I personally need the natural world as an escape from work, worry, and being indoors. I NEED (crave, desire, cannot survive as a healthy, happy human being with out) lots of sunlight. In the winter I go crazy and buy lamps to try to lighten the room to the equivalent of sunlight. I feel depressed and useless when I don’t wake up and see the sun or when I get out of classes before the sun sets. To me the natural world is something with out bounds, non-man made (though could be designed), photosynthetic, usually green, emits oxygen, and allows me to feel the elements of weather.
Simply put the natural world to me is fresh air and sunshine. I need a little bit of it daily to be the type of person I want to be. The natural world doesn’t necessarily need to be rustic, unexplored or even heavily forested. A green, lush patch of grass will do though I would much rather like the tall, soft grass of a Scottish plateau. But a little bit of green and fresh air (warm or cold, wet or dry) as long as it is not coming from a mysterious box or pipe in the wall.
I realized that my own body tells me nature is important. Most of the time I am inside, in class, or at work I long to be outside. I long for fresh air, more natural sounds, and a different light source than florescent bulbs. I do prefer rustic nature more than the cultivated, urban landscaping we are surrounded in but a little bit is better than nothing at all.