I was born in Capri, a beautiful island in the South of Italy, where you can see wonderful landscapes and natural views from every corner! We all know that spending time in green and blue spaces provides many mental health benefits and plays an important role for our emotional needs (e.g., Bratman et al., 2012; White et al., 2020). Particularly when you are a child, constantly searching for new experiences and exciting stimuli, natural spaces can be a great context to express your own creativity and vitality (e.g., Dadvand et al., 2015; Kahn & Kellert, 2002).
However, in this post, I am not going to tell you about the scientific research on this topic, but I would like to share with you my personal experience of growing up surrounded by nature and how I try to recall that memories and places, when I am far away from my hometown.
When I was a child, I used to spend most of my free time doing activities in natural environments.
I still clearly remember my sister and I playing together in those places. We did not just do the usual activities, such as playing with the ball, swimming, or running, but we also invented our own games.
For example, we pretended to cook some “delicious” food, with just leaves and flowers and even we imagined to be mermaids in the sea! Also, one of our favourite places to go was a grove, where we usually pretended to get lost in the trails. I must say... My mum was not so happy about this game! I also remember every spring when my grandfather pruned the large palm tree that we have in the garden and with all the chopped dry branches we created together a small hut. My sister and I were obsessed to play inside it!
Nature surely helps us to develop and express our creativity and imagination. But I must admit that over time I have gotten used to living there. I considered being in such a beautiful place, full of nature around me, as common and normal and I was no longer able to fully appreciate it. I think I only realized how lucky I was, only when I moved away from my hometown for the first time, and I started to miss everything about these places. I began to really realize the appeal of nature again, and now, every time I go back there, I still find myself getting emotional, just looking at the sunset or at a beautiful landscape! I always stop to intensely look at all those natural landscapes, where I grew up and that I already know by heart, but that always leave me speechless for their beauty.
I am now living abroad and far away from my island. So, in the last years I have come up with various strategies to calm down and deal with my homesickness. These things allow me to still feel connected with my native places and make me relive some of the moments spent there, even if only imaginatively!
I am going to share some examples here, hoping this may give some inspiration for you, in dealing with moments when you feel homesick! Many times, I look at the photos I previously took of the natural spaces in my hometown and sometimes I try to paint those landscapes too. I am not an artist, and my painting are not so great! But I love the idea of focusing on the picture I am looking at more deeply, recalling the moment in which I took it. This helps me feel more relaxed and makes me imagine that I really am in that place.
Also, in my home in Capri I have a big garden, where my family and I used to plant herbs, fruits, vegetables. Thus, when I move to a new place, one of the first thing I do is buying aromatic plants, so that I can take care of them as I usually do in my home, and I can always have fresh herbs! Finally, I continually try to discover natural areas near to my new home, where I can spend some time outdoors and continue to feel and enhance my connection with nature.
Nowadays, I feel truly blessed and grateful for having had such a great opportunity to grow up in this way. Nature has always been an integral part of my life and I couldn’t agree more that the benefits of nature for child development are endless and lasting. Such experience fosters my emotional connection with the natural world and helps me develop a sense of respect for the environment and a deep sensitivity and interest in environmental issues. This special involvement of mine took me to wanting to work in the field of Environmental Psychology and in particular, I am strongly interested in deepening my knowledge (and that of others!) about the ability of the natural world to positively influence our emotions, as I have personally experienced since I was a child.
I am currently writing this post in my garden, during the sunset. A sea breeze lightly blows in the air and the chirping of birds keeps me company. I would like to be able to make you feel this pleasant moment of relaxation and the perception of harmony with nature that I am experiencing right now. I cannot do that, but I will just show you the magical view from here! I can say without any doubt, that this is one of the most beautiful spots that I have ever seen.
Now, what about you?
Do you often experience homesickness? How do you try to deal with those moments?
What's your favourite place in your hometown?
I would love to hear your story and your experience and see the pictures of your favourite spots!
Let me know: valeria.vitale@univie.ac.at
References
Bratman, G. N., Hamilton, J. P., & Daily, G. C. (2012). The impacts of nature experience on human cognitive function and mental health. Annals of the New York academy of sciences, 1249(1), 118-136.
Dadvand, P., Nieuwenhuijsen, M. J., Esnaola, M., Forns, J., Basagaña, X., Alvarez-Pedrerol, M., ... & Sunyer, J. (2015). Green spaces and cognitive development in primary schoolchildren. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(26), 7937-7942.
Kahn Jr, P. H., & Kellert, S. R. (Eds.). (2002). Children and nature: Psychological, sociocultural, and evolutionary investigations. MIT press.
White, M. P., Elliott, L. R., Gascon, M., Roberts, B., & Fleming, L. E. (2020). Blue space, health and well-being: A narrative overview and synthesis of potential benefits. Environmental Research, 110169.
