“Go touch some grass” is a phrase my kids and their friends use that is shorthand for you’re looking a bit pale, maybe depressed, and you need to get outside for some fresh air and vitamin D. Also, I’m worried about you.
Plus grass feels good under your feet.
My yoga friends would agree, saying, yes, go outside, take off your shoes, plant your feet on the ground and connect with Mother Earth. Still others might say that sunlight boosts your mood, your immunity, and your sleep. It’s an all natural source of Vitamin D, which strengthens bones. Writers need strong bones to build stamina for typing or handwriting or doodling when the words won’t come.
Also, the sun feels good on your skin.
When was the last time you stepped outside? To do nothing? If you don’t have a dog to walk or animals to feed, if you work all day and see the sun sometimes on Sunday, when was the last time you went out on purpose to sit in the sun. Or the rain. Rain may not have Vitamin D, but it's cleansing and wholesome and outside where you can touch the grass.
Rain also feels good on the skin.
Writing is an internal struggle. We sit at our desk with pen and paper or computer, tablet, or phone, and turn symbols into meaning and meaning into story. And nothing about the process requires us to get outside—I’ve tried taking my work outside but the sun creates a glare on the screen. It slows me down, and who has the time for that—but that doesn’t mean we should sequester ourselves in a dark writing room, a dusty corner in the library, or wearing blinders and headphones at a cafe.
If you’re working a day job (or two), going to school, managing household chores while taking care of family members, finding time to write is a challenge, so asking any more of a writer seems cruel, but it is times like that when we need it most. To keep writing, and writing well, we need balance, and part of that is breathing fresh air and sunshine.
So something this week, go outside. On purpose. For no purpose at all. Absorb the sun or the rain, and if you’re daring, go barefoot (*not safe for yards with dogs).
Go touch some grass.