head.
I have decided to make a change of direction in the NetVista Health Blog and you might wonder what on earth is going on. What does The Bluebell Wood have to do with health?
Almost everyone, as far as I can see, underestimates the profound impact that time in nature can have on our health in general and our mental wellbeing in particular. I, on the other hand, do not.
Today, with my wife, I visited The Bluebell Wood, part of a nature reserve a few miles from our home in a part of England renowned for its hidden valleys and other idylls.
During our walk of around an hour and a half through a landscape of remarkable natural beauty and serenity, taken on a warm and sunny late spring evening, we encountered only three other people - a young lady walking on her own and a couple. Others, no doubt, preferred to spend their time connected to the electronic device, a vampire disguised as entertainer, installed in their living room. For this I am grateful as it meant that the valley and woodland paths were secluded.
On these excursions the therapeutic affect is delivered through multiple mechanisms and all senses. Bright, vibrant splashes of colour from wild flowers, the gentle sounds of birdsong and gently flowing water in the streams - a stark contrast to the relentlessly screaming children, barking dogs, car alarms and whining power tools of the town.
As always on these occasions, we concluded matters at the old pub near the start of the walk. We had our beer in the garden before returning home.
As I write this I reflect on the connections between our experience of nature this evening, with its subtle impact on our condition, and Haydn's masterpiece The Creation, much of which I listened to while working yesterday morning. Although I am not religious, I am profoundly moved by this music, seeing the narrative as a powerful metaphor rather than an explanation to be taken literally.
One fragment in particular from the oratorio keeps popping into my head and encapsulates today's outing perfectly: In verdure clad the fields appear, delightful to the ravish'd sense.