This night had started off after wondering what does the statement fresh air mean to someone? People say it all the time that ( something ) "Is like a breath of fresh air", what does it mean, and does it have a different meaning for individuals, from there came the questionnaire and wanting to learn more about individuals thoughts on nature, and encouraging them to converse and debate about being in the outdoors.
I had to bribe my parents and their friends, who own allotments, to come to the house to sit down and do my questionnaire. Hence the drinking of wine in photos, and the last photo of food. Felt it was necessary to show the length I had to go to! All elements to encourage them to casually discuss the allotments and their experiences of nature and the outdoors - I hoped to just listen to how they spoke of nature, their expressions when they reminisced of an amazing experience with nature, their tone of voice when they discussed gardening, small things that would reveal their attitudes to nature.
The questionnaire was compiled of several questions that both revolved around gardening, nature, and opinions and thoughts on the outdoors and their own experiences. I wanted to get a broader sights of how people perceived nature, and how they interacted with it at home as well giving them the opportunity to think about their experiences in the hope of them naturally starting a conversation amongst themselves.
What I picked up on ( REFLECTION ):
One of the questions in the questionnaire enquired about how they felt about technology mimicking nature, everyone had their own strong opinions on this. Some felt it wouldn't be awful, others thought it would be an awful world if we lived in a society were 'nature' and the outdoors was no longer a natural thing. Shiela Fogarty in particular spoke about the spiritual connection that can occur when outdoors and interacting with nature. This is what I hoped to hear from this night, the concept that nature goes beyond just being a physical thing, but the mental benefits on our mindfulness. Sheila is naturally a spiritual person, but once she brought it up and explained her opinion to the others, everyone seemed to then agree with her. That having a space like the allotment to go to, knowing its just about the nature and plants, was they all felt a great benefit on their mind. They all fell, that when they return home from the allotment, and head into work the next day, the benefits of spending time outdoors is still have an effect on them up until the next day. They feel invigorated and refreshed for longer into the evening, and Ger, Sheilas husband, finds he even sleeps better after spending a few hours on the allotment.
** All this backs up my design direction of wanting to encourage a connection with nature for those who are stressed and lack the mindfulness they need in their daily lives.
