Category: Two Hours Spring 2022

By Sean Kurth

Despite appearing still and tranquil, nature is full of information. Despite often being portrayed as separate from and adversarial to human civilization, nature and knowledge of her ways are in fact essential to it. I wanted to glean some of this information for my modern urban self, so I decided to spend an hour along a nature trail in Fairfax, Virginia’s Providence Park. Even as I was sitting down, not a minute into my hour there, I’d already learned something: for my comfort in the frigid weather, I should sit on the opposite side of a tree from the direction the wind is blowing.

As I sat, I observed squirrels gather nuts, then when they noticed me, make strange noises like those of a dying chicken. They ran so fast they were only gray blurs until they stopped, and jerkily climbed up the trees, as if on caffeine. I learned about erosion as I observed, in real time, a stream washing away small pieces of rock and soul to expose tree roots. I observed how fish swim, and learned to anticipate their movements. As leaves fell, it began to snow, before long accumumulating to a light dusting of the forest floor.. The air became so silent that I could hear the distinct songs of many different bird species, even with their reduced numbers in the Winter.

Once this hour was up, I had to return to the campus of George Mason University, where I was bombarded with information of all kinds. Environmental Justice’s core proposition is that no ethnic group or income level should suffer a disproportionate amount of pollution. She got her bat garter belts from Amazon. Germanna Community College is in Virginia, not Maryland. According to Reddit, China has jailed 50 steel executives who lie about emissions, people are mad about a Supreme Court pick that hasn’t been made yet, and OnlyFans followers so rarely turn into subscribers that it’s usually not worth the stress and risk.

According to my fellow students at Southside dining hall, dolphins would take over the world with their intelligence and replace us, if only they had complex language, opposable thumbs, and less of a sex drive. The miso tofu today doesn’t have much flavor, but brioche amplifies what little it does have. As I open my laptop to write an assignment, I read for the 50^th time that it is compatible with Windows 11. Message sent to Jake asking when he wanted to order from Kabob Zone and watch Disney movies, hopefully he wakes up.

After spending an hour in the woods, I realized just how little most of the information I encounter in my daily life matters. Environments mediated by modern society and technology give me abstract information, divorced from the reality of the world around me. Without the ability to spend undistracted time in nature, I wouldn’t know how squirrels behave, how quickly erosion can happen, or possibly even that it was snowing. Most of my mediated information doesn’t matter now and will be forgotten tomorrow, but the sheer amount of it still overloads me, because I must sort through all of it to find something I actually care about knowing. Having to find the needles in the haystack is draining and stressful.

Nevertheless, mediated environments do allow more entertainment, professional opportunity, and social connection than natural ones. If I can control the firehose, and my own urges to overexpose and stress myself, a mediated environment is probably where I need to spend most of my time. However, regaining touch with this natural information every now and then is clearly necessary to mental and physical health.

By EMF

Sunless Sea is a text-based horror game. To put it simply: London fell into a cave in the early 1900s, there’s a sea down there, and I, the player, explore it. Over the course of the hours playing, I learned the ins and outs of the grim world everything takes place in. My boat is indescribably small in the vast darkness, but it takes me and my crew from port to port as the stories unfold in my journal. Other than puttering around or chancing the occasional fight, the journal contains everything. All the choices to be made were written in there, at the click of a button after I calculate the risks and rewards. The point was to make good choices, have luck on my side, and be rewarded with secrets, with terrible tidbits of well-worded gothic fantasy. Or choose poorly, have luck betray me, and die. As with any game, I followed the bread-crumb trails left by the developers, whether it led me to an island where retired postmen taught me what dead letters have to say and the knowledge burnt my hair off, or if it leads me to an immense, whirling machine made to look like a biblical angel and mimic the sun, whose light corrupted everything it touched.

It was wonderfully descriptive and delightfully horrifying, but I can only get from it what the developers gave. I am told what the frigid water feels like when I fall in; I am told who I am talking to, told what they say, told how they say it. The camaraderie of my crew is merely described to me, as are my major successes and massive failures. None of this is firsthand. If I fall in the water, I am given a description from the developer’s point of view (who may or may not have fallen in water, who most certainly hasn’t seen a sun machine the size of a god). From this, I can draw conclusions within the framework of the game. Any detail that could be experienced were this to happen in real life that went unsaid is unknown to me; I have only a fraction of the whole.

