It's fascinating how often we have to remind ourselves of something that would have been obvious for most of human history. The challenge today isn't knowing we belong outside, it's designing lives that make room for it. Thanks for sharing this.
This really resonates 🌿. I work a lot with women who have built lives that look “right” from the outside, while quietly feeling disconnected from themselves on the inside (while spending most of their lives, well, inside). I love the way you name the tension between success, mattering and the human need to feel truly alive - outside. 👩🏻🤝👩🏼🌿
Nila, thank you for this thoughtful reflection. What you've described is a pattern I've encountered repeatedly in conversations with high-achieving individuals, particularly women who have spent years caring for others, building careers, supporting families, and checking all the boxes that society associates with success.
From the outside, everything appears intact. Yet beneath the surface, many quietly wonder why accomplishment hasn't translated into a deeper sense of aliveness, connection, or significance.
One of the insights that continues to emerge in my work is that success and mattering are related but not the same thing. Success often tells us what we've achieved. Mattering helps us understand who we are and why our presence has significance beyond what we produce or accomplish.
All true! I can’t do without a view, without trees. They help me feel. And I want soil to put my hands in, even before I want to say good morning or know about the news!
Vivien, I love this. There is something profoundly grounding about putting our hands in the soil before we put our attention on the world.
One of the ideas that emerged from my conversation with John La Puma is that nature doesn't simply provide a pleasant backdrop to our lives—it helps regulate us. Trees, water, sunlight, fresh air, and even direct contact with the earth reconnect us to rhythms that modern life often pulls us away from.
I think it's telling that your instinct is to seek those experiences before checking the news. One nourishes your attention and energy; the other often competes for it. There is wisdom in knowing the difference.
What I love most about this platform is how many of us who see the world through a similar lens are openly sharing our thoughts, experiences, and observations.
I work in healthcare manufacturing—the industry that produces the medical products and devices used in hospitals. None of these medications truly cure nor address the root cause of illness. The majority of widely prescribed drugs are designed primarily to manage symptoms and improve quality of life. Medical equipment and devices, meanwhile, are designed to manage, sustain, or restore physiological function rather than directly curing the underlying disease itself. They serve as vital tools that bridge the gap between injury or illness and the body’s natural healing, rehabilitation, or homeostasis. The reality is that many of them—all of them, in fact—carry risks. That’s where I come in, in the field of pharmacovigilance, an area that the Covid vaccinations brought to much wider public awareness.
A little over a decade ago, I went through what many call an “awakening.” A series of personal journeys opened my eyes to how these manufactured solutions often deceive the public.
I’m fortunate to live near a beautiful nature preserve with a lake nearby, where I take meditative walks. But lately, something has shifted. Ever since I started speaking out about my employer’s practices, I’ve faced subtle threats—reprimands from my boss meant to discredit me, and eerie signs like unfamiliar fingerprints on the driver’s side of my car (I’m very habitual about how I open and close my doors). The message was unmistakable: stay quiet, stay indoors, and keep your joy, creativity, and passion hidden.
It’s clear that powerful corporations profit from our endless consumption, and those who expose the truth face consequences.
Why has this widespread awakening coincided with increasing centralization? Because it’s orchestrated. The real question is how it will unfold—and the answer is that it’s up to us. We must save ourselves. Let’s keep doing the inner work. Humanity will face similar challenges in the future, but this time they will call them Star Wars.
Thank you for sharing your experience and perspective.
What stood out to me most was your observation about the restorative power of nature and the role it has played in helping you reflect, reconnect, and make sense of your experiences. Throughout history, many people have found that stepping away from the constant demands and noise of modern life creates space for greater clarity, perspective, and self-awareness.
I also think you're touching on something important when you talk about doing the inner work. Regardless of our views on institutions, organizations, or broader societal trends, there is tremendous value in developing the self-awareness, resilience, and discernment needed to navigate an increasingly complex world.
Ultimately, one of the themes I continue to come back to is that while we cannot control every external circumstance, we can influence how we respond, where we place our attention, and the values we choose to live by. Those choices often become the foundation for a more intentional and meaningful life.
Sarah - I think a lot of people feel this intuitively. There’s something about the woods that restores attention in a way few indoor environments can. Dr. La Puma talked about how our biology evolved in constant relationship with nature, which may explain why so many of us feel at home there.
Jung often wrote about the importance of reconnecting with parts of ourselves that modern life tends to suppress, and nature has a unique way of helping us do that. Out in the woods, many of the status markers, distractions, and social comparisons that occupy our attention simply fade into the background.
What remains is something more fundamental. We become less concerned with performing and more concerned with being.
Morning sun and breath are nonnegotiable for me. Outdoor is a must. Searching for a way to build a more hybrid out/indoor life. Sleeping outdoors when I can. Etc.
"Morning sun and breath are nonnegotiable" is a great way to put it. I also love your phrase "hybrid outdoor/indoor life." It feels less like escaping modern life and more like restoring some of the conditions our minds and bodies evolved with. Thanks for sharing your practice.
This is literally a conversation my wife and I have regularly, remembering that being outside is where we belong.
It's fascinating how often we have to remind ourselves of something that would have been obvious for most of human history. The challenge today isn't knowing we belong outside, it's designing lives that make room for it. Thanks for sharing this.
