Nature-connectedness in a city
When I moved to Copenhagen, I was worried about feeling disconnected from nature. After living on an island in southern Finland and in a small city in northern Sweden, Copenhagen felt large, busy, loud, fast and overwhelming. But this city became my home, and I decided to seek ways to connect with nature nevertheless, to grow spiritually in this city.
In my field, oftentimes it feels as if the only pathway to living a genuinely sustainable life is moving out of cities, living very close to nature or even in nature, practising self-sufficiency. I lived in and with nature for many years in my childhood. And indeed, nature-connectedness in a rural area felt so organic and easy. But many fellow humans live in cities, as I do now. Here in Denmark for example, 88% of total population is urban.
Urban areas can look different. Copenhagen feels more overwhelming to me than Umeå, but much less overwhelming than, say, London or Paris.
In a couple of months, it will be a year of my life in Copenhagen. Something that I've realised over this year is that a city feels different to different persons, depending on the spaces they interact with or choose to interact with, how they choose to live their life. When I stepped into this chapter of my life, I realised, for example, that I didn't have to visit large shopping centres, theatres, cinemas, restaurants, bars, museums. I could use public transport minimally and walk almost anywhere. I chose to live a slow life in a large, busy city. To shop in smaller shops, to visit local cafes, to spend much time in cemeteries, parks, gardens and at home. I chose to socialise less and spend much time with myself, my partner, non-humans and likeminded humans. I chose to interact with alternative organisations whenever I could. I chose to live a beautiful, boring life and let go of the fear of missing out, let go of society's expectations as much as possible. I still hear in my mind my stepfather's voice. He felt so much sorrow about me choosing to live a boring life when I could choose to visit museums, theatres, shopping centres and the airport more often. But via living this beautiful, slow and boring life, I could connect more with nature. With the sun and the air, the sea, trees, animals in the city. I could also connect with nature via connecting with my own, animal body. I wear a uniform in a city that has so much to offer in terms of fashion. I avoid makeup and styling my hair in the city where wearing makeup and cutting, styling and dyeing one's hair is the norm. In the city where one can find so many stores with home décor, I choose to live with stones that I found on a beach and a jar of sand that I brought with me from Bornholm.