Category: Nature

Of all that lives in this world, we seem to be the ones with choices; and, the ability to foresee or understand their consequence. We’re not just obeying some innate compulsion or wisdom, but have this power to consciously raise ourselves “above” our surroundings and decide what kinds of lives we will lead. Everything else may tick away evenly without much direction, but we really seem to have our own ideas about it all.

What are we to make of that? This obligation to both understand and choose wisely, given that our as much as nature’s future might depend on it. Doesn’t power – capacity – and the freedom to wield it naturally come with responsibility? As if, in our choice to partake in things, we bring upon ourselves the duty to comprehend all we’re then part of. As thinking beings, can we ever truly defer “thinking things through” to others?

Although, of course, as much as we’re living in nature we’re also living in society – all its patterns, ideas and expectations surrounding us from before we were born, seeping into our own assumptions or unquestioned beliefs about what it is to be human and what we have the right to do in life. That way of thinking might be all we’ve ever known, but isn’t there still a choice? Presumably we still decide what we’ll take part in.

Sometimes I wish we could unravel all the thinking we’re tangled within, to see where it came from and what initial premisses all this has been built up upon. Underneath it all, won’t there be some fundamental ideas around “life”? Thoughts around nature, around freedom, around society, around need, around meaning that became woven up into this increasingly strange world of thought that now has such a hold over us.

Given how long humanity’s thinking about “life” has been evolving, might it not be that we would challenge some of those starting points? That our thinking, now, might’ve taken different directions had we been the ones laying the foundations for the modern way of life. Yet, there seems little opportunity to unearth and rethink such things – as if this structure we’re in, with all its thinking, is the only one now available.

If we – collectively as much as individually – are the ones, through our choices, setting things in motion that will affect countless other beings, though, don’t we still need to grasp what it is that we’re doing? To surround “life” with our greater understanding and intention, given how much our interventions could prove perilous.

Don’t we need to “know” the reasons; the risks; the causality; the dependencies; the justification? To understand, in thought, the lifestyle we’re leading and all it means for the nested, interconnected environments surrounding ours. To “see” what we’re doing and how much it stands to affect anything we might conceivably consider “valuable” in this world.

As the ones with the capacity to understand, decide and act, don’t we also carry an incredible responsibility to live those lives well?

Notes and References:

Doing the right thing, we erase consequences
Appealing to human nature or the human spirit
The optimism in nature
Thought, knowledge & coherent vision
Nature, wisdom & leadership
Wisdom the world no longer gives?
Appreciating other ways of being

What “is” the nature of our relationship with the world around us? Sometimes it seems we inserted ourselves into this really decisive position of being the ones who set things in motion. That, based on our present level of insight, we’re intervening and making changes that will inevitably play themselves out, one way or the other, throughout the course of time.

Which is what it is, I’d imagine. That’s the position we seem to hold: unchallenged beings capable of understanding, thinking, and planning action. As if “life” were, in some way, the testing ground for our intelligence; our ability to grasp complex realities and work both creatively and responsibly within them. That, hopefully, we would see the importance of every given thing and take great care not to damage the whole.

If we really understood everything, wouldn’t we know exactly what to do? How to act in regard to our surroundings. What each thing needs and how it’s likely to behave. Whether we’re talking plants, animals, weather, geology or land management, there’s always this question of how well we’re understanding where each thing fits, what its roles are, and all the potential risk any degree of imbalance might bring.

Almost as if – in this role we have – we must surround nature with our greater understanding of it. That, stepping into things, we become responsible for knowing what to do. As if we’ve taken on our shoulders the need to manage this wisely and rise to the challenge of really seeing that invisible bigger picture of what it all means and how much every single thing matters. Like a big cosmic jigsaw puzzle with high stakes.

It seems incredible, when you think about it: the responsibility lying in our hands. This sense of humans standing in relationship to everything around us – this huge give and take of all we gain from our environment and all “it” might gain or lose from our engagement. How we must somehow work with this leadership role that’s fallen to us and live up to all it entails.

