Burley Old again.

I was forest bathing (the Japanese art of shinrin-yoku), in Burley Old again today, well, why wouldn't you? They say it originates in Japan, and maybe recognizing its benefits and creating an associated philosophy did, although really it's just coming home, accepting that we have always had a connection with the natural world, we are part of it, and it's our disconnection from it that lies at the heart of much of societal malaise. Up until a couple of hundred years ago, time with nature wouldn't be something that had to be sought out, it would have been our lives. The turning wheel of the year and seasonal changes, these would have been the only clocks and calenders we required, 'a time for everything and a season for every activity' as put in Ecclesiastes 3. I know that's an Old Testament reference, and me a pagan too, although as with much Christian doctrine, on inspection its roots lie in pre-Christian beliefs, so strong, so undeniable, that they and several of the pagan figures had to be incorporated. It's a shame that Abrahamic religious paths, with their dominion over nature nonsense, lead people away from natural connection in many respects. One of humanities Achilles heels is to see itself as separate to nature, or worse, much worse, above or even better than the natural world. For me, even as a child unable to express philosophical ideas, I loved being immersed in nature, I felt at home, connected to it, a love that has never waned, and a love that I feel reciprocated every day.