Blue Space

I was at a little self-care seminar this week. There was the usual stuff (drink water, get enough sleep, eat whole foods) but there was a term I had never heard before: blue space.

Dr. Dae talked about the healthy benefits of connecting with nature. As a city-dweller who used to live near a fifty acre woods, I now live downtown with lots of tall buildings and shops and people, but not a forest. I believe that dense urban living can save rural spaces and farmland and forests, so I am not at all anti-urban. Cities allow other spaces to be preserved instead repurposed for human habitat. Yet, I get anxious at times living in the city when I know it is better for my mental and spiritual health to connect with nature. In the seminar, I asked the question, how can I connect with nature when I live and work in a city?

Dr. Dae said simply getting outside and going to parks is a way for urbanites to connect with nature. Even getting stepping outdoors and looking at the sky is connecting with nature. I am fortunate enough that my condo has a courtyard that is filled with plants, and those plants bring birds and bunnies (and rats and raccoons...) Still, my beautiful courtyard is not the same as Ravenna Park. I miss walking Fox along the creek.

Then she mentioned the benefits of blue space: connecting with water.

Bingo! I was thrilled to hear that water counts as nature. I know that sounds crazy that I am shocked that water counts as "nature," because who doesn't love a water view? Many big cities are centered around water, whether it is an ocean, a lake, a bay, or a river. Downtown Seattle is centered around the Puget Sound. My condo has a view of the water. While I don't have a sweeping view, I can see the Sound from my desk and my dining room. I live close enough that I can walk along the waterfront. I am getting my dose of nature.