Don’t we tend to assign everything its place in our version of events? Giving roles to animals through our agricultural, sporting, culinary or domestic arrangements. Making plants part of this aesthetic conversation of culture and lifestyle. Carving our way into landscapes to make space for our needs or take what we want. The whole of nature, seemingly, ours to do with as we please.

In a way, perhaps we’re giving direction to nature by assigning it all a purpose within our lives. Often, though, it seems things would run more smoothly without us. We seem to benefit most from the relationship; given all we take from the equation. Not least, perhaps, being the wisdom which we could potentially gain from witnessing the consequences of our actions and reflecting on the moral responsibility of it all.

Looking around us and seeing the feedback of causality, might we not learn to appreciate the value of what we didn’t know before?

Notes and References:

Our roles in relation to nature
Appreciating other ways of being
Nature & the fulfilment of potential
Green as an idea
Wisdom the world no longer gives?
Are we wise, living this way?
If environment shapes us…
Charting our own course

Looking at how we live in the world, what’s the best way of seeing things? Given how we each stand within our environment, how are we to look at this one shared reality and plot collective courses within it? It seems an intriguing thought, given how we’re essentially thinking beings trying to make sense of this world we find ourselves within. What are we to make of life’s opportunities?

It seems undeniable, much as we might rail against it, that we depend on our environment – our lives interwoven with all that surrounds us in so many delicate, powerful ways. Rather than being entirely independent, we need nature for the resources and climate that make life possible. This idea of humans existing “within” nature may be as childlike as it is fundamental: it’s where we stand. (Notes One)

As if life itself might be this chance at living and understanding life. That we’re here to understand all that allows us to live and all the ways those lives feed back into that world – this perpetual dance of forces and interactions serving to bring other things into existence. It’s amazing to think of all that’s gone into this: all the years and lives, hopes and dreams, progress and destruction. (Notes Two)

These days, though, we sometimes seem strangely detached from those realities (Notes Three). As if we’re retreating into this world removed from real life, not feeling consequences or accepting other perspectives. Reality, perhaps, left standing there filled with our neglect or disinterest as we increasingly see things from our side and take whatever it is “we” want from the world.

How closely are we living within our communities, be they natural or social? How much do our ideas on “life” track compassionately alongside all the other lives besides ours? Sometimes it seems such a one-sided relationship, as if we don’t truly care about the inner lives of those we affect. As if it’s now each to his own as we fight it out to grab whatever resources we can.

Alternatively, could we not weave ourselves somewhat differently into the world? Find more creative, harmonious ways to coexist with nature and other people? This idea that there might be another way, that greed and power may not be the only foundational principles on which to build our reality. That we could choose to stand differently in relation to one another and to nature.

Which, in roundabout ways, gets back to the idea of being “green” – this notion of humanity finding other paths toward living sustainably and constructively, rather than competitively or destructively, within our environment. Why are we so different? This exclusive sense with which we carve up the world and all the people in it, viewing each other as rivals. (Notes Four)

As thinking beings, is that the only way we can live within an environment? Breaking it down. Sharing it out. Seeking more. Why do balance, creativity and cooperation seem so difficult for us when, all around, they’re so natural?

Notes and References:

Note 1: Beauty and wonder in nature
Note 1: Nature speaks in many ways, do we listen?
Note 1: Our roles in relation to nature
Note 2: Appreciating other ways of being
Note 2: Intrinsic value of nature
Note 2: How ideas find their place in the world
Note 2: Where do ideas of evolution leave us?
Note 3: Detaching from the world around us
Note 3: Having a sense for being alive
Note 3: Do we live in different worlds?
Note 4: The optimism in nature
Note 4: Imagining another way?
Note 4: Living as a form of art
Note 4: The creativity of living

In terms of where we stand and the paths we take from here, there’s also Appealing to human nature or the human spirit.

