Where did this rift between the earth and its caretakers come from? And, more importantly, how can we mend it before it is too late?
Our Other Half
I have a theory. Perhaps it could explain why there is an ever-increasing amount of depression, hatred, hopelessness and alienation in our world. My theory is simply that humankind needs a healthy relationship with nature. Nature is necessary for our survival and sanity. Have you ever noticed how a walk in the woods can lift your spirit or a blooming flower on a windowsill can give you hope? Living in harmony with nature does more than just preserve the environment, it makes us more whole, more human, and more in touch with ourselves and the world. As our relationship with nature deteriorates, so does the health of our society and ourselves.
There is simply nothing like a shower in a pure glacial waterfall or reaching the top of a mountain after a long rigourous hike. The adrenaline rush can't be beat and neither can the near-spiritual experience. Perhaps that's why I must get away from civilization and spend at least one week every summer backpacking in unspoiled beauty. For the last three summers, I have visited different National Parks. These annual trips have become my pilgrimage and my escape. I return home feeling refreshed, at peace, and ready to take on the world (or just another year of school).
There was a time when humans had an almost symbiotic relationship with nature. Our ancestors viewed the land as a gift and something to be cherished, not conquered. Today the earth is treated more like a cheap hotel room we can trash without consequence than something we can't live without. Perhaps we should start viewing nature as our other half.
Humankind needs a healthy relationship with nature. Nature is necessary for our survival and sanity.
At some point in history, perhaps gradually over time, a schism occurred between us and the natural world. We began to view the world in economic terms. In our quest to quantify, control, and own every corner of the globe, we began to see the world not as part of ourselves but as a bank of resources we could use up. What humankind seems to fail to understand is that we can only withdraw from this bank for so long. Sooner or later the balance becomes negative.
The idea that we need nature is not a new one. Many great thinkers discuss the natural world and our relationship to it. Thoreau is a perfect example. He proved that one can live by nature alone, and in fact can thrive living in harmony with it. Heidegger stressed our connection with the world and our role as the world's stewards. He said that most people go through life without seeing their connection to the world and that they are a part of it. Most people live in a state of inauthenticity, and would rather not face the reality that everything, including themselves, is connected. Our refusal to realize the importance of our connection with the earth could be the cause of many of society's ills, as well as our own.
Where did this rift between the earth and its caretakers come from? And, more importantly, how can we mend it before it is too late? It is difficult to pinpoint when the split began, but there are signs of it throughout history. The age of the Enlightenment in which science, progress, and technology became our central focus led us to view nature as ours for the taking. The Industrial Revolution furthered the idea that nature was simply a stockpile of raw materials and resources that could be processed into mass-produced commodities. The entire history of civilization is full of examples of the growing distance between humans and the natural world.
Where did this rift between the earth and its caretakers come from? And, more importantly, how can we mend it before it is too late?
Today most of us are about as far from nature as we can get. The vast majority of people live in urban centers or suburbs where any natural elements are seen in the context of concrete, power lines, and traffic. In the suburbs lawns are mowed and bushes are trimmed, altered from their natural state. We put up our fences and our skyscrapers, build roads and big box chain stores, pave huge parking lots and drive around in SUVs. Most of us don't even know where our food was grown or how it got to our table.
As depression, violence, corruption, and environmental exploitation rise, I can't help but think that somehow all these problems are connected to the growing distance between ourselves and nature. Maybe if politicians spent less time in corporate conference rooms or stuffy offices and more time in the forest, they would start passing laws that protect the environment instead of the interests of those profiting from its exploitation. Perhaps if the average person spent more time outside and less time in a cubicle, the rates of depression and anxiety would start going down instead of up. Our current way of life it not just making the environment sick, it is slowly killing us as well.
How can we rediscover the connection with nature that we have lost? No matter where we are, we need to make the natural world part of our every day lives. Grow a garden, even if it's in a pot. Go on walks among trees instead of cars and streetlights. Visit wildlife in its natural habitat and discover why it is worth saving. Vacation in a National Park instead of a theme park. Reversing our separation from nature will be a series of little steps like these. The more aware of nature we are, the more we will realize how our actions affect it.
Perhaps part of the reason we feel so separate from nature is simply in the way we define and think about nature. What we often don't remember is that we are part of nature. As human animals, we are just as connected to the natural world as the bear or the bird. But consumerism and our pursuit of progress has forced a view of nature as something to dominate and exploit, not something to treasure and preserve. Rekindling our connection with nature and beginning our journey on a path to sustainability will require not just a change in lifestyle, but a change in the way we view the natural world and ourselves.
Our current way of life it not just making the environment sick, it is slowly killing us as well.
In his book Regarding Nature: Industrialism and Deep Ecology, Andrew McLaughlin discusses how the industrialist view of nature has led to many current problems. Our market-based economic model has us believing that we must pursue constant progress and growth, a path which is unsustainable and unrealistic to say the least. "The economic systems that we construct and live within are, I suggest, the primary immediate causes of the relations between society and the rest of nature," McLaughlin states. The way we regard nature has a lot to do with how we treat it.
What McLaughlin suggests is embracing Deep Ecology, a way of viewing nature and everything in it (including ourselves) as part of one system. It seeks to transform society to be more compatible with nature and to view things in ecological, not just economic terms. A shift to Deep Ecology would mean a drastic and needed change in our way of life. We would have to live in a way that allows the earth to support and sustain all its inhabitants. The first step to embracing Deep Ecology is to realize how important our connection to nature really is.
Every summer when I backpack in nature's splendor, I am reborn. A week in the wilderness with nothing but a few friends and a pack is all I need to feel whole again. The peace I find in nature is indescribable. Anyone can find this peace; nature gives it freely to anyone willing to look. We only need to look as far as our own backyards.
Deep Ecology is a way of viewing nature and everything in it (including ourselves) as part of one system.
