The Power of Nature: Making Family Memories in the Wilderness

Each year when our family reunion at Bear Lake comes to an end, my brothers pack up endless gear as well as what seems like endless kids, and head to Oregon. They have taken the tradition of making memories in the wilderness my parents started to the next level.

You see when we were all kids, my parents had the crazy notion to take us all to camp in the wilderness of the mountains of Oregon one summer. The goal? Build a log cabin.

Yep, for reals.

We camped in tents as we skinned logs and worked on how to actually build a foundation. My dad learned how to use a chain saw and we worked together to lug logs to put them in place.

This was not a cabin to live in. It was a crafted experience to make memories together in the wilderness.

It was an unlikely summer bonding and working together experiment.

What Families Gain from Wilderness Experiences

Why in Heaven’s name would my parents start this crazy idea in the first place? Well, I don’t know if they knew it at the time, but there are so many studies that show how incredibly healing nature is.

In this world of heightened screens and sitting behind desks, it has become even more apparent how healing nature can be for the human soul. Nature and being in the wilderness has been proven to have so many awesome benefits both psychologically and physically. In the article “Nurtured by Nature” from the American Psychological Association Kirsten Weir points out these ones out:

• improved attention,
• lower stress,
• better mood,
• reduced risk of psychiatric disorders,
• and even upticks in empathy and cooperation

I mean…who wouldn’t want those?

The benefits physically are pretty self explanatory. When you are out in nature you’re using your body. You’re using all your senses. You’re getting vitamin D. You’re working your muscles.

Being in the Wilderness with your Family

And being in nature as a family? Whoa. Sure, there is bound to be some arguments and short tempers from time to time when you’re in close quarters without the comforts from home.

But oh the bonding!!

I still, decades later, remember the feeling of sitting around a fire every night as my mom read books to us. I remember working together to skin and lift those logs. So much teamwork. I remember the feeling of sitting on what we called the “Grassy Knoll” where we held family church each Sunday.

What, Exactly, Constitutes “Wilderness?”

In order to get these benefits you don’t have to go build a log cabin in the middle of nowhere. You can get similar benefits that boost your mood just by getting out to take a walk. Watching the sunset. Going to a nature preserve.

Some Posts About Making Memories in the Wilderness

I have written all the details I can remember from our time in Oregon, because it was pretty special to me.

• A Unique Way to Bond With Your Family – Adventures in Oregon

I have also written about how my brothers have taken that tradition to the next level for the last eleven years. They decided eleven years ago that their kids needed a little more adventure. Unstructured time in the wilderness. They had enough velvety memories from our family time up on that crazy adventure that they wanted the same thing for their own kids.

• Adventures Making Memories in the Wilderness – The Next Generation

Last year I wrote about how Lucy got to join in those wilderness adventures:

• How the Stars Aligned for Lucy to Join Making Memories Last Year

Yes, Lucy got to join and it was pretty special. And also crazy. Without saying too much, she was on some new medication that led her to some bathroom difficulties. And my brothers, bless their hearts, just rolled with it.

Then this year those brothers earnestly invited Lucy to join them again.

The wilderness tour guides: My Brothers – Angels from Heaven

And I am here to say, those brothers of mine are angels sent straight from Heaven.

I mean, look at them! Can you almost just FEEL that love spilling out from them??

Not only did they wrangle their own kids, but they made Lucy feel loved and needed and wanted. And gave her another experience of a lifetime. Could I have joined them and looked out for Lucy? Sure. But it wouldn’t have been the same. And also no moms are allowed:) And also, Lucy would have probably chosen not to go. What eighteen year old wants their mom hovering over them looking out for them in the wilderness?

Not Lucy.

Those brothers really looked out for her and gave her so much independence. An experience she will hold onto forever.

I wanted to cry as they packed up and drove away, taking my girl with them on an adventure that she would never get any other way.

Some Podcasts Explaining Our Oregon Adventure Making Memories in the Wilderness

My sisters and I have a podcast episode about our memories from our own experiences in Oregon:

Oregon: A Little Bit Crazy

And I mentioned this before, but not only do my sisters and I have a podcast together, my brother Tal has started his own. He incorporates my brothers as well as interviewing other dads, and you guys, it’s so good!

Create Good Stories Podcast

I LOVE that title. Because isn’t life all about creating good stories? Finding the good and making it win out in the end?

Here’s the episode they recorded while sitting around a campfire in Oregon one night, explaining how this all goes:

A Brothers’ Fireside Chat in the Wilderness of Oregon

And let’s end here with a video Tal made showing all the cool things those brothers have helped their kids make over the last eleven years:

Wow. That’s a kid-wonderland, don’t you think?

Some other Ideas to Create Memories in the Wilderness

• Go camping. Such a great way to be outdoors, to unplug, and to breathe in nature.
• Leave your work/computer/tasks to take a walk in the middle of the day. You’ll be amazed at how much better you feel after having gone outside. I am always in awe when Lucy comes home from walking Bo Jangles. Her mood is lighter and she is so much happier!
• Create an outside obstacle course for your kids in the yard.
• Go on a little picnic, whether for dinner or for lunch. Honestly when we eat out on our back porch there is just something so much better in the air. Well…not right now because we’d melt, but when it’s not over 110 degrees!

Thank you, dear brothers, for making this a reality for Lucy. She came back with a renewed light in her eyes. I’m sure both from my brothers hyping her up as well as from NATURE.

God’s medicine for us all.