Isn’t nature incredibly optimistic? Always shifting, growing, developing, interacting. Everything wisely and harmoniously balanced in the sense of order generally being maintained and any loss being another’s gain. A complex dance of relentless hope, courage and persistence as each creature does all it can to live, move forward and achieve its goals. Nothing sitting idly by, resigned to its inevitable fate, or aggressively plotting destruction.

As if the world around us is filled with this buoyancy of life seeking its way – this constant motion of cycles that, together, create all the conditions, resources and beauty from which we benefit. A place where even decay serves its purpose, enriching further growth. Somewhere where, arguably, nothing’s ever lost but forever shifting to exist in new forms as forces flourish and fade through each day, season or lifetime. (Notes One)

There seems such a beautiful example in nature; brutal and amoral as it often is. This sense in which there’s an acceptance there of the terms of existence, and a willingness to do all that can be done to further any cause within the limits as they’re established. Each plant, animal or landscape holding its own as best it’s able – insisting on itself until the moment of its defeat.

In that realm, the terms of evolution seem almost fair as each plays their role within an environment that benefits from them all. In our world, as an aside, doesn’t such thinking take on a different light? This sense in which our capacity for destruction’s too great and justification for overriding the concerns of others too questionable. Doesn’t natural law become immoral when it’s placed alongside our power for thought? (Notes Two)

With nature, though, it seems harm is rarely intended or carried through as it is with us. As if each being is simply living its life, fulfilling its nature, giving all it has and taking only what’s needed to sustain its ongoing existence. This picture of integrated sustainability as the various pieces of this universal puzzle come together to generate, maintain and enrich the incredible diversity of “life” that exists at this particular point in space.

Yet, fairly often, writing about nature seems to drift onto the knife’s edge of hope or despair (Notes Three). Is that because it’s simply an honest depiction of where we stand? That, faced with nature’s innocent optimism, “we” stand out as dangerously destructive? The juxtaposition of all this harmonious, hopeful wisdom placing our own attitudes and actions in stark contrast. As if nature’s reproaching us with its own way of being.

Behind the more calculated language of evolution and its battles, then, is there a better lesson to be learnt from nature’s optimism? Some way for the relentless hope of “life seeking to live to the full” to find another home within human society and the activities with which we fill it. Instead of competing as we do, might we not come together more harmoniously while still allowing for the truth of each being to flourish?

Notes and References:

Note 1: Beauty and wonder in nature
Note 1: Having a sense for being alive
Note 1: Nature tells a story, about the planet
Note 1: Gardening as therapy, the light
Note 1: Living the dream
Note 2: Our roles in relation to nature
Note 2: Where do ideas of evolution leave us?
Note 2: Things with life have to be maintained
Note 2: Detaching from the world around us
Note 2: Limits having a purpose
Note 3: Appreciating other ways of being
Note 3: Nature speaks in many ways, do we listen?
Note 3: Gardening as therapy, the dark
Note 3: Aesthetic value of nature
Note 3: Some thoughts about ‘life’

Thinking about where we stand in relation to nature, is it somewhere along the lines of “lead, tend, manage”? That we generally attempt to lead, guide or direct animals in tune with our own goals or wishes; tend to the requirements of plants; and manage the physical world in terms of the resources and shelter it offers or obstacles it sets in our way. Maybe, though, terms don’t matter so much as simply thinking of what our roles are?

Isn’t it all a picture of our relationship to the world around us? The rights we feel we have and degree to which we understand how it all works – what each being needs, its essential nature, and all it has to offer within the larger picture of how things come together. Don’t we have to “know more”? To wrap our heads around these natural realities and act wisely in their regard, rather than working against them. (Notes One)

Any kind of relationship is perhaps based on understanding and appreciation: that we see the other for what they are; respect their existence; give them space to live out the nature of their being (Notes Two). It’s not just about superimposing our way of thinking over theirs, is it? Lining everything up in terms of how it serves, supports or sustains “us” – everyone, then, fighting all others to be the one whose vision dominates.

