Ms. Carse and SC Finney Interview

Spending time in nature is important for many reasons, including its benefits for our health and happiness. However, not everyone has access to affordable nature experiences, especially in inner cities. It is important to create more opportunities for people, especially children, to connect with nature. Spending time outside has positive effects on child development and can make us more humble and patient. Many people don't spend enough time outside due to busy schedules, but being intentional about it can lead to increased happiness. Hey Sarah Catherine, so here's my audio answers to your questions that you asked. For number one, do I think spending time in nature is important? Why or why not? Absolutely, for so many reasons. We as humans, while we're human, we are also part of the earth, we're part of the ecosystem, we're part of the environment, and I think that it's very important for us to spend time in nature because that's life-giving to us and it's also very healthy for our bodies to breathe fresh air. Vitamin D is also generated from the sun, so I think it's very important for your happiness to be able to spend time outside. Do I think people have enough access to affordable nature experiences? No, especially people in inner cities. Although they might have public parks, they might be unsafe or they might not have a way of getting to that park in a safe manner, especially in areas where public transportation might be dangerous or unstable. So I think that motion to create affordable nature experiences would be so helpful, especially for kids in areas where they can't access it as much. But I also think just getting outside, even if you're in the city and going for a walk, has a lot of benefits, especially with vitamin D and the sun. I definitely think that nature experiences could be made more affordable or accessible to people who usually can't access that. Spending time outside for kids is so important, especially in an era where there's a lot of iPad kids who have grown up with screens from birth, and while that's a wonderful skill, it kind of leaves you out of touch with reality. There's been research on social skills diminishing. That's a tradeoff for spending a lot of time on technology. So I think spending time with nature and tactile and kinesthetic play for children, meaning getting to touch the grass and the sticks and the trees and the rocks and exploring is really good for child development. So I definitely think it has a lot of positive benefits. Spending time outside, I think, impacts your character greatly. I think it makes you more humble, grateful, and patient and respectful when you get to see the grandeur of nature, especially if you're hiking or camping in the mountains or something like that and you see how you are a part of something much bigger than yourself. I also think it creates a lot of patience and humility when you do have to deal with the outdoors, especially in a context like camping or something where you are kind of at the mercy of your environment. I think for your last question, is outside activity seen as healthier and better for you? Why don't people spend more time outside? I think that people just get so busy and caught up in daily life that our 9 to 5 very chaotic, crazy schedule simply doesn't factor in enough time to go outside. So I think you really have to be intentional about spending time outside. And I think that if people knew how good it was for you or just tried a little bit every day, they would be a lot happier. I know that I could definitely spend more time outside if I actually was intentional about it. All right. Hopefully that helps. And let me know if you need anything.