Art and Nature Appreciation in Forest Therapy

There is a place for art in nature appreciation and forest therapy. I took this photo during my recent visit to a class having art lesson with their teacher. The theme for that day was Nature and students were required to take photos of nature around the school and make a painting from their snapshots. When I stepped into the class, I was greeted by a sight of students moving around in the art room, busy getting their art works done up. It was a beautiful sight when students were all engaged in their works. I used to think that art lessons are useless, especially coming from an environment where you are taught that everything you do must have economic benefits. I didn't see how art can be something with any economic potential as a young student. Even though I took art during my A Level years, still I didn't see how art is something that I would appreciate later on in life.

However, this time, I had a different perspective of art lessons. I think it's a good thing to teach our students that sometimes we have to slow down from our busy timetable and learn to appreciate the things around us, especially nature. Art and nature appreciation definitely have their value today in our fast moving society. People are rushing back and fro without even noticing their beauty and how much they are influencing us. In forest therapy, one of the things that we can engage people to do is to see our surrounding with a different set of lens. It's one thing to just look at them, it's another thing to try to draw them and take note of the details within them. Going through such a process will help us to understand the wonders of the world and help us to realize that our life situations is simply part of a bigger life ecosystem that we are living in.

30 March 2024