Sometimes it seems that’s what we’re doing, though. Looking at the natural world as this vast storehouse we’re all fighting for the keys to access so we can be the ones with the power, the control, the rights to grant to others. As if humans, having spread over the globe, will now simply trade away whatever assets happened to land at their feet (Notes Three). The battle lines of our geographical divisions already having been set.

Within nature, though, don’t we bear more responsibility than that? As thinking beings, isn’t the demand that we use knowledge wisely almost intrinsic to any sense of us playing our role well? We might see life in terms of power – the give and take of rights, assets and money – but we could also look at things differently, if we choose to. We could surround the world with our intelligence in other ways.

Understanding life as well as we do, could we not interact with nature based on that intelligence? Not just thinking of “what we can get”, but also how we can cooperate with our environment to bring out the best in it all. Isn’t there wisdom in almost everything? In the passing of time, the interactions of seemingly insignificant creatures or chemicals – this whole dance of wisdom that’s spun around us each day. (Notes Four)

Of all the life forms living on earth, what should “our” relationship be to it all? Given we seem to be the ones with the power to do good or ill to almost everything that crosses our path, how we’re using that power must be quite significant.

Notes and References:

Note 1: Nature & the fulfilment of potential
Note 1: Things with life have to be maintained
Note 1: Tuning out from environment
Note 2: Seeing, knowing and loving
Note 2: Detaching ourselves from the world around us
Note 2: Ideas that tie things together
Note 2: The way to be
Note 3: Limits having a purpose
Note 3: Living the dream
Note 3: Economy as a battleground
Note 4: Nature tells a story, about the planet
Note 4: Appreciating other ways of being

Thinking about life, isn’t it simply the interplay of various different ways of being? A whole world filled by forms expressing their “life” in all these beautiful, unique, purposeful ways. Everything, generally, working together for mutual advantage while producing all of the varied landscapes and ecosystems that are supporting and enriching life on this planet.

It seems incredible to imagine all the life forms, all the activities and interactions coming together and layering up to create this world we see before us – all of the years that have gone into bringing us to this point. The very fact we have such diversity, such beauty, such resources to draw upon in our lives now being the result of countless periods of persistent growth, development and cooperation on the part of nature.

Even before looking at how the generations preceding us enriched our lives by their efforts, there’s this sense in which the very ground beneath our feet and air filling our lungs are the product of far-reaching cosmic realities and minuscule chemical processes. The whole planet, in a way, working in astonishing harmony to provide an environment in which humanity can exist.

Not to say, necessarily, that nature exists “in order” to give us life, but that it almost undeniably “does” – the results of nature’s activity being the climate surrounding us, wildlife we hear, plants we tend, creatures we observe, and food we consume. Doesn’t almost everything that comes to us arise out of nature before becoming part of our lives?

It might be our inclination to brush such wonder aside and move on to higher things, but is it wise to underestimate the value of nature? Are we right to see it mainly in terms of its capacity to sustain or withstand our activities? Viewing this planet as a series of assets we have a right to plunder, exhaust, scar and drive to the brink of instability seems a strange way to be treating our home.

Why is it that writing about nature often drifts to the negative? As a topic, it clearly touches onto the wonder, hope and beauty nature offers as much as it does the unfathomable risks of disregarding its deeper significance for our lives (Notes One). As if thoughts around nature are a double-edged sword of incredible richness and incredible danger.

Without the admiration, though, how are we to be inspired to protect it? Don’t we need to appreciate things if we’re to involve ourselves in maintaining a garden or defending a landscape? If we don’t “see” the unique wisdom of each separate being – following its trail to gain broader insight into the intricate fabric of the lives making up our own – it seems unlikely we’ll care enough to limit our own pursuits (Notes Two).

For some reason, humans wield such incredible power on this planet: the power to sustain, preserve, enrich and work alongside nature or do the opposite. Isn’t it important we appreciate the gift of life and choose to play our parts wisely?

