Creative wellbeing in nature

Abstract

How we understand ourselves and the world we live in through direct encounters with nature is the question for exploration in this chapter. The concept of creative wellbeing is examined through by the direct and sensory-based interactions with nature, drawing on resources from eco-spirituality, psychology, and pedagogy. These perspectives provide insights into emotional connections with nature and foster creativity and transcendence, including the development of ethical awareness. In the first part of this chapter, concepts of “place”, belonging, and aesthetic experiences are explored as gateways to understanding how experiences of nature contribute to the formation of an ecological self. This perspective draws on “environmental aesthetics” to discuss nature as an aesthetic experience. The second part connects these insights to friluftsliv (translated from Norwegian as free-air-life), a pedagogical approach highly inspired by mountaineering philosophers in the early 1970s. The connection between friluftsliv pedagogy and creative wellbeing is discussed through the role of emotions such as joy and love, as well as emotional and ethical awareness.