Blue spaces: why time spent near water is the secret of happiness (2019)
theguardian.com
theguardian.com
Maybe if you can afford to live and work somewhere where there are lots of work and recreational opportunities with decent paying jobs that allow you to afford and balance a career with regular trips to forests, coasts and lakes then yes, maybe spending time near water is part of the key to happiness. But I can tell you from personal experience that if you are stuck in one of these coastal towns then no, being near the water is not some magical happy pill. If anything it's the opposite. You're hemmed in at the end of the road and it's hard to escape.
If you feel like you're trapped on a desert island the ocean is an oppressor, not a friend.
It seems for you the answer is no, but that’s not necessarily the typical response.
I’m not calling b.s. on the article; I am curious if any other HNers have parsed the surrounding research and seen discussion of this (isn’t it blatantly obvious?) correlation between affluence and wellbeing.
I'm visiting "blue spaces" every year, multiple times (I live in a landlocked country). I know for a fact (worked in tourism industry) that literally every socioeconomic class here spends a significant amount of their income to visit "blue spaces".
Yeah, the more affluent people can afford better places with more people working for their comfort, but that doesn't change a thing about the poorest just packing their car and going by themselves, staying in a tent right next to the "blue space" if they have to.
If you’re in the tourism industry, maybe you can help? I find your comment antagonistic and my feelings are hurt, but I also understand that internet culture sucks and/or you may not have meant it as such.
Contrast that to say, my backyard or a park. Quiet and calm and I feel good. Let a dog bark for a few minutes or an obnoxious person nearby and my peace is "destroyed" and I have to leave.
"The movement of the waves, of winds, of the earth is ever in the same lasting harmony. We do not stand on the beach and inquire of the ocean what was its movement of the past and what will be its movement of the future. We realize that the movement peculiar to its nature is eternal to its nature." (Isadora Duncan)