Writing About Nature And The Body: An Introduction for Patients
By Daniel Applebaum
Hello! If you've been following my blog, I hope you've had the chance to pick up copies of the two books I recommended in my previous posts (The Illumination and Playlist for the Apocalypse). In this post, I'm going to discuss an often-explored, possibly trite subject—nature and poetry—from (hopefully!) a fresh angle.
Though the link between nature and poetry may appear cliché or outdated, it is undeniably an omnipresent feature of past and contemporary literature. Indeed, some modern critics have proclaimed 21st-century poetry to be "dead" due to humans' reduced contact with the natural world as we rely increasingly on computer screens and iPhones. Reclaiming this connection can be even more daunting for individuals in fragile physical condition, especially when parks, hiking trails, beaches, and other sites are not always as accessible as they should be. In a world where “nature writing” and other frequently-recommended therapeutic outlets take on almost a moralistic quality, patients and the non-able-bodied are all-too-often left out.
However, as many patients can attest, fostering intimacy between oneself and nature is deeply connected to restoring sensitivity to one's own body—a central practice for aspiring poets and writers, and, as we’ll discover, not just the able-bodied. Across a variety of religions and cultures, the natural world is venerated as a sacred gift, allowing us to tap into our intuition, wisdom, and spirituality. Nature yields insights into the human body, too. Floods, storms, heatwaves, erosion, ecological collapse and recovery—so many natural disasters mimic cycles of illness and healing. Even smaller weather patterns—mild, sporadic rain showers; stagnant heat; restless wind—can help us understand the vicissitudes of our own moods and emotions. Clearly, access to nature can aid patients who wish to write about their experiences.
Even for patients who cannot or do not not want to physically place themselves in nature, the act of writing can allow them to feel connected to the natural world, since they can envision nature scenes from wherever they may be—from the waiting room or the hospital bed or the living room. From simply opening the window to watching nature footage on YouTube, there truly are options for everybody to partake in nature-writing!
In her recently-published memoir Some of Us Just Fall (which I will review in a future blog post!), Polly Atkin chronicles her journey of navigating her chronic illness (Ehlers-Danlos syndrome). Atkin prefaces her memoir with the statement, "In reading we travel without moving… Words travel beyond us, make journeys we could never make in our own precarious bodies," reminding us of the power of the human imagination to transcend the limitations of body, place, and time. In a subsequent excerpt of the book (published in The Adroit Journal), Atkin writes about her own relationship with nature as a chronically ill woman. From her meditative ritual of swimming in a lake, Atkin draws parallels between ecological recovery and recovering from illness.
Atkin's writing serves as a testament to the value of adding chronically ill and disabled perspectives to environmentalist conversations on such topics as climate change. After all, those who know the fragility of their own bodies may possess unique insights into the vulnerability of our shared body, the body of the Earth. Just as patients may be proactive about their own self-care rituals and wellbeing, they may be particularly well-positioned to advocate for protecting and preserving the health of Earth's ecosystems. Patients often search for homeostasis in their own lives in the same way that environmental scientists aim for the stability of Earth's habitats.
So I hope this post inspires you to search for solace, wisdom, or whatever else you are seeking in nature! Beyond the well-documented health benefits, engaging in the natural world may help to inspire our own writing. By broadening our own perspective, we can deepen our understanding of our own bodies and cultivate wisdom on healing and acceptance.
