Look Around Look Within
Photo by Mistofer Christopher, Miami Florida
“In nature, nothing is perfect, and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful.”
As I read about the theme for May Mental Health Month 2023, “Look Around, Look Within” I started to hear the gentle scratch of the bass, the drip drop of electronic funk, crying and pleading trumpets; a plain piano testing a few keys, the calm breeze of reggae moving trees and Bob Marley’s soulful voice: “Open your eyes. Look Within. Are you satisfied…with the life you’re living?”
Photo by Victor He @victorhwn725
Mental Health America started Mental Health Month in 1949 and this year the theme “Look Around, Look Within”, invites us to consider every part of our environment and how it affects our mental health and wellbeing.
When I make that self-analysis and reflect on being raised in the city that never sleeps, full of DJ cops spinning their sirens with a “whoop, whoop”, impatient drivers cross communicating with car horns and hand gestures, peacocking motorcycles performing wheelies and revving their engines, backyard barbecues and parties into the pee and wee hours of the morning, I definitely have conclusions about my environment.
George Washington Bridge - Photo by Jessica Becker @myorganiclove
Summer respite came as a family road trip. Our family took a road trip heading north in the 73 Plymouth Winchester gray Satellite. crossing the Throggs Neck Bridge over the Long Island Sound, sludging our way through Cross Bronx traffic. As soon as we crossed the George Washington Art Deco Bridge, took that first exit onto the Palisades Parkway, the green trees swallowed our car and rabbits hopped along the side, birds chirped - at least I thought I heard birds chirping - as the whooshing stress left every pore from our bodies and flew out the window.
There are things that are in our control, and there are things that are out of our control. What do you do to care for your mental health?
One suggestion encouraged for this month is to spend time in nature. If that is difficult, can you bring nature into your home with plants and greenery that are soft on the soul and eyes and purify the air? It may prove to be challenging to find nature in the city but below is a list of areas and ideas to find nature in New York City. Perhaps you can do the same in your respective city or county.
Sakura Park
Location: A public green space, between Riverside Drive and Claremont Avenues in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan.
This public green space gets its name from the cherry trees that grace the lawn between its two walks. The trees came from Japan in 1912, a donation from the Committee of Japanese Residents of New York. After the cherry blossom season ends, you can enjoy tulips and the foliage of linden trees from the gazebo or park benches.
Greenacre Park
Location: 217 E 51st St, New York, NY 10022
A secret 6,000 square foot cool garden oasis in the urban sprawl of midtown New York City. Amidst the granite, brick, steel, skyscrapers there is a wash of Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Japanese Hollies, Andromeda and a coating of Boston ivy that graces the brick wall. Color, scent, and oxygen assuage the senses. Toss in a twenty-five foot cascade throwing around some refreshing negative ions for your lungs to say, “thank you.”
Elevated Acre
Location: 55 Water Street in the Financial District.
Seek and find this one-acre meadow and garden. Find the escalator behind the construction and set back from the sidewalk. Once found be enthralled by a lawn, amphitheater, a summer beer garden, as well as the magnificent views of the East River, Downtown Brooklyn, the 154 year old Brooklyn Bridge, and lots and lots of green and solitude. There’s more…keep seeking.
Location: 4900 Independence Avenue, Bronx, NY (Admission is free on Thursdays)
Da Bronx has da wave hill, a museum not made from brick and mortar, but of evergreens and flowers, 28 acres of gardens, 4,000 varieties of trees, shrubs, vines and herbaceous plants, Native Plant Garden, Butterfly Garden. After enjoying nature, you can also explore the many art galleries on the site.
Location: Central Park, East Side between 104th and 106th
A 74 year old conservatory garden Six acres of French, Italian and English Style plots, full of tulips, lilacs, crabapple trees, summer perennials, and chrysanthemums. Quietly go into the English garden and look for the Frances Hodgson Burnett Memorial Fountain. See if it reminds you of a classic children’s tale. This is a quiet zone.
Photo of Central Park by Jon Tyson @jontyson
Location: 43-50 Main St, Flushing, New York 11355
Free times: free hours are available Wednesday from 3 to 6pm and Sunday from 9 to 11am.
A 39-acre serene space in the middle of Queens, sitting on the traditional land of the Matinecock people, the first people of Flushing, Queens. Find the Fragrance Walk, Cleansing Biotope and Wetland and Woodland Garden.
Join or Visit a Community Garden
Visit and enjoy an outdoor farmer’s market
Snug Harbor Cultural Center
Location: 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301
Main outdoor ground and gardens are free of charge to the public, open 7 days a week from dawn to dusk and does not ask for advance registration or ticketing.
Loads to explore: Heritage Farms, Botanical Gardens, Compost Projects, Tuscan Gardens, New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden.
Location: 20 Feet above West 97th Street on the roof of a parking garage.
A beautiful 7,000 square foot urban oasis open to the public every Sunday afternoon, from the second week in April through the second week of November, between 1 and 4pm, unless the weather is particularly inclement.
Why visit a Cemetery? After a park one of the most beautiful green spaces in New York City is a graveyard or cemetery. Manicured, quiet, super peaceful, the graveyards of New York City offer a time of reflection, peace, and a time to contemplate life and also find some interesting people and history.
Location: 6663 Flushing Ave, Building 3, Suite 1105, Brooklyn, NY 11205
Monthly Open Houses
Brooklyn Grange operates the world’s largest rooftop soil farms, located in New York City. Brooklyn Grange promotes sustainable urban living by building green spaces, hosting educational programming and events, and widening access to locally grown produce in New York City communities.
Whatever you do choose to do, look around, look within, go outside and remember…
Photo by Johnny McClung @johnnymcclung
“Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.”
Mistofer Christopher is a virtual home school teacher and the author of the children’s story book: “Talk About The Monster.” A children’s story to help children to face fear and anxiety.
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