Nature cure retreats

disconnect

With all the advances in connectivity and instant conveniences of modern life at our fingertips, our way of being in the world has shifted. In one swipe or click, we can connect with 753 friends. In a quick scroll, we can vicariously tag along “to see” New Zealand or “comfort” a grieving friend in Ireland with a hug emoji. And yet somehow, many of us feel more emptiness, not less; we feel a hole as though something is missing in our lives. Somehow all of these opportunities for sparkling connection have not imparted deeper connection, often they’ve left us feeling greater disconnect. The false glimmer that time and space no longer separate us from one another, masks a loss of depth with one another, with nature, and with our own inner-world. Our concrete jungles and windowless office cubicles further isolate us from the potent presence of the natural landscape that can shelter, restore, and even heal us. In the words of John O’Donohue, “It is one of the tragedies of modern culture that we have lost touch with these primal thresholds of nature. The urbanization of modern life has succeeded in exiling us from this fecund kindship with our mother earth.” And yet, many of us are not in touch with the gravity of this loss.