Everyone Needs a Happy Place

Do you have a happy place? A place you can go to where you feel better just by being there?

I do. I found a happy place, and it was on my doorstep.

Just a few minutes walk from my home, there is a wildlife park. It is a large park with artificial lakes, and I frequently take walks there. Walking in the park has become part of my regular exercise routine. It also helps to clear the mind.

The park is a place where I go to escape the real world.

Back to nature.

I find that early morning is the best time to go, before the rest of the world wakes up. Apart from the occasional dog walker, it often feels like I am the only person in the park. That suits me fine, as there is a silence early in the morning that I haven’t noticed at any other time. That might just be me, but most of the time the only noise comes from the birds.

I’ve also walked through the park at night, early evening, mainly because it is a shortcut to another area of the city where there is a shopping centre. In winter, to say that it is dark at that time would be an understatement. While the lights of the city can be seen in the distance, the park is in total darkness. A torch is an absolute necessity. Despite the darkness, I have never felt unsafe, but it can be a spooky adventure!

But there are other benefits.

When I hit a writing slump or sense imposter syndrome creeping in, I opt for a walk in the park. It’s during these walks that new ideas often emerge, providing breakthroughs for the projects I’ve been working on.

At times, I simply feel the urge to step away from the computer screen. I’ve found myself in the habit of staring at the screen for long periods of time, whether it’s a productive writing session where words flow effortlessly, shaping the story, or a moment of waiting for inspiration that may not come. In those instances, time slips by unnoticed.

Whether it is a productive use of time or not, evidence is mounting to suggest that spending too long looking at a screen all day is not healthy for us. Whether it is at work or at home, we can spend far too long sitting and looking at a computer screen.

I felt the need to do more than that.

I would need a happy place, and I often found it by going for a walk.

When I worked in Oxford, England, in the 1990s and early 2000s, I would walk to work every day. That may not seem like an unusual thing to do, but it was a journey of around five miles. I would also walk home at the end of each day. Part of that journey involved walking through a local park. In the morning, it would set me up for the day ahead. When it was time to go home, I had the park to look forward to again.

There is scientific evidence to suggest that getting back to nature is beneficial for us in so many ways.

One benefit is how it helps me during bouts of writer’s block. While I have been fortunate that writer’s block hasn’t happened that often in my writing journey so far, when it does arise, a walk in the park typically offers me a solution.

I surprise myself by how often a walk in the park works. As I write this, it is raining, but at some point today I still intend to find time for a walk in the park. Regardless of what the weather is like, I have to do it.

I think we all deserve to find a happy place.

Do you have a happy place?

 

This post was first published on Medium, Jul 16, 2024

Image 1 by Gino Crescoli, free from Pixabay.