Lovely answer from a Norwegian, this:
Nobody can live a happy and fully worthwhile life without nature! “Nonsense!” some will say. But it is really not possible. Those who live without contact with nature survive in a way, but surely with reduced quality of life. They are exposed to the tarmac syndrome, large city fever, shopping mall germs, neon lights, plastic values and disposable delights. They fumble and search, and they think that all happiness comes from a fat wallet. . . . But I find real pleasure in more natural surroundings. My thoughts circle around the mountains, around “my” mountains, around “new” mountains, or around the ocean, on summits and on paths, on the next opportunity to a new experience - a nature experience.
And from another Norwegian:
I will never get lost when I go to “Moor Mountain Pass.” Neither in nature nor in life. Because the route is on solid ground. I know every turf, every meter. Soul and body become so harmonic and peaceful when I take ths trip. Often I pause at the “Pine Ridge” and look at my rural district. I see the “Perch Lake” twinkling if the sun shines. Yes, in a way I see my whole life below me. That is where I have lived almost all my sixty years.
The two answers the Saunterer passes on to you are from pages 99 and 104 of “Why Hiking? Rationality and Reflexivity Within Three Categories of Meaning Construction,” by Hanne Svarstad (of the Norwegian Institute of Nature Research). Journal of Leisure Research, 2010, Vol. 42, No.1, pp. 91-110. Hanne Svarstad sampled Norwegian hikers (he doesn’t reveal their names), asked them to respond to the question, and translated their responses from Norwegian to English. According to a national survey, he adds, 82% of Norwegians, ages 16-74, went hiking in 2004.
For a biographical information about Hanne Svarstad, click here.
Nobody can live a happy and fully worthwhile life without nature! “Nonsense!” some will say. But it is really not possible. Those who live without contact with nature survive in a way, but surely with reduced quality of life. They are exposed to the tarmac syndrome, large city fever, shopping mall germs, neon lights, plastic values and disposable delights. They fumble and search, and they think that all happiness comes from a fat wallet. . . . But I find real pleasure in more natural surroundings. My thoughts circle around the mountains, around “my” mountains, around “new” mountains, or around the ocean, on summits and on paths, on the next opportunity to a new experience - a nature experience.
And from another Norwegian:
I will never get lost when I go to “Moor Mountain Pass.” Neither in nature nor in life. Because the route is on solid ground. I know every turf, every meter. Soul and body become so harmonic and peaceful when I take ths trip. Often I pause at the “Pine Ridge” and look at my rural district. I see the “Perch Lake” twinkling if the sun shines. Yes, in a way I see my whole life below me. That is where I have lived almost all my sixty years.
The two answers the Saunterer passes on to you are from pages 99 and 104 of “Why Hiking? Rationality and Reflexivity Within Three Categories of Meaning Construction,” by Hanne Svarstad (of the Norwegian Institute of Nature Research). Journal of Leisure Research, 2010, Vol. 42, No.1, pp. 91-110. Hanne Svarstad sampled Norwegian hikers (he doesn’t reveal their names), asked them to respond to the question, and translated their responses from Norwegian to English. According to a national survey, he adds, 82% of Norwegians, ages 16-74, went hiking in 2004.
For a biographical information about Hanne Svarstad, click here.
Comments