No Limits |
The Freedom Blog™
Nature
Written
by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com
“Our task must be to free ourselves... by widening our circle
of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its
beauty.”
-Albert Einstein
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.”
-John Muir
“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.”
“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.”
-Henry David
Thoreau
Since our earliest ancestors first roamed the
earth approximately 7 million years ago, we have been here. After discovering fire approximately 1.9
million years ago we began our dominance of the planet.
But when we look at the artifacts and archaeology
of our ancient ancestors we are only going back maybe 10-20 thousand years.
This is a drop in the sea compared to the millions of years we have been here!
Millions…. that’s hard to fathom or even put
into context.
The point I am making here is that we, as a
species, have been here living with the other animals and plants, co-existing
with the life forms that exist on this planet for millions of years. Not as something
separate. We didn't just show up here. We all
evolved here, all plants, animals, and humans originated from single cell life forms that lived in
the primordial ooze.
So what is nature? Aren't ALL the plants,
animals and life forms that live on this planet nature?
Yes. We are nature. We are not separate
from it.
Yes, we have put our stamp on the planet and
tried our best to modify it and bend it to our will, as only humans do. But it has only been a short time, relatively
speaking, since we lost our intimacy and direct connection with the ecosystem.
Over time we have become more and more separated
and insulated from our connection with the planet. We began to live in tight,
protected structures, spending time driving in machines, or flying in machines
across the planet, eating food that no longer has any obvious connection to its
source. Insulated from everything.
We have become separated from the planet.
A part of this disconnection I think has come
from a collective push by our culture over the past twenty or thirty years to
look at nature as if it was something apart from us, something separate. Almost
like it is something to worship, like it was our mother…..
Remember the commercials- “It’s not nice to
fool Mother Nature…”?
We are the naughty children abusing the earth,
creating global warming, pollution, wasting the resources of this planet by
killing the animals and depleting the oceans.
And we are.
We are terribly efficient at killing,
extracting, processing and utilizing the bounty of this planet.
But we are not separate from it. Its future and
ours are inextricably intertwined.
We will not control it. Thinking we can always modify
and control nature is an example of the arrogance of man.
But it may seem
that we can control it…. on the surface…..but for how long? There are too many
humans, with too many weapons and rigid ideologies, growing at too fast a rate,
with limited water and food sources……
In another few hundred thousand years, the
planet will have evolved again. It will be what it will be and we may not be a
part of that evolution…..
But whatever it is, we can’t control it.
So in the meantime, instead of feeling separate
or apart from “Nature”, try to look at everything in a more inclusive way, try
to affirm your connection to all things on this planet.
The next time you are out for a walk or hike or
when you are camping in the woods, pay more attention. Look for the feelings
that may pop up.
As you walk into the woods or wherever you are
outdoors, sometimes doesn't it feel just a little bit like…..home?
Doesn't the smell of wood smoke make you feel
good….. and safe?
Doesn't the feeling you get sitting around the
campfire with your friends and family feel good….. and right?
Doesn't it remind you of something?
The memories of millions of years of living naturally,
outside in small groups, around open fires don't go away in a few thousand
years.
And that’s who we really are.
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” -John Muir