At Pohick Bay, in real life this time, I was by the docks and by the water. I felt the bitter wind blow in from the bay. It tugged the silky surface on its way to harass me, then headed out towards the Potomac and Maryland. Roaring along, it tore water up in white peaks, then shoved it down in divots in a never-ending motion. It yanked on tree branches until they had to choose between snapping back or snapping off. The sun sunk in the sky on the other side of the hill behind me, casting the opposite shore in golden light that looked misleadingly cozier than twenty-five degrees. Its light skimmed across the wind-made-waves like skipping stones.

The water was murky. The agitated mud, the undulating surface, and the bright glare all combined and made it opaque, hiding anything it swallowed after only a few inches. It took anything it could reach—and damn, did it reach—up the banks onto the footpaths, up the boat ramp onto the pavement, discovering that the path of least resistance meant little when power and volume were bolstered by recent storms. It seemed alive and curious, testing how far it could go, how much territory it could steal and sweep away. I found myself wondering about what was down there. How many things were obscured by the water? How many—if any—were alive? How big were they? How benevolent?

I found that in Sunless Sea (and in any other game I’ve played), the goal was to delve deeper and explore the human condition. They toyed with emotions; with wonders, curiosities, excitements, fears; with everything, to spread whatever themes that the developers wanted to share. But no matter how excellent, a video game can only approximate a real-life experience. The risk they carry is minimal; the runtime short in the grand scheme of things; the information usually limited to audio, video, and whatever detail the developer can convey. Thus, the message falls flat when compared to an experience where one is physically and emotionally present in all five senses, where their own life is involved and not a character’s. The virtual experience comes from information taken in by someone else, processed in their mindset, then reproduced and packaged for another to consume. In nature, I was directly questioning tides I could reach out to, touch, and get swept away by if I desired. I processed the raw information and formed my own opinions; whereas, in Sunless Sea, I was looking at pixelated waves on a screen and reading text that told me how they felt, drawing conclusions the developers led me to.

By KT

On a Thursday morning, I drove to Nottoway park. As I drove into the park, I saw a basketball court and a tennis court beside the lot. I got out of my car and went on a walk to explore the park more. It was a cold morning but I bundled up which led to a nice comfy feeling. I was tempted to use my phone as I walk because I’m so used to using my phone whenever I’m walking from a location, but I knew I couldn’t. I kept walking on the sidewalk and didn’t realize how big Nottoway park was, it had many different fields. People were walking their dogs, people jogging or walking, and some people playing sports. Whenever I passed by someone we would exchange a friendly hi or just smile, which was nice. After 20 minutes of exploring, I sat down on a bench with a soccer field and trees near me. It felt awkward for me to just sit there, I felt like I wasn’t being productive. Then a thought occurred to me. When I was young, I loved being outside, playing in the playground, riding a bicycle, walking to the ice cream shop. However, now it’s awkward for me. I decided to just enjoy the hour in nature by walking around some more. It was silent when there was no one around, it was nice. There was no engine sound, no music, just the sound of the wind at times. I walked the same path about 3 times and noticed how nice the park was. After the hour, I realized being in nature helped me relax as it eased my mind from stress.

On a Saturday night after work, I did my night routine and hopped into bed. For that one hour which led to two hours, I watched Youtube, Tik Tok, and just scrolled on social media. I just watched some mukbangs and vlogs on Youtube for 30 mins, then I watched Tik Tok for around 30 mins, then I went on social media such as Instagram and Facebook, then I kept going back and forth. I realized that I enjoyed using technology but I didn’t learn anything from the time I spent in a media consumption environment. I also remembered that I saw in a study that Tik Tok leads to the increase of short attention span, which I realized in myself after I can’t watch anything for too long or I end up skipping some parts. 

From this experience, I learned that as I grew older I started enjoying the indoors more and the media consumption. I thought I felt like I knew more when I was watching the media, but in reality, I was just learning information that is not useful, just like McKibben said in his book. However, in the media consumption environment felt like it passed by so fast as opposed to an hour in a naturalistic environment for me. I also realized that I feel awkward in a naturalistic environment without using any technology as opposed to when I was younger and enjoyed the outdoors. The naturalistic environment is something that I haven’t experienced in a while, however, it did make me feel good to be in nature and to put my phone away. Overall, I enjoyed this experience and I hope that in the future I can balance my life with a media consumption environment with spending time in a naturalistic environment.

