Unpopular opinion (sadly): Go outside!
A picture of the view at the Sunset Point trail in Delphi.
Sunlight streams through open windows unnoticed. Birds chirp wildly and freely into the open streets. Deers graze unbothered through the open fields and narrow paths of forests. Instead they are watched through the screen of separation between them and you. As we watch videos of nature and wildlife, they are actually just outside your door waiting to be noticed by you in real life. Too often nowadays we settle for a degree of separation from nature and other people to be able to text with them online while chillin’ in our houses. Why is that?
The average teenager spends an average of 7 hours and 22 minutes on their phone every day. Even “tweens” spend an average of 4 hours and 44 minutes on their phones. Meanwhile Americans as a whole spend about 5 hours and 24 minutes on their phones daily. Now that is crazy. Before the days of IPads and phones, people used to go outdoors in their free time and actually hang out with those around them. Kids used to hate hanging out indoors, mainly due to the lack of modern day air conditioning, and always preferred to be outside creating adventures.
After work and school, the only thing people want to do is lay down on the couch and just unwind from the day. But in the case of teenagers, they seem to forget to get off of the couch to actually be productive after that. They just stay on social media or just continue playing games on their xbox. However, I would encourage kids to go outside after they have decompressed for a while. Just some of the benefits of being outside are better breathing, improved sleep, reduced depression (vitamin D), motivation to exercise, mental energy, better immune health, better vision and emotional wellness. With all of these benefits, why are we still spending all of our time indoors?
Just even laying out in the sun has benefits of reducing high blood pressure, and improving the immune system, quality of sleep and general mood. Imagine how much better our health and mental well being would be if we took the time to take care of ourselves by simply taking a walk outside. Our generation would definitely be better off as a whole and maybe it explains why our generation has struggled the most with mental health.
So my recommendation? Just go outside. Try to spend 30 minutes at least twice a week just in nature, whether it be taking a walk or sunbathing. There are lots of cool trails in Delphi just waiting to be explored by a new face. Improve your mental health: go outside.
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Ella is a senior at Delphi and is thrilled to be returning to the Parnassus staff as a second year member. Ella loves hanging out with friends, reading,...
