The Need for Parks: In a Time of Sickness, We all Need to Take a Breath
The Globe and Mail published a beautiful article on Tuesday about the importance of green spaces in urban communities, especially during times of sickness.
People walk along the Martin Goodman Trail as it passes through Sir Casimir Gzowski Park in Toronto on March 17, 2020.
FRED LUM/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Author Alex Bozikovic talks not only about the positive impact that High Park, Toronto has had on his family’s mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak, but also makes mention to the medicinal properties of sunlight and fresh air during the tuberculosis outbreak, which lead to the incorporation of green spaces in urban areas moving forward.
He quotes Frederick Law Olmsted, landscape architect for many of the great urban parks in the 1800s: “If we have no relief from [the town] during our waking hours, we should all feel conscious of suffering from it.” Stepping away from our urban lives is crucial to “our ability to maintain a temperate, good-natured and healthy state of mind.”
In times like this, where we are in isolation and are asked to maintain a social distance of 2 meters, maintaining a positive state of mind is so important! The longer this goes on, the higher the potential for boredom and depressed. Get outside, and get some much needed vitamin D and fresh air.
Make sure that you take care of yourselves during this time. We will get out of this together!
Read the full article here.