By Anonymous

For an hour of media consumption, I chose to watch videos on TikTok. TikTok is a relatively new social media platform that has influenced fashion trends, music charts, and many other things. The videos are anywhere from a few seconds to three minutes long which makes it embarrassingly easy to mindlessly scroll through for 60 minutes. TikTok features a “For You” page (FYP), which utilizes an algorithm to show videos the user will likely enjoy. My FYP is full of fashion, cooking, crafts, and cleaning videos. Sometimes I do learn something useful from the videos such as different cooking “hacks” that make cooking dinner a tad bit easier. I also find many outfit ideas and get satisfaction from seeing spaces cleaned in an aesthetic way. The hour of scrolling was not new to me, unfortunately. I hate to admit that I do this almost daily, probably for more than an hour at a time. My brain is constantly playing TikTok audios. 

One thing that stuck out to me when I was reflecting on this practice was my specific FYP. Why do I always see these kinds of videos? (Besides the fact that I like them, so more of them show up.) I decided that I probably enjoy these types of videos the most because they feature people who seem to have their lives together. It’s always a pretty girl with a cute, trendy outfit in her Pinterest-perfect room or someone in a bright, spacious, well-decorated high-rise apartment with spotless floors and white furniture. This brought me back to when McKibben wrote about how television distorts perception. Deep down, I realize that a 30-second video doesn’t accurately portray what someone’s life looks like. Even still, it’s fun to pretend that that’s me wearing Lululemon leggings and a NorthFace puffer jacket in my overpriced but cozy city apartment. 

For an hour of unmediated time I took a walk through my neighborhood. Usually I would have headphones in listening to my Spotify 2021 Wrapped playlist for entertainment. I noticed myself thinking about my upcoming assignments, what my work schedule looks like next week, when I need to go grocery shopping again, etc. I had a difficult time shutting those thoughts off to focus on the things I was walking by. I ended up looking at all the houses and imagining the people who live in them. I noticed the trees and how their leaves were at the mercy of the cold wind. I even saw a tiny mouse disappear into a thick patch of ivy. Even still, my new neighborhood is a world away from what this walk would look like at home. I am from a small farming town with acres of land between each house and usually a herd of cows. It was interesting to mentally compare how an hour’s walk in Northern Virginia would look at home. 

When reflecting on this, I realized that I had such a hard time shutting my brain off because I am so used to instant gratification and endless entertainment. Even when I stopped thinking about what’s next, I still found a way to turn on my imagination to give me something to do. Last semester I was fortunate enough to spend a semester in Front Royal at the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation. One of our first assignments was a class hike where the emphasis was on noticing what is around you, rather than the destination of the hike. I always try to keep this in mind whenever I’m outside now. It’s definitely more interesting and beneficial to notice your surroundings regardless of location. At the beginning of the pandemic I noticed that I was spending way too much time on my phone and not properly focusing on my assignments. I decided to change my screen time settings for social media to be 15 minutes a day. Once those 15 minutes are up, I am locked out of the app until the next day. I still haven’t changed this setting because it made me realize that Instagram is not as important or entertaining as I previously thought. I did this for all social media apps except for Facebook and TikTok. It also inspired me to change my screen time settings to also lock me out of TikTok after 15 minutes, just like the rest of my social media. Overall, this practice showed me a little more about myself and the things I value.

By Lani O’Foran

I filled my one hour of media by reading an article and watching Youtube videos. I first read an article on the new omicron variant BA.2. Apparently it is spreading rapidly, and scientists don’t know how severe the symptoms are in comparison to the previous variant. I started to worry and decided to not read articles anymore because I was supposed to be relaxing. I then went to Youtube for the remainder of my time. I first watched a video on resin 3d printing, specifically on where to place supports and how to orient your print on the build plate. I then started watching a video on a rattlesnake the owners so cleverly named Justin Timbersnake. I learned an interesting fact that you can get a rough estimate on how old a rattlesnake is by counting the segments in its rattle. However, sometimes the segments can fall off when trying to escape or they fall off when the snake slips off something. This could mean that you could either be seeing a young rattlesnake or an old rattlesnake with a broken rattle. After the video was over, I watched the last video of the hour. It was about people moving an alligator into a zoo enclosure. There is a tunnel under the enclosure that leads to a part where a person can stand and essentially be inside the tank with the alligator. There is glass separating the person from the alligator of course. 

