When Life Gets Tough

Nature and Outdoor Activities

A beautiful book – Listening to Nature: How to Deepen Your Awareness of Nature (written by Joseph Cornell and published by Dawn Publications P.0. Box 2010, Nevada City, CA 95959 (800) 545-7475, order online at www.dawnpub.com) has been very therapeutic for many people who were engaged in putting their losses into a broader perspective. So have materials such as those published by such organizations as The Sierra Club, 85 Second Street, Second Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105, (415) 977-5500, www.sierraclub.org; The National Audubon Society, 700 Broadway, New York, NY 10003, (212) 979-3000, www.audubon.org; and books discussing the Gaia principle, such as James Lovelock’s Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth (Oxford University Press, 1987).

Visiting aquariums, walking in redwood forests, hiking in the desert or the mountains, camping, and backpacking are ways many individuals have lifted their spirits when they were in the depths of mourning. Gardening has also been a source of very effective therapy (even looking at seed catalogs and gardening books, many say, helped).

The outdoor programs offered by Outward Bound, 0110 SW Bancroft St., Portland, OR, 97201, (503) 243-1993, www.outwardbound.org; the travel expeditions sponsored by such organizations as the American Museum of Natural History, 79th Street at Central Park West, New York, NY, 10024 (212) 769-5100, www.discoverytours.org; and the biking tours offered by many different companies, are just some examples of the kinds of activities many people have found to be valuable as they moved through their grieving process.

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