Nature Makes Us and our Children Happier

“People have been discussing their profound experiences in nature for the last several 100 years—from Thoreau to John Muir to many other writers,” says researcher David Strayer, of the University of Utah. “Now we are seeing changes in the brain and changes in the body that suggest we are physically and mentally more healthy when we are interacting with nature.”

A growing number of recent studies tell us in an ever-increasing age of technology, nature may be our real answer. The facts show that being in nature decreases stress, makes you happier and less brooding, relieves attention fatigue and increases creativity, makes you ‘feel more alive’ and can even help you be kind and generous.

Those of us in South Florida witnessed the horrors of the Surfside tragedy. Father of Milo Rothenberg, Ryan, is a fire chief for Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and saw it first-hand. As a rescue specialist on the Urban Search and Rescue Team, he was on the rescue site for the first 20 days and, due to his connection to nature, was able to carry a lot of weight on his shoulders gracefully.

Milo Rothenberg, is a very different 17-year-old. He doesn’t play video games. He isn’t buried on his phone and he has a great smile which he wore the entire time I met him. He’s a senior at Coral Reef High and plans to go immediately to college. He doesn’t know his major yet, but he is quick to say that his minor will be in environmental studies.

Milo plays championship-level hockey (which he says is strange for a hot place like Miami), performs theater (where he takes part in holocaust impact theater, a group of high school students who address hate, social injustices and intolerance through the lens of holocaust comparisons) and is creative in all his personal endeavors. “It’s a mix of the situations I put myself into, what my parents see and do for me. That is what makes me, me,” explains Milo. “And I don’t care what other people think. I’m just a kid who doesn’t really know what he’s doing, but I try to make the best of what I’m given and when an opportunity comes up I just go for it!”

So how does Milo seem to have drive and positivity beyond his years? It is nature that drives Milo in his unique perspective on his life. In particular, he and his father bond over nature, even in their typical suburban home. Opening their front door you are greeted by a large turtle (in a tank) and then you see the fresh eggs piled up on the kitchen counter tops. Yes, they have a backyard chicken coop. Milo and dad Ryan also regularly drive out to Krome Avenue to tend to their bee farm. Mom goes with the (nature) flow too. And why not? This family is far healthier than most.

Milo laughs, “I don’t think any one of my friends would want to spend two hours doing what I typically do, but if they ever did ask to meet my bees and tend to our chickens, I would be ecstatic!” Dad is thrilled to have this time with his son and sees ‘being close to nature’ as a calming factor in his life. “I grew up on the same block where we live now and this whole place used to be a mango grove,” explains Ryan. “Even though I loved and played sports as a kid, I also fell in love with gardening. It was my early connection with nature and now I’m sharing that with Milo.”

Milo has really got the nature bug now. Beyond the bonding with his dad, he formed a company called Falling Mangoes Farms. He says the name will allow him to not be stuck with just bees and chickens. “It’s not about getting huge or the money aspect, it’s a learning process about how to run a business,” explains Milo. “Nothing is riding on this, but I am excited about creating product such as honey, wax and chap stick. If it ever goes big, I won’t complain either.”

With five hives and twelve hens is born a special relationship between Milo and his family. Nature not only produces eggs and honey, but a special kid who looks to be headed for a bright future in whatever he chooses to pursue.

The lesson in all this may just bee (pun intended) to put the tech in its place and make sure to add nature to your day. A walk, a hobby, just letting the sun hit your skin for 5-10 minute a day can cure a lot of what ails us.

Nature can even bond generations together in this fast-paced world. Ryan and Milo are sometimes joined by Milo’s grandfather, Len Rothenberg. It was he who may have put this most succinctly, saying “Firefighters like my son are under a lot of stress, as are most people these days. Nature is an amazing calming force that can center and calm us, so long as we embrace it in our own special way.”

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