"Human beings have apparently always treasured scenic outdoor beauty, and this tendency has only increased as the world has become a more urban place. One of the benchmarks of the English Romantic movement of the early 19th century was the belief that nature had an uplifting, comforting, and beneficial effect on us. Romantics, who were almost all city dwellers, sought out natural settings and painted and wrote about the magnificent feelings those settings inspired."
"The most dramatic aspects of nature, especially mountains and the sea, have long induced a mixture of awe, fear, and reverence in people. According to the geographer Yi-Fu Tuan, virtually every society has had a sacred mountain that served as a focal point in its cosmology: Mounts Olympus (Greece), Meru (India), Tabor (Israel), and Fuji (Japan) are but a few examples."
Humans have long treasured scenic outdoor beauty, a tendency that has grown with urbanization. The English Romantics believed nature produced uplifting, comforting, beneficial effects, prompting city dwellers to seek natural settings and to paint and write about the feelings inspired. Grand natural features such as mountains and the sea often induce awe, fear, and reverence, and many cultures center sacred mountains in their cosmologies, with numerous religious and mythological events occurring on mountaintops. Encounters with nature do not have to be spectacular to be satisfying, and natural surroundings tend to relax and restore people, making them feel more at ease.
Read at Psychology Today
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