Be a tree hugger
By: Andrea Sadowski
Near the end of summer, my friend and I were hula hooping on Wreck Beach, enjoying one of the last sunny days before the rainy season and talking about how we cope with stress and anxiety. I told her that I read my Bible, write in a journal, and gulp down CBD oil. She said whenever she sees a friendly looking tree while walking down the street, she gives it a hug. I laughed at first because I thought she was joking, but she was, in fact, totally serious. She said that tree hugging can be comforting and grounding, and she can feel the tree transfer its energy to her. She didn’t care that she might have looked weird to other people who were passing by; she just wanted to give the tree a hug and thinks that more people should as well.
I was genuinely curious about this unique self-care practice, so I looked into it, and some studies show that your connection with nature indicates an increase in your overall well-being and happiness. Those of us living in primarily urban areas may suffer from a “nature-deficit disorder” which could result in poor mental and physical health.
So next time you’re feeling a bit blue, go for a walk in the forest and hug a nice-looking tree like they are your long-lost best friend you haven’t seen in years. Whether you go in for a quick, gentle hug, or a gigantic bear-hug, you’re likely to feel better about yourself and the state of the world afterward.
I’ve got worms on my mind
By: Chandy Dancey
This is going to sound alarming, but when I close my eyes at night, I see worms — writhing worms.
You see, since undertaking an independent project in biology, I have been spending a lot of time staring into a microscope at my specimen of choice: a type of nematode called C. elegans. Don’t get me wrong, they’re cute little guys. They’re millimetres in length, squirmy, and enjoy long crawls across petri dishes I hand make for them every week. (They’re spoiled.) But when it’s been three hours of gently picking up and putting down these microscopic worms with a tiny metal tool, they start to get to you. Especially when you offer them a deluxe shuttle service (the metal tool) to bring them to fresh food, but they refuse to exit the “Uber.” Please see yourself out, ma’am; I’ve got 60 others worms to shuttle. I have a feeling the next few months with these stubborn albeit adorable worms are going to be more of a test in patience than anything else, and in the meantime they’ll continue to occupy a place in my mind rent-free.
(Rain Neeposh/The Cascade)
Andrea Sadowski is working towards her BA in Global Development Studies, with a minor in anthropology and Mennonite studies. When she's not sitting in front of her computer, Andrea enjoys climbing mountains, sleeping outside, cooking delicious plant-based food, talking to animals, and dismantling the patriarchy.
Chandy is a biology major/chemistry minor who's been a staff writer, Arts editor, and Managing Editor at The Cascade. She began writing in elementary school when she produced Tamagotchi fanfiction to show her peers at school -- she now lives in fear that this may have been her creative peak.