I've been in tech for over a decade and started working from home post-pandemic. Living close to nature, I thought I'd be outdoors more, but no, I found myself desk-bound from dawn to dusk. It made stepping outside feel like a chore, and my breaks were often spent scrolling through reels. It didn't hit me until I started feeling down everyday—I was spiralling into some monotonous, lonely hell. To break the cycle, I scheduled daily walks. The walks, coupled with casual chats with passersby/neighbours, really lifted my spirits. It's a change I wish I'd made sooner.
Is it because of the work culture being too focussed on long working hours and lack of annual leaves? I don't really have any data to back it up. Just wondering if it's getting worse.
One thing i really liked about SF was I had 3-5 parks walking distance depending on how far you wanted to walk. (no they werent filled with homeless people) Its also something that keeps me in california. The author is in brooklyn, near my family, and every time i go back to visit i go crazy. There isn't anywhere out doors to go. In the winter its cold, everyone just stays inside. Even with family, the whole point of visiting, it sucks. Big cities are fun for a few days but I need to be back where I can walk around with space.
There's a reason people on Twitch say, "I touched grass today!" :) (<a href="https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&geo=US&q=touch%20grass&hl=en" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&ge...</a>)<p>More seriously though, I feel this in my soul. I've worked remotely since pre-pandemic, so there's no need to leave the house to get money. I bought a weight rack, bench press, and created a solid at-home gym. Grocery runs were replaced with delivery during pandemic and never reverted. I'm currently single and more interested in technical passion projects than pursuing a partner. I've never owned a vehicle.<p>It's shocking to me how this confluence of factors has made it all too easy to go a week (or two!) without going outside! I've been glued to my computer since I was a pre-teen, but only in the past few years has everything come together such that I'm entirely self-sufficient indoors. Existing outdoors is no longer a natural byproduct of my existence!<p>FWIW, I do feel that there are benefits to going outside. I'm not championing my approach - just noting what's occurring. I feel our biology has not evolved at the same pace as our technology and I sense myself more at peace when I go for a run on the beach - even if I'm diligent with my Vitamin D supplementation :)<p>Interesting times we're in, to be sure.
I want to like the article. I subscribe to the Atlantic, but the article ends abruptly and raises some disparate study results which awkwardly point to some sort of hazy thesis. If we spend more time outdoors, we are more connected and less lonely? It's the trend of "asking questions" rather than making a clear statement. Can being outside increase our potential to be happier and more aware of our community? Probably. Maybe? That's it. That's the article.
On one hand, I enjoy being around new and familiar people when the context is supposed to be social, like a meetup or a bar.<p>On the other hand, I hate being forced to be social in non-social situations or when I want to be left alone, like in an airplane or at a restaurant (I really enjoy eating by myself; always have).<p>I wonder if "being lonelier" these days means people are on their phones being in their zone when they want to be left alone instead of being forced to strike up small-talk, which makes me wonder whether people have always wanted this privacy but the technology wasn't available.
Of course the great luxury that the American lifestyle offers is complete isolation from others. If you're a home owner, you're more than likely able to afford an in-home gym, any entertainment through your TV or computer, and order any food pre-cooked or groceries.
It just doesn’t seem like we have safe public places anymore. Some hood rats killed and raped a mentally disabled woman in a park near me. I want to retreat inside and protect my family.
How social do we need to be though?<p>How much of that is real need and nostalgia for church and farm life?<p>Let’s use technology to give people more time off, see what outside the box things they come up with.<p>Everyone around me is an expert in some highly complex thing and we all go work in offices when there’s problems on our street the architects, general contractors, and electrical engineers could fix. But line must go up or we’re all commie trash, or some dumb shit.
I wonder what would happen thirty years after a society decided it wasn’t safe to let kids “go play outside”.<p>Would people associate the outdoors with discomfort and danger? Would they forget how to explore and be curious? Would they have no nostalgia to inform them of what they’re missing?<p>Maybe we’re finding out?