Climate Watch: The Air We Share

Sharing a moment, just to be quiet and breathe.

Air is one of those things we rarely think about until something changes.

We notice it when wildfire smoke rolls in, when a room feels stuffy, when

traffic fumes are heavy, or when we step outside and suddenly realize how

fresh the air feels.

And yet air is with us every moment.

It connects us to the trees outside, the soil, the ocean, the weather, the

room we are sitting in, and the people around us. Even the everyday things

we do — cooking, cleaning, burning a candle, using a diffuser — become,

for a time, part of the air we share.

Most of us spend a great deal of our day indoors, often in buildings

designed to hold heat in during the winter and cool air in during the

summer. That makes good sense from an energy point of view, but it can

also mean that the air inside needs a little more attention.

Perhaps the first step is to notice it.

Does the room feel fresh when you walk in, or heavy and stale? Can a

window be opened? Is there air moving through the space? Are vents clear,

or have they disappeared behind furniture and boxes? If you are in

a school or office where the windows do not open, it may be worth asking

whether the ventilation system is bringing in outdoor air or mainly

recirculating what is already there.

When outdoor conditions are suitable, opening a window or door for a while

can make a surprising difference. Kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans can

help move moisture and cooking fumes outside, while keeping vents clear

helps ventilation systems do the job they were designed to do.

It is also worth becoming a little more aware of what we add to the air

around us. At Casaroma, when we choose oils for a diffuser, the first

question is not simply, “What smells nice?”

It is, “What do we want to change here?”

Perhaps a room feels flat and tired and needs something bright and

enlivening. Perhaps the day has been noisy and scattered and we want the 

space to feel steadier. Perhaps we are gathering people together and want

the room to feel welcoming.

Different oils bring very different personalities into a room.

Citrus oils can bring brightness and lift. Fir and spruce can make the space

feel more open and alive, almost as though a little of the outdoors has

come inside. Frankincense can change the character of a room in an

entirely different way, bringing a more reflective, settled quality.

The important shift is from using aroma to scent the air to using it

with purpose.

That makes the diffuser something quite different from a background

fragrance running all day automatically. It becomes one of the ways we

consciously influence the environment we are taking in.

And purpose usually calls for less, not more. A room does not have to be

saturated with essential oil before the aromatic environment noticeably changes and has an effect. Sometimes a small amount, chosen thoughtfully, is enough to change the atmosphere.

A little ventilation, a little moderation, and a little thought about what we are

putting into our shared space can go a long way.

And then there is the easiest change of all: step outside. Take your tea onto

the step. Walk around the block. Eat lunch outdoors. Stand beneath a tree

for a few minutes. A little time outside changes more than the air we

breathe. The light changes, the sounds change, our eyes look farther away,

and our bodies usually move a little more. We become aware of the

weather again and, perhaps without even realizing it, reconnect with the

larger world around us.

Maybe that is part of our relationship with air too. We do not own it, and we

do not keep it within our own boundaries. Air moves constantly across

gardens, streets, forests, cities, oceans, and countries. The breath we take

belongs, for a moment, to us — and then we give it back. Perhaps caring

for the air does not have to begin with something enormous. It may begin

by noticing what is already all around us, and remembering that

every breath is shared.