- We spend so much time trying to fix ourselves with apps, affirmations, and productivity hacks.
- But maybe what we truly need is not more self-improvement but self-return.
The phrase “touch grass” first appeared in online culture, mostly on social media. It began as a lighthearted way of telling someone to step away from the screen, go outside, and reconnect with real life.
Over time, that phrase became more than internet slang. It became a quiet truth about how far we have drifted from the simple, grounding act of being present in the physical world.
Our grandparents never had to be told to touch grass. They lived it. Their days were anchored by what sociologists call “third places,” the spaces that were neither home nor work but where life naturally unfolded.
These were the barber shops filled with laughter, church steps where people lingered after the service, and small cafés where you never needed an invitation to belong. Those spaces were the heartbeat of community, where faces were familiar and stories were shared without filters or Wi-Fi.
Today, those third places are vanishing. Many of our connections now exist through glass, with pixels replacing presence and comment sections replacing conversation.
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We scroll endlessly, compare unconsciously, and call it connection. Yet somewhere deep down, a part of us knows we are lonelier than ever.
That is why the phrase “touch grass” hits differently now. It speaks to a universal craving to slow down, to breathe, and to feel something real. And science agrees.
Researchers at the University of Exeter’s European Centre for Environment and Human Health discovered that people who spend at least two hours a week outside report higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction.
Nature does what no algorithm can: it steadies us.
Across Kenya, more people are rediscovering this truth in the most beautiful ways. In Nakuru, the calm of Lake Nakuru National Park and the open lawns of Nyayo Gardens give city dwellers a chance to breathe and remember what still matters.
These are not just public parks. They are living reminders that healing often begins outdoors.
We spend so much time trying to fix ourselves with apps, affirmations, and productivity hacks. But maybe what we truly need is not more self-improvement but self-return.
Sunlight instead of screen light. Conversations that are spoken, not typed. Air that moves freely instead of humming through an air conditioner.
Touching grass is not about abandoning technology. It is about remembering that the world exists beyond it and that life still hums softly outside the scroll.
It is about grounding ourselves in something real before the noise of the online world drowns out the quiet truth of being alive.
So the next time you feel restless or overwhelmed, do not doomscroll. Step outside. Let the sun find your face, feel the ground beneath your feet, and listen to the world breathing.
Because sometimes, healing begins not with a therapist’s couch or a trending hashtag but with a simple, timeless act: the courage to touch grass.
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