Indoor nature as adaptive …and spiritual?

Feeling a part of ‘Big Nature’ is a human need. Most mornings I rouse my very non-morning-person head by walking my dog in the local park. But if it’s blowing a gale, freezing and drizzling (as it was a few days ago) or it’s 40ºC by 8 am, the walk can wait! Instead, I will interact with nature inside my home, paying attention to natural textures like timber and clay, or playing with pets and tending indoor plants. Unless I get distracted by AI and creating portraits of my cat inside the International Space Station. Rapid cultural change is inevitable. What’s not inevitable is how intentional and engaged we each are in that change.

There’s a pressing need to intentionally blend nature and the built environment more than we currently do, inside as well as out. In our western or commercialised culture, humans and nature are often seen as two separate things. But we are not, nor are we independent from living systems. Recent species extinctions, zoonotic disease outbreaks and climate change are testament to the harm that a worldview of ‘separateness from nature’ can cause.

As more extreme and unstable weather unfolds, it is clear that future generations will need to retreat indoors more often and for longer. The possibility of more epidemics, or pandemics is further reason to create and cultivate more indoor nature, especially for those living in apartments and not privileged with private gardens.

Yet another reason to bring more nature inside is to enrich our lives with spirituality. An increasing number of people are disillusioned with organised religions for a variety of reasons. As our perception of the universe expands, humanity feels ever smaller - at the mercy of forces over which we have no control, from sun flares to asteroids. In an odd twist, our technology is giving us a better glimpse of the true scale of nature, leaving us with a sense of vulnerability probably not felt since our ancestors sheltered in caves with fires at night, to avoid being eaten.

Our present age is often described as one of “unprecedented challenges” - with no argument from me. We know it’s unwise to expect our environmental challenges to just sort themselves out… but there’s a kind of learned helplessness when it comes to adapting spiritually - to crafting spiritual identities in response to new realities. Who are we? What really is our place in this unveiling universe? How do we connect and remain connected with nature while relying more and more on technology to help fix the mess we’ve made of Earth’s living systems?

First Nations all over the world still have knowledge systems intact that will help them navigate and revive our ailing world and teach others how to. But there is a role for non-indigenous people too. I’m delving into my own ancestral roots to gain insight from pre-industrial, even pre-christian cultures (which I’m now better equipped to do thanks to DNA and other sciences). Neolithic and Bronze Age Celts and the Norse were profoundly interconnected with nature. I’ll share some discoveries in future posts.

If we’re gonna get out of this mess, be resilient through crisis and eventually travel among the stars, we need to do a better job of integrating nature with indoor living. Some of our descendants may spend entire generations ‘indoors’ on our Moon, Mars, and aboard spacecraft. Meanwhile, I’m drawn to enriching nature inside my own home, intentionally and creatively. It’s my adaptive and spiritual practice - to identify more closely with nature, to humble myself in the face of an incomprehensible universe, and to adapt to changes that I can’t control.