Notes and References:

Note 1: Beauty and wonder in nature
Note 1: Aesthetic value of nature
Note 1: Living the dream
Note 1: Gardening as therapy, the light and the dark
Note 1: Nature & the fulfilment of potential
Note 2: Things with life have to be maintained
Note 2: Having a sense for being alive
Note 2: Intrinsic value of nature
Note 2: Detaching from the world around us
Note 2: Seeing, knowing and loving

As humans, aren’t we generally trying to hold things back or let them go? As if nature, creativity or life itself are these forces we either set loose or restrain for some reason – usually, a reason that suits “us” (Notes One).

Thinking of nature, almost all our foods must fit that description. Some plants we harvest early as we’re more interested in their leaves or stems than their ability to form roots. Others we grow for their fruits, needing them to go through almost all their life stages if they’re to provide us with the nourishment we’re after.

Aren’t we forever intervening to support or discourage different processes in nature so that we get what we want? Stepping in to stop plants from “wasting” their life force on outcomes we’re not interested in while encouraging the growth of whatever it is that meets our requirements.

Is it that, as humans, we effectively suppress the planet to suit our own needs? Letting things flourish when that suits us or stamping them out if we see no useful purpose. Similarly, with animal life it seems we’re often artificially involving ourselves in their life or breeding cycles to ensure a supply of whatever “product” we’ve deemed valuable or necessary for “our” existence.

Almost as if “to be human” is to evaluate the world around us in terms of the resources it offers, ways they match our needs, and ideas we have for getting more or less of what “we” want. The life forces of an entire planet enlisted for the purpose of our consumption. The living potential of each creature harnessed or suppressed to achieve our own ends.

It’s incredible to think of the position we hold within nature: the being capable of recognising its needs, understanding its environment, and finding ways of matching up the two through industrious activity. As if we’re holding the rest of nature back from fulfilling its potential in order that we might fulfil ours.

Don’t we generally seek the fulfilment of human potential? That we should be able to do all we’re capable of through the provision of opportunity, information, resources. We want ourselves to flourish, be all we can be, have nothing hold “us” back. All the while holding back almost everything around us – even other people – so that we might get ahead.

The place we occupy in the world, naturally or socially, seems so fascinating to contemplate (Notes Two). What is our philosophy of human life and its meaning? How much worth do we place on ourselves, others, and the roles we all play within these systems we’re each a fundamental part of?

If modern society’s the culmination of all that’s gone before, how aware are we of what’s made things as they currently stand? All the developments, breakthroughs, discussions that brought us here. All the energy, commitment, resolve, sacrifice by the countless beings whose forces were directed into furthering humanity’s path. What are we making of the opportunity for life this planet affords us?

Notes and References:

Note 1: Beauty and wonder in nature
Note 1: Things with life have to be maintained
Note 1: Humanity & creative instincts
Note 1: Living as a form of art
Note 2: Power and potential
Note 2: Where do ideas of evolution leave us?
Note 2: Problems & the thought that created them
Note 2: How ideas find their place in the world
Note 2: Do we know what stands before us?

Isn’t nature quite simply incredible? All the innate intelligence and breath-taking beauty of its forms, formulations, colours, patterns and behaviours. The world’s offering this impressive picture of harmonious integration that, unfortunately, stands in fairly harsh contrast to our own way of being. Why is it we find such balance so difficult to achieve? Let alone the beauty.

It just seems truly amazing how much diversity, colour and innovation exists out there: the intense or subtle shades found in plants; the complex structures and gestures as each specimen charts its path to fruition; the strange, unspoken wisdom of creatures coexisting in seemingly perfect self-regulation. Being surrounded by such creativity is pretty astounding, really (Notes One).

It’s almost too easy to discount it all. To dissect, intervene, and gain all the knowledge we’d like without too much thought for what’s going on without our involvement. Nature’s beavering away at these blossoms with depths of colours we couldn’t imagine and animals with secret, interconnected lives we’re barely aware of. Beyond that, there’s the fact it’s cosmic realities and rhythms bringing it all to life.

