self-critical, the default network is blamed by psychologists. Yet it is
also credited with producing empathy, creativity and heights of
insight. Attention scientists worship at the altar of this network,
because “it gives us our most human experiences, our deep aesthetic
sense, our ability to do the deep things that are unique to us,” as
Atchley put it. That sounds exalted, but there’s another important and
more pragmatic reason they like it: it allows the executive office of
the brain to rest, all the better to rebound at top performance.
One of the compelling theories about nature is that it acts like an
advanced drug, a sort of smart pill that works selectively on the
default network in the way new estrogen therapy makes bones
stronger by targeting some estrogen receptors in the body but not
others that might increase cancer risk. It would appear that when we
have a positive nature experience, it engages what’s good in the
default network without allowing us to wallow too much in what’s
problematic. Studies show that when people walk in nature, they
obsess over negative thoughts much less than when they walk in a
city.
Although we can’t always do much to turn off the barrage of
stressors in our lives, we can try harder to get the restorative reprieves
—from quick nature doses to longer ones—that give our thinking
brains a chance to recover. In Utah, I was beginning to feel it.
Once I started thinking of the brain’s oppositional parts, it was
easy to watch the default network kick in on Hunter Creek. At first, I
was all executive. Sunscreen? Check. Water bottle, bee sting meds,
jalapeño potato chips? Check. Am I hungry? Of course, but I must
wait until it becomes socially acceptable to eat. Do not think about
the potato chips. Stop that. Chocolate nibble? Nope. I walked along,
feeling the sand move beneath my boot. Tamarisk branches brushed
against my leg, opening up to reveal small, brackish pools of water.
The birds were singing; the flowers were outrageous. It was
impossible not to notice them. I was beginning to become more