Anxiety, Depression, and Landscape Photography
Depression, and particularly anxiety, are far more common than most think. We've all heard stories of people with fabulous lives, excellent health, fame and fortune, who ended their own lives.
My parents – both brilliant examples of how to live purposeful, grateful lives – suffered physical and psychological abuse at the hands of heartless parents. Amazingly, they never let those experiences affect mine or my sister's childhood, and they were caring, attentive role models.
Today, it seems it's easier than ever to feel down. Call it modern life, FOMO, consumerism or the fact that every brain fart is recorded on social media, lest others think it never happened.
I've suffered from anxiety and depression multiple times throughout my life. Sometimes it was traceable to a specific cause (girlfriend cheated on me, divorce, financial ruin, etc.); but many times, I couldn't put my finger on it.
However, one thing that always seemed to help was getting back amongst nature. Going bush.
In this week's video, I share why being in nature has had such a profound and positive impact on me, why we need to get outside, and how landscape photography offers the perfect ‘excuse'. Did you know the average person spends between 23 and 24 hours each day indoors?! When you consider that for the first 400,000 years, humans spent almost all of their time outdoors, it's no wonder we're losing the plot.
I talk about all this and more in the video below.
I also crap on a bit about my latest bit of gear – an RRS ball head that'll probably outlast me. I hope you enjoy it.
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