Being encompassed, held, supported by living systems that aren’t only aesthetically but also scientifically valuable seems such an incredible place to call home. Nature’s formulas can help us treat diseases; develop materials that perfectly marry form and function; and feel humbled by all the lifeforms containing more effortless perfection than we can currently manage.

Doesn’t nature offer us – among many essential things – a wonderful example of how to live? It achieves this self-sustaining balance between its parts that’s not only highly productive but also too magnificent for words. Isn’t beauty all around us? In the weeds growing up through the sidewalks; the birds living out their dramas above our heads; the whales swimming deep through the oceans.

We might, quite casually, label this as “nature” and get on with our lives, but sometimes it seems so important to step back a little and see it for what it is. Aren’t we completely dependent on this? So much of our food, shelter, resources, comfort, and inspiration comes from nature – from the lapping waters, stately mountains, silent forests, streaming sunlight, and exquisite beauty of whatever flower’s blossoming on any given day.

All this goes into sustaining human existence; and, while we’re not the ones directing it, it’s nevertheless the foundation on which civilisations were built. Haven’t we generally drifted towards good access routes, reliable water sources, or the abundant raw materials we industriously turn to our advantage? Haven’t our lives, throughout all time, been constructed around and shaped by nature’s realities?

Is it foolish – childlike – to see things that way? To see life as a beautiful complexity that’s hard for the mind to grasp or ego to settle within. To view our position as both powerless and precarious: the humility of dependence and hubris of attempting to master it for ourselves (Notes Two). As if nature’s this amazing gift we’re still struggling to understand, relate to, and work alongside more respectfully.

Notes and References:

Note 1: Living as a form of art
Note 1: Aesthetic value of nature
Note 1: Nature tells a story, about the planet
Note 1: Humanity & creative instincts
Note 1: The real value of creativity?
Note 2: Nature speaks in many ways, do we listen?
Note 2: Having a sense for being alive
Note 2: Things with life have to be maintained
Note 2: Detaching from the world around us
Note 2: Intrinsic value of nature

In very real ways, anything with life requires ongoing involvement to sustain itself. Nothing just ticks over, there’s got to be all this activity of cleaning things up, fuelling growth and repair, supporting functions for a lifetime’s duration (Notes One). It’s true of nature and, on a tangent, for projects. It all depends on something of a plan, a vision and commitment, plus the motivation to do all that’s needed to achieve those goals.

Nature plays its part, obviously. Each living creature seems perfectly capable of fulfilling its potential and meeting its requirements, given the right conditions. Plants, birds, mosses, trees and animals need little from us to be as they are (much as we might love to intervene, shaping and redirecting their existence). Nature’s remarkably self-sufficient, provided it lives where its needs can be met and in harmony with what’s around it.

Isn’t it only once “we” reached the point of overcoming our limitations and extending our footprint on this planet that things really began to change? We stepped into this new position and began encroaching on the needs and requirements of nature: taking away or altering habitats; moving plants and animals to different locations and expecting new things of them; rearranging this natural world to meet our own “needs”.

It’s incredible, the challenge humanity brings with it. Isn’t it the case that, having intervened in so much of Earth’s life, we’re now responsible for maintaining it? Stepping in and making changes surely means it’s down to us to figure out the solutions (Notes Two). Isn’t “holding ourselves back from destruction” an important part of maintenance? Upholding the delicate balance of lifeforms, environments and conditions that promote life.

Maybe what I’m getting at is the interplay of nature: how everything’s interconnected in this ongoing state of growth and development; the roles that we all have to play in that; the power of some and vulnerability of others; the responsibility that comes with those positions of power. Doesn’t this “because we can” attitude that often seems to be guiding human progress inevitably carry along with it the burden of understanding?

Our cleverness perhaps naturally gives rise to important questions about our wisdom. We involved ourselves. We crossed a line at some point and began redirecting nature for our own ends. We’ve been taking what we wanted and pushing ourselves ahead, often at the cost of nature – making it dependent on us, disrupting natural development, causing it to suffer so we can grow, expand our numbers, fuel all our activities and so forth.

