so the theme of #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek this year is "nature", and aside from the obvious about how it is ignoring the dire state of mental health treatment in this country, there's something to be said about easy access to nature being a privilege we don't often recognise

at the worst moments of the pandemic it's been illegal to sit in a park by yourself, because our government is full of middle class people who can't imagine what it's like to live in a tiny flat with no garden, dozens of floors up, possibly with multiple roommates or children

and there's a reason that the national trust is viewed as a "middle class" charity - membership isn't free, and those who aren't members have to pay to even visit these beautiful places, as well as the cost of travel there

tldr the advice we often get, to "go out in nature and exercise" in order to better our mental health, is inaccessible for many working class people in cities or disabled people, and it's frustrating that this isn't being mentioned