This really resonates 🌿. I work a lot with women who have built lives that look “right” from the outside, while quietly feeling disconnected from themselves on the inside (while spending most of their lives, well, inside). I love the way you name the tension between success, mattering and the human need to feel truly alive - outside. 👩🏻🤝👩🏼🌿
Nila, thank you for this thoughtful reflection. What you've described is a pattern I've encountered repeatedly in conversations with high-achieving individuals, particularly women who have spent years caring for others, building careers, supporting families, and checking all the boxes that society associates with success.
From the outside, everything appears intact. Yet beneath the surface, many quietly wonder why accomplishment hasn't translated into a deeper sense of aliveness, connection, or significance.
One of the insights that continues to emerge in my work is that success and mattering are related but not the same thing. Success often tells us what we've achieved. Mattering helps us understand who we are and why our presence has significance beyond what we produce or accomplish.
All true! I can’t do without a view, without trees. They help me feel. And I want soil to put my hands in, even before I want to say good morning or know about the news!
Vivien, I love this. There is something profoundly grounding about putting our hands in the soil before we put our attention on the world.
One of the ideas that emerged from my conversation with John La Puma is that nature doesn't simply provide a pleasant backdrop to our lives—it helps regulate us. Trees, water, sunlight, fresh air, and even direct contact with the earth reconnect us to rhythms that modern life often pulls us away from.
I think it's telling that your instinct is to seek those experiences before checking the news. One nourishes your attention and energy; the other often competes for it. There is wisdom in knowing the difference.
Thank you for your response John. Birdsong and plants first and barefoot in summer!
What I love most about this platform is how many of us who see the world through a similar lens are openly sharing our thoughts, experiences, and observations.
I work in healthcare manufacturing—the industry that produces the medical products and devices used in hospitals. None of these medications truly cure nor address the root cause of illness. The majority of widely prescribed drugs are designed primarily to manage symptoms and improve quality of life. Medical equipment and devices, meanwhile, are designed to manage, sustain, or restore physiological function rather than directly curing the underlying disease itself. They serve as vital tools that bridge the gap between injury or illness and the body’s natural healing, rehabilitation, or homeostasis. The reality is that many of them—all of them, in fact—carry risks. That’s where I come in, in the field of pharmacovigilance, an area that the Covid vaccinations brought to much wider public awareness.
A little over a decade ago, I went through what many call an “awakening.” A series of personal journeys opened my eyes to how these manufactured solutions often deceive the public.
I’m fortunate to live near a beautiful nature preserve with a lake nearby, where I take meditative walks. But lately, something has shifted. Ever since I started speaking out about my employer’s practices, I’ve faced subtle threats—reprimands from my boss meant to discredit me, and eerie signs like unfamiliar fingerprints on the driver’s side of my car (I’m very habitual about how I open and close my doors). The message was unmistakable: stay quiet, stay indoors, and keep your joy, creativity, and passion hidden.
It’s clear that powerful corporations profit from our endless consumption, and those who expose the truth face consequences.
Why has this widespread awakening coincided with increasing centralization? Because it’s orchestrated. The real question is how it will unfold—and the answer is that it’s up to us. We must save ourselves. Let’s keep doing the inner work. Humanity will face similar challenges in the future, but this time they will call them Star Wars.
Thank you for sharing your experience and perspective.
What stood out to me most was your observation about the restorative power of nature and the role it has played in helping you reflect, reconnect, and make sense of your experiences. Throughout history, many people have found that stepping away from the constant demands and noise of modern life creates space for greater clarity, perspective, and self-awareness.
I also think you're touching on something important when you talk about doing the inner work. Regardless of our views on institutions, organizations, or broader societal trends, there is tremendous value in developing the self-awareness, resilience, and discernment needed to navigate an increasingly complex world.
Ultimately, one of the themes I continue to come back to is that while we cannot control every external circumstance, we can influence how we respond, where we place our attention, and the values we choose to live by. Those choices often become the foundation for a more intentional and meaningful life.
That’s the goal my dear. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. Most importantly for me, you understood my form of communication.
I much prefer the woods and camping to be honest. If I could live in the woods I would
Sarah - I think a lot of people feel this intuitively. There’s something about the woods that restores attention in a way few indoor environments can. Dr. La Puma talked about how our biology evolved in constant relationship with nature, which may explain why so many of us feel at home there.
Was it Jung who said he theorized humans seek the woods to escape ego ~ perhaps it is the sense of nature combined with the natural existence itself.
A break from the hustle and bustle.
A more sustainable existence.
The quiet beauty of nature over the din of traffic and technology…
It is medicine.
Jung often wrote about the importance of reconnecting with parts of ourselves that modern life tends to suppress, and nature has a unique way of helping us do that. Out in the woods, many of the status markers, distractions, and social comparisons that occupy our attention simply fade into the background.
What remains is something more fundamental. We become less concerned with performing and more concerned with being.
Morning sun and breath are nonnegotiable for me. Outdoor is a must. Searching for a way to build a more hybrid out/indoor life. Sleeping outdoors when I can. Etc.
"Morning sun and breath are nonnegotiable" is a great way to put it. I also love your phrase "hybrid outdoor/indoor life." It feels less like escaping modern life and more like restoring some of the conditions our minds and bodies evolved with. Thanks for sharing your practice.
I tried the escape but I’m not here on earth to be a monk in a cave (this time). Now if I can just somehow defeat the mosquitos…