For my one hour of being outdoors, I visited my parent’s house on the Chesapeake Bay. I walked down to our dock with a pair of binoculars and a folding chair. It was very windy and cold out, but thankfully I enjoy the cold and had many layers of clothing on. One interesting thing I noticed was that only the water in the cove was frozen over. All of the other water to my left was flowing like normal. The snow was blowing off the trees, making it look like a blizzard. It was especially gorgeous because the sunlight was showing the sparkle on the snowflakes. There were about 8 ducks swimming together, making ripples in the water. I used the binoculars to get a closer look. I was able to see them dive into the water every now and then. I wasn’t able to see what they caught in their beaks, but I assumed it was small vegetation floating just below the surface. I really enjoyed watching the ducks. I thought they were so cute. It was fascinating to see how the water just runs off of their feathers even though most of their body is completely submerged when they dive. I recently learned that their feathers stay dry because ducks spread oil made by their uropygial gland (located on their back). It was really cool for me to see the effects of the process in person. 

I certainly struggled a little bit with sitting outside in the same spot for a full hour just watching the water and my surroundings. I got bored pretty quickly unless I was looking at the ducks or other animals. I feel like my brain can’t be bored for long because it is so used to being able to have an immediate release of dopamine when I start using my phone. One interesting thing I noticed was that I felt more refreshed and relaxed after being outside rather than spending time in front of a screen. What I learned from this experience is that sometimes it is better to slow down and enjoy the quiet. You don’t always need your brain to be constantly overloaded.

By Liam Palmer

Basing this experiment on Bill McKibben’s “The Age of Missing Information”, I set out to compare an hour using media versus an hour in a more natural environment with as little technological interruptions as possible. For basically every day, I spend at least an hour using some form of technology, as is the same with most people. For this hour in particular, I decided that I would play a video game. On January 28th, I decided to load up my current favorite game to play to pass the time. This video game is from 2011 and is titled “Skyrim”, which after I loaded up the game I set a timer for an hour. Admittedly, this hour passed by in the blink of an eye. What felt like 5 minutes was truly an hour. This wasn’t exactly surprising, as this is what typically happens with me and distracting myself with a video game. I have deemed this use of technological use as ‘nurture’ simply due to the fact that it’s a fun little play on the biological debate of what is inherently present and what is learned as you grow. 

I decided to do both nature and what I have deemed ‘nurture’ on the same day, and after my adventure in Skyrim, I turn off the game and head to my favorite nature walk. This is Neabsco Wetlands Preserve Boardwalk in Woodbridge, Virginia. When I arrive, I turn my phone on silent and set a timer on my tracking watch. I begin my walk. Prior to the start of the boardwalk, there is a dirt pathway spanning about a quarter mile. It’s muddy due to the leftover blizzard from the first week of January, and it’s windy and cold. I notice the fell trees, broken from the weight of the snow. As I approach the boardwalk, the ground gets more wet. Thankfully, there were wooden planks to prevent slipping in the mud puddles. As I walk across the planks to approach the true boardwalk, I notice the thin sheet of ice that had formed on the top of the stagnant water. A few brief moments longer, and I’ve reached the boardwalk. The wetland is a vast span of flowing water and tiny small ponds with spots of land dotting the area. I find a crane, which is in the middle of hunting, and I spend the rest of my hour just observing the crane catch fish and eat its fill. Again, my timer had gone off on my wrist as if it had only been several minutes. I silently bid the crane farewell and returned to the start of the path to leave and warm myself up.

This experiment did not give me something new that I had learned, but rather reminded me to step away from the bustle of anthropogenic influences. I often go on walks uninterrupted to destress from how rapid everything seems to be with technology. For example, the crane I spend most of my time watching moved so slowly to ensure a catch. The patience that the crane showed reminded me that while I am often able to get something I want or need in the blink of an eye, that is not a universal experience. In a way, it’s humbling, and that is not only applicable to other species of animals but rather other people who do not have the privileges of technology and instant gratification that I do.

