The phenomenologist

​By Andrew Meggitt

​I have always enjoyed being outside and the outdoors. I am neither unique nor
alone in the love of the outdoors. While polymaths are individuals with diverse
knowledge and skills, for me this is rooted in my need to fulfill the need to clear
my soul with an existential look at nature.
Selfishly I prefer to be on trails alone so I try to find the most isolated spots or least
trafficked times on those trails. a walk in the woods, trees, park, prairie is good for
the mind and body. At one time I made vain attempts to write about the beauty of
the things I saw and felt while outside. There is no replacement for the real thing.
As I sit here now the birds in our trees are making a late May concerto. attempting
to explain this to someone reading and using the appropriate language to place
someone in the chair beside mine while the robins, cardinals, juncos, and many
other birds sing away like bell ringers of the Sycamores. The point is I did not have
the talent to enable a reader to hear the chirps, whoots, beeps and beautiful chips of
the birds. So I find solace in the fact that if we take the time to listen and observe
for ourselves there is elegance and meditation in the sites and sounds of the
outside.
I find the vineyard a more severe type of existential experience where the
phenomenologist in my person immerses in the moving shapes and growing season
of the vines. “Reclaiming the first person in all its immediacy and complexity -
acknowledging how entangled this perspective is with the world we perceive, lies
at the heart of phenomenology.” In essence, understanding how the grapes are, I
prefer not to look at them as a tool from which we make wine, but rather the
creative force that ties nature to us.
I do not remember where I first heard about Forest Bathing, as fate would have it
may have been my wife gave me the book. In 2019 Nat. Geo. couldn't decide if it
was a fitness trend or a mindfulness. It did start in the 1980’s “ as a physiological
and psychological exercise called shinrin-yoku (“forest bathing” or “taking in the
forest atmosphere”). The purpose was twofold: to offer an eco-antidote to
tech-boom burnout and to inspire residents to reconnect with and protect the
country’s forests.”
While the roots of modern forest bathing are in Japan, we all understand that time
spent immersed in nature is good for us. There are numerous accounts throughout
culture and history of consciously connecting with what is around you. This is not
just for the wilderness lovers or the day hikers, we don’t need 100000 acres of
wilderness to connect with nature. A city park and classical music is shown to have
produced health benefits, such as a walk in the park, in the woods, and meditation.
The long term benefits to physical and mental health are documented by
professionals not espoused by a ranting winemaker. In short, do yourself an
enormous favor 4 times a week, take fifteen minutes to spend with nature and
yourself, stare at a tree if need be, watch a creek, find a space that works. You will
feel better. and please for heaven's sake don’t fall for one of the many cool titles
this practice has. Get grounded and get outside.