We Are Not Apart From Nature, We Are A Part of It – It’s time to act like it.
Just a heads up – This week I was feeling both thoughtful and a little bleak and gloomy, so I wanted to take all of those thoughts out of my head and put them somewhere. So they ended up here. My apologies if it’s a little dark, but I think as someone who is generally optimistic about the future, sometimes the worries for our future creep in, and I need to get the gloom out. In openness and honesty, I felt I should share that side of my mind too. So here we go!
Are we apart from nature or are we a part of nature?
We “other” nature.
We often talk like nature is something out there to go explore. Something you have to leave the house or city to get to. I admit that even I fall into the trap of using phrases like “when I go out into nature…”. We categorize humans into one box and put all the other living things as being “other” from us. We level forests, grasslands, and meadows to build our cities then travel to exotic places to view nature, like we weren’t the ones who destroyed the nature where we live.
And yet, we’re just as connected to every other living thing as any other tree, elephant, or fish. Every breath we take is exhaled by trees to be inhaled by us oxygen breathing lifeforms. Every sip of water we drink comes from the same rivers, streams, and oceans as it has for billions of years. The water you’re drinking right now used to be inside the stomach of a dinosaur. Cool, huh?
Instead of thinking of us as something that is above nature, we have to recognize that we are just one more part of nature, and for the most part, we do not do our part well. We pollute like no other living being and we damage and destroy the very things that support our own lives: the air, the water, and the land from which we grow food.
We are not separate from the other living beings. We’re bound by the same resource cycles that every other living being is. We are unique only in the amount of damage that we do.
We are one part of hundreds of cycles for replenishing all the resources we depend on, and yet we carelessly destroy each one, assuming they’ll be fine. And we’ve come close to the edge now. We are now in one of the largest mass extinctions of species the planet has ever seen. The only difference compared to all the previous times is that this time, rather than being caused by natural sources, it’s because of us.
Now, don’t get me wrong. This isn’t about saving the planet. The planet will live on with or without us. But we’re destroying so many of the things that we need to stay alive, and if we wipe ourselves out, we will take out thousands of other species with us. For me, the goal to help others live sustainably is not for the planet. It’s for us. And our children. And because, as beings who have the power to shape the future of the entire planet, it’s the right thing to do.
If we’re gonna play god, let’s be a good one that is loved by all, not feared.
Let’s start living like planet earth is alive. Let’s start living like we care about supporting our future. Let’s start living like we love ourselves and each other.
This is why a big part of my mission is to help people accept that we are not apart from nature, we are a part of nature.
Thanks for reading.