By Abigail Kokkinakis

Consuming one hour of media is a lot easier than it seems, especially with how much technology has advanced. Twenty years ago, most media consumption was done by watching TV or hoping onto Myspace to see what the most popular creators were doing. Now there are countless social media website’s and apps. My chosen media sources were TikTok and Twitter. I first went on Twitter where I was bombarded with news stories about Russia and Ukraine, peoples thoughts on the most recent episode of Euphoria, and the people complaining that McDonald’s new “Menu Hacks” do not come already assembled. Now that my brain is spinning from reading these “trending” topics, I hop over to TikTok. Contrastingly, TikTok has a page of content for me, specially made for me, otherwise known as the “FYP” or For You Page. I come across comedy videos, more Euphoria opinions, cleaning and organizational videos, and cooking videos. TikTok’s content was a lot more relaxed and it felt more people were getting along in comparison to Twitter, where it seems everyone hates everyone. 

After that hour that felt like 10 minutes, I headed over to Burke Lake Park where I took a walk around the lake. As I was walking around the lake in silence, I kept reaching for my phone to check the time but remembered I set an hour timer so there was no need to keep glancing at my phone. My mind went to a million different places as I was walking from thinking about school, to thinking about work, to thinking about what I am going to eat for dinner when I returned. I tried to quickly change my mind and tried very hard to focus on the present and what I was observing now. I noticed how everyone walking past me had headphones in, talking to their friend they went with, or were focusing on their dog they were walking. I noticed how much wildlife was out even on the chilly, snowy day I went for my walk. 

One thing for sure I can say is my ability to focus on social media was a lot better than my ability to focus on being present outside. When I was younger, I was able to use my creativity and spend hours and hours outside. Now, spending an hour outside without looking at my phone was honestly, painful. However, if you ask me what TikTok videos I watched in that hour I would not be able to list one, but I do remember very clearly what I saw on my hike, and what thoughts were going through my head. The information I saw on twitter was useful since it kept me updated on certain news topics, but TikTok was just mindless entertainment. The hour outside made me slow down from my life and reminded me to take a moment outside and my life problems are not as stressful as I have been making them out to be. 

By Anonymous

Mediated environment

            I began by sitting in the computer lab in the Johnson center. I sit down and boot up the computer. I can hear a roaring chatter coming from all the way from the crowd of people on the first floor. I enter my passcode to logon the computer. As usual, I immediately turn the sound down because it is always on maximum volume. I firstly open google chrome, like always, see the George Mason Homepage. I go to the blackboard website out of habit to check my grades and see if any homework is due. I go class by class, English, Environmental science, Art History. Firstly, I click on the sustainable world class, I see there is a reading and assignment due.  The contents of the assignment consist of reading a textbook chapter and writing a summarization blogpost. Next, I spend about 45 minutes doing the said assignment. The main points I gathered from this work was that population is best controlled by education. Using forced methods such as sterilization counteractively lead to an increase in population.  

Natural Setting

            I open my backdoor to go out on the porch to sit and relax. Firstly, I immediately go to my own thoughts that I am living in a medium sized townhouse neighborhood and am grateful there is this plot of land(backyard), which is peaceful from nature. There is a tall privacy fence surrounding me. Then my mind focuses on reality. The time is 2pm so it is usually peaceful and it was. Acoustically, I hear the slight breeze in the air and I am reminded how cold it is. I look around and see clumps of snow in the corners of the fence where it had recently snowed. Some minutes pass by and I hear a revving car on the nearby highway. I look around to see if I can see any animals, there is a tall tree where often birds are, but I don’t see anything. For the rest of the time, I daydream but occasionally looks around to see anything, I sometimes see a bird, but the sound of slight wind does not change.

Summary

            This experience has made me appreciate how far technology is advanced. I found myself very bored sitting in nature and trying to see/hear animals. Outside, I was left to daydream with no electronics. However, I was much more productive at the computer doing my assignments. But, I do know the importance of balancing technology and nature.

By Alexander Ameika

The amount of information I received from an hour of media consumption was immense. While there was a large amount of information present, I received it in so many small pieces and from so many sources that I didn’t commit much of it to memory. The majority of it was entertainment from media sources like Tik Tok, Instagram, and Snapchat. Some was directly from people I know, or group chats where I talk to friends, and some was produced for entertainment from popular figures and accounts. Between pieces of information I intended to receive I saw advertisements. This would either be interrupting what I’m trying to see, like when an ad plays in the middle of a Youtube video, or on the side of what I would like to view, like the public stories on snapchat below my friends stories. 

