With the recent heat, I’ve been spending more time inside my downtown San Diego apartment or at coffee shops, observing the city through windows versus walking through it. Though the landscape is decidedly urban, I am frequently surprised by fluttering butterflies making their way through the streets just above cars and trolleys.
These fleeting encounters remind me that experiencing nature doesn’t necessarily require a visit outside, and there’s even research that shows observing nature from indoors has health benefits.
A Groundbreaking Study
One of the most influential studies on this idea was published in Science in 1984. Researcher Roger Ulrich examined the recovery of hospital patients who had undergone gallbladder surgery. Some recovered in rooms with windows overlooking trees. Others had windows facing a brick wall.
The patients who could see trees had shorter hospital stays after surgery, received fewer negative notes from nurses and took fewer pain medications than those staring at the wall. The study was small by today’s standards, and decades of subsequent research have greatly expanded our understanding of the relationship between nature and human health. But its central idea remains compelling: even a view of nature through a window may matter.
Part of the Pollinator Community
Butterflies are, of course, only one member of a much larger cast. Bees are perhaps the best-known pollinator, but butterflies, moths, birds, bats, beetles and other animals can also move pollen between flowers. Pollination allows flowering plants to reproduce and ultimately supports ecosystems — and much of the food humans eat.
It’s easy to imagine all that happening in a meadow or nature preserve. It can be harder to picture it happening among downtown San Diego’s apartment towers, hotels and office buildings. But look closely during a walk. You’ll find flowers everywhere: hanging from a balcony, blooming in a sidewalk planter, and a short bus or bike ride away from downtown is arguably the largest garden in the city, Balboa Park.
A Challenge to Look Closer
Each spring, the San Diego Natural History Museum hosts a local City Nature Challenge:
This event encourages residents to look for wildlife outside their windows and along sidewalks, reminding us that even weeds, insects and creatures living around buildings count as nature.
That’s what I’ve begun doing on my own walks. At a time when the nonstop barrage of current events can feel overwhelming, slowing down and noticing what’s around me has become a small but powerful way to quiet the noise — even if only briefly.
A butterfly won’t change what’s happening in the world. But pausing to watch one flutter past can change where my attention rests for a moment. And sometimes, that moment is exactly what I need.
This article originally appeared in the San Diego Sun as part of the "Walking In The City" column. Read the original version here.
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