How Bucolic Living has made me Happier
I moved to the countryside three years ago, in search of a slower life. For two years I enjoyed the beautiful views from my window, spent my summer’s wild swimming and walked in the hills everyday - then the pandemic hit and I really began to appreciate where I live. This past year of lockdowns and restrictions was when it really struck me just how much moving to the countryside has made me happier. I know I’m lucky to have a freedom that many others have not had this past year. I don’t write this to incite jealousy, but rather to transport you to the countryside when you can’t physically travel. And perhaps even to tempt some of you to make a similar move.
When I wake in the morning and pull up the blind in our bedroom, the first thing that I see is the hills opposite my house and the huge sky above them. I didn’t realise how little of the sky I saw in my previous homes in towns and cities, but here it is massive. I can watch the moon rise behind the hills, see the clouds tinted with the first colours of sunset and watch shooting stars from inside my house. I love how the view changes throughout the year. The past couple of months have seen the hills white and covered in snow. Slowly, everything begins to turn green and bright bursts of blossom erupt on the hillside. Eventually, the entire horizon is green and luscious with pink skies above at the beginning and end of the day. Before long, the colours change to rusts as autumn charges across the valley. Bird song punctuates my day - the dawn chorus waking me in spring and the evening song signaling that it’s time to put down my computer. At night we are serenaded by owls. Deer visit us in our back garden, creeping down through the woods and occasionally leaping over the fence to steal our vegetables. We spot more varieties of birds and butterflies than I knew existed. We are surrounded by nature, and it would be impossible to ignore it.
These past few winter months have felt like a holiday, despite having to stick to lockdown rules. I’ve been out in the snow almost every day - sledging, taking photographs, playing and walking. The utter joy of sledging down a steep hill, having an impromptu snowball fight or trudging through snow that is up past your knees brings back memories of childhood. I usually detest winter, but this year it has flown by. Soon, my favourite time of year will arrive and I will spend even more time outdoors. Spring and summer are when I go wild swimming as often as possible, and there are many local places where I love to submerge my body in water and swim. During midsummer, I will head up the hill to swim as the sun sets, watching the pink skies over the valley below. All year round we walk, constantly discovering new paths as we trudge up hills, stroll through forests and hike across fields. During the strict lockdown months, I was lucky to have a private woodland next to my home to explore, forest bathing right next to my house. Within minutes of leaving our house we could be up a hill, breathing in the fresh air without another soul around.
Bucolic living (just a fancy way of saying I live in the countryside) has made me much, much happier. It’s not just the freedom, the abundance of nature and the beautiful scenery - there’s something about living in a rural location that soothes your soul. It’s widely documented that being among nature can boost your mental and physical wellbeing and I can vouch for that. I feel happier, more creative and less stressed when I leave my house for even just a short walk. I’ve been suffering from headaches since last summer, and have found that the best way to treat them is just to go outside and take myself for a walk. They soon fade when I’m breathing in fresh air and letting my feet carry me across fields. I’ve honestly never been happier than since I’ve been living here. Even worries and stresses such as the pandemic fade away when I’m swimming in a pond or sat on top of a hill. When we lived in the Manchester suburbs I would feel like crying every time I returned home from a holiday or a weekend away. Returning to the grey streets where we used to live, I would wonder why we had to live there. For a long time, relocating to the countryside wasn’t a possibility for us but the pandemic has been a blessing in disguise for many people. If you now work from home and don’t have to worry about a commute, now could be the perfect time to leave the city or suburbs behind and make a move someplace rural. I highly recommend it.
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