Of course, “we” are also alive and have a lifestyle that needs maintaining (Notes Three). Nature, though, seems to take only what it truly needs; we seem more inclined to overdo it, perhaps seeking to fill our desire for meaning through the consumption of all this material. Human nature’s funny in that we seem to be saying that both nature and our own kind must compete with “us” in this fight for survival. Where does such thinking lead?

Notes and References:

Note 1: Some thoughts about ‘life’
Note 1: The beauty in home economics
Note 1: Nature speaks in many ways, do we listen?
Note 1: Detaching from the world around us
Note 2: Problems & the thought that created them
Note 2: Doing the right thing, we erase consequences
Note 2: Any escape from cause & consequence?
Note 2: Passivity, or responsibility
Note 3: What’s not essential
Note 3: Where do ideas of evolution leave us?
Note 3: Having a sense for being alive
Note 3: Imagining another way?

So much in the world is “alive” – possessing these characteristics of growth, sensitivity, responsiveness to environment that we parcel together under the notion of something being, in some way, involved with the processes of life on earth.

It’s incredible, really, that matter can be alive: animated in this way, able to feel the world around, equipped to respond productively and, often, intelligently within the vast, uncoordinated spaces of this planet (Notes One). Physics, biology and science in general can seem cold, calculated, detached and devoid of feeling, but when you really bring it to life there’s clearly beauty, poetry and wisdom to the overall effect it produces.

Maybe it’s “natural” we take this as a given and work from there? Sitting around in awe at the mysterious interrelationships of nature and valuable resources it places at our disposal perhaps wouldn’t get us that far; hence why Western society drew a line under such musings and shifted over to the more practical applications we now see all around us (Notes Two).

Clearly, we moved on. Drifting away from a previously close relationship with nature to live within increasingly urban environments where that world’s becoming a remote, luxurious commodity. It’s almost entirely out of view, unless it’s wheeled in as some sort of window-dressing or in response to outcry at its loss.

The sense of nature being a necessary part of life – a fundamental relationship we should keep in mind, tend, nurture, treasure and preserve – is seeming increasingly rare. More often, it’s repackaged as a lifestyle choice or held up as a cause for activism. And surely it’s right we cry out in its defence? (Note Three)

Most people seem to really value nature. Not just in the abstract, conceptual sense of “it being the foundation of life”, but because we care. We often truly love our pets, gardens, local parks and landscapes. Signs of the seasons are the stuff of life: annual traditions of foraging, noticing the first flowers of spring, and so forth. As beings who are alive ourselves, we perhaps feel deep affinity with the life in nature?

Is it that we’re simply humans living within slightly inhuman systems, trying to find space for our heart to be heard? That we care deeply and believe we’re doing the right things by recycling or supporting local industry, unaware of these other forces at play turning our good intentions into this other picture of the widespread exploitation of natural environments. Do we truly know and agree to what we’re a part of?

Because, really, society grew up around us. From fairly sustainable systems of agriculture, trade and genuine need, we drifted into this completely different world of consumption, waste and endless want. Somewhat idealistically, I’d imagine most people “want” to be living in greater harmony with nature; that we genuinely care for natural diversity and suffering. In reality, though, our lifestyle seems so much more detached (Notes Four).

Can we afford not to fully understand the world we’re all part of?

Notes and References:

Note 1: Some thoughts about “life”
Note 1: Nature tells a story, about the planet
Note 2: “Small is Beautiful”
Note 2: Intrinsic value of nature
Note 2: David Bohm, thoughts on life
Note 2: Right to look out for ourselves?
Note 3: Would we be right to insist?
Note 3: Nature speaks in many ways, do we listen?
Note 4: Detaching from the world around us
Note 4: Does anything exist in isolation?

The essence of all this is perhaps what I was trying to express way back in Living the dream.