The amount of information I received from an hour of being outdoors was great as well. I spent an hour in my kayak on burke lake. However, the information was mostly natural and not directly influenced by anthropogenic sources. This came in the form of sounds I heard. This included sounds from animals, water moving, leaves rustling, and things like sticks falling from the canopy to the forest floor. Other information I received was visual. I would see how birds acted when flying together, or how large birds of prey moved while looking for fish to catch. I also received information from the surrounding environment that was mostly visual. Things like water clarity from whether or not I could see the lake bottom in places I usually do, temperature from ice still on the lake, and depth of the lake from comparing the water level to the more recent high water marks on the banks.

I didn’t learn many new things from this experience because I frequently spend time exposed to media and the outdoors. When I spend time outdoors I try to limit my phone use to texts for later plans or with people I’m outside with that aren’t close enough to hear. Some activities I do outside, like surfing, demand attention and create a situation where I cannot consume media. This is the first time I’ve had to compare the two though, and I’ve learned something from reflecting on these hours. The information I receive from media is less focused and concentrated than the information I receive form natural things. There are so many small pieces of information that try to draw ones attention and can be distracting while using a device. It doesn’t feel as good to consume because it can cause some type of stress in me. There is too much stimulation from a device that allows me to consume media. When outdoors it’s easier to take everything in at once or focus on specific things while still receiving some information from everything else that makes up the environment around me. Even when I’m focused on one thing on my phone I can’t ignore the notifications that appear as banners on the top of my screen. This feels very different from observing an animal or element of the environment and also hearing noises behind me and feeling the atmosphere. The information received from nature feels easier and less stressful to process, and even receive. It doesn’t require much effort and it feels like it simply happens.

By Samantha Dawkins

I love to spend my time a variety of ways, though especially inside during the winter. The wind is cold and harsh against my bright red cheeks, and I prefer to watch the violent graciousness of winter from the sanctity of my loft. A popular gaming stream is playing in the background when I ask my partner if he’d like to play Stardew Valley with me for an hour. It’s my favorite game, with a plethora of things to solve and discover while consciously participating in the monotony of maintaining a virtual farm. Of course my partner says yes, and I start up our game. We live on a plot of land we’ve deemed ‘Lover’s Farm’ where we grow seasonal produce, maintain our livestock for milk and eggs which eventually turn into cheese and mayo, and produce a wide variety of jams and wines. It’s an NPC’s (non-playable character) birthday, so I make them their favorite meal and ride my horse across town to gift it them in order to increase our friendship level. During this journey I visit an abandoned vineyard on the edge of the forest which houses a small mystical creature called a Junimo—his name is Apples. I bring him a starfruit, his favorite, but not because I think I’ll gain something this time, solely because I find him the cutest creature in the game, and I cherish him. Maybe more than my virtual children. My one-hour alarm dings and I realize how quickly an hour can fly by. While there is nothing as unique fully immersing yourself into a particular media, I realize how bad my back hurts…and my neck. I’ve been in the same position for an hour, slumped over my laptop.

I stand up and stretch my body to feel a little relief. I slip on some socks and shoes and then my hefty winter coat. Its probably not that cold outside but it definitely feels like it. I’m walking around my neighborhood, admiring the beautiful landscape when I see a small brown rabbit staring back at me. I’ve always been fascinated with wildlife—I used to collect empty birds nests and bee/wasp nests. I don’t particularly want to interact with them (for their sake, not my own), I just love to admire, so I took a seat on a nearby curb and watched the world play out. A group of squirrels came running into the picture, hopping around the snow patched grass. Squirrels have sharp eyes, and one spotted me watching, standing up on its hind legs to get a better look. I must’ve looked pretty boring and harmless as it quickly went back to play. The squirrels spooked the rabbit who eventually ran into a nearby bush and was quickly replaced by a pileated woodpecker, whose bright red head stood out among the dull colors of winter. I watched for a little longer, until the cold started to sting my nose, and then I began my walk home. My one-hour alarm went off just as I turned onto my street, so I hurried back to my warm retreat.

Though I don’t feel I’ve learned much through this experience, it did remind me why I love nature so much, and why it is such an important thing in my life. I’ve made lifestyle decisions and academic/career choices solely based on my love for the environment, and I think sometimes its easy to lose sight of what past me loved so much she bet her future on it. I feel that both aspects of my life, natural and mediated, are important as they work and assist my brain in different ways.