Have you heard of biophilia?

Last year I was reading a book, called The Well Gardened Mind, about how being in nature, and gardening specifically, is beneficial to us both physically and mentally. Not just that we are then focusing on something outside of ourselves, but things like there are microbes released in the dirt that create happy chemicals in our brain - and yes, I know there are better words for that, but this is just me talking to you, you know?

There were so many interesting things in that book and references to studies that show we really do benefit from gardens, that I recommend that book if it seems like a thing you are curious about. But I digress.

One of the things that came up in that book was the term biophilia, which literally means love of life, but practically is a term to describe nature lovers. It encompasses the idea that when we are out in nature and we think we feel better, there really is something chemically going on in our brains and bodies.

There are lots of studies at this point that being out in nature or bringing nature inside with us does all kinds of wondrous things from shortening recovery times in hospitals to increasing learning in school children and helping folks with mental illness get on the path to recovery.

So maybe the first book referred to the second book, or maybe I just took some rabbit trail to find it, but the book I just got and started is called Biophilia: You + Nature + Home. I've really just started it, but the basic idea is that if we bring more natural elements and design into our homes, it can make us healthier and happier, too.

Since my mission is to bring you hope and healing through my artworks, and my artworks are all about the natural world, this discovery has gotten me pretty excited. If I find something super cool in this new book, I'll be sure to share it.