‘The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative’ by Florence Williams

After my first year living in Hanoi, I was going mad. I went from living beneath sapphire skies to everyday gray. Trees were another problem. There just weren’t any. I was convinced my funk was a result of the lack of nature around me. According to The Nature Fix, my hunch was right. Williams is not a researcher herself, but a journalist who experienced a similar low when she moved from tree-drenched Colorado to drab Washington D.C. Although Hanoi offered a slew of environmental issues to bog me down, there was one thing I realized I could fix. From stories about research on the Redwoods in the American West to the forests of Korea where people practice forest bathing, Williams concludes that we all need more of one thing: nature. Her keen investigation reveals something else. People need a specific amount to be happy. To find out the dose, I recommend that you get this book, and go read it under a tree.