Tom will recognize this spot as we visited it while he and Kathy were in Colorado. As I’ve mentioned before I head east of town when the city noise begins to cloud my thinking. It seems that’s happening much more often, too. I took this yesterday afternoon.
I was disappointed. I stopped at two separate locations where I enjoy taking in the view and the silence. At my first stop someone had dumped a full size couch with two tires on it. They left it half on the road and half in the ditch. No respect! At the second location, where this image was taken, the owners have blocked the turnoff with a half dozen tires. Scattered around were empty booze bottles and trash. I can see why they want to block the turnout. Instead of coming out here to this place in nature and bringing back the peace and serenity it offers, they bring the chaos and disorder of the city and trash it. I can’t even come up with words to describe my disdain for this. My anger is not directed towards the people who trashed both locations but is directed towards our throw away culture. I’m going to need to work through this today. Enjoy the long weekend!
8 Comments
Tom Dills
That is indeed a beautiful spot, and it’s a shame to see it closed off as a result of idiots. Sorry for the strong term and I hope it doesn’t interfere with your quest for making peace with the situation. It’s just that I get tired of seeing splendid things ruined by people who don’t take the time to appreciate them. A road that I used to drive by on the way home from work has a gate with a sign saying “no dumping.” Of course most of the time I drove by the sign was obscured by trash!
Monte Stevens
Idiots works! It’s way to common. I think the next time I go out there I’m gonna take a trash bag. Each little bit helps!
Joseph Smith
Just the other day I saw a post from a photographer in Leeds, England, an aerial view of the refuse left behind from an outdoor concert. You could hardly see the grass! He blamed it on single-use pop-up tents and canopies that are sold there. They just leave them behind for others to collect and dispose of.
On a happier note, I watched a PBS documentary called “Prosperity” which focused on companies doing sustainable/reusable manufacturing, farming, etc. and working with underdeveloped countries to grow that model locally. I do believe there are small niches of good happening in places.
Monte Stevens
I’m aware there are good things happening but that’s a small number in relation to all the use. It seems I read where Whole Foods or someone like them is going to eliminate all plastic bags but not until 2025.
Paul
Ghandi said that you must be the change that you wish to see in the world. I remember seeing that many, many, many years ago and took that to heart. Now, from time to time, when I go out into the woods, I take a trash bag with me and pick up stuff along the way and deposit it into a trash can. It’s not much effort, especially if you get one of those dohickies, grabbers (which reminds me, I need one of those) so save your back. 🙂
Anyway, there’s a guy that I see most every morning walking through our neighborhood. He has a grabber and a trash bag. He picks up bits of litter, etc, every morning. It’s quite inspirational, actually.
I’m not a big fan of it, either, not at all, but don’t let it ruin my day, or bother me … I can pick up a few bits here and there and be happy about my efforts. Maybe someone will see me and do it too, and so on, and so on, and so on. At least that is what I hope.
Earl
What Paul said. In our current situation, I always pick up the “forgotten” neighborhood dog poo as I walk Maggie. Don’t know that it makes a difference in anyone else’s behavior but it makes me feel better. 🙂
Cedric Canard
When it comes to rubbish, I like Paul’s idea. I do the same thing. As Robert M. Pirsig said in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, “the place to improve the world is first in one’s own heart and head and hands”. Will it make a difference? I suppose it depends on the result that is sought. I see it as an act of kindness, to no one in particular perhaps, but as such, it makes a difference to me, to my own wellbeing. It feels good to do something nice. You could say that I do kind things for very selfish reasons. Selfishness aside, it is also an act of acceptance of the things over which I have no control.
As for finding peace. Perhaps this will be useful. Perhaps not. My experience is that the world tends to reflect where I am at in my head. My brain notices what preoccupies me. If I am fighting internally against doing something I need to do then my brain might focus on all sorts of excuses for not doing what I should be doing. If I feel victimised then my brain might notice all my flaws or my shortcomings. And if I am feeling upset or disturbed or stressed then my brain will fixate on “chaos and disorder”, as you put it, even in tranquil places where the mere murmur of a running stream or the chirping of crickets may seem irritating and provocative, let alone rubbish spoiling the landscape.
I guess what I am trying to say, rather clumsily, is that if peace is defined as the absence of disturbances then finding it and holding onto it becomes a difficult task because that kind of peace is somewhat fragile. And if peace is attributed to a place or a time of day then clearly it will not last. But I find that serenity and disorder, either or both of these things (or anything in between) can be found anywhere, be it in nature or in cities, in monasteries or in emergency clinics. What I feel from my immediate environment at any particular time depends on my own inner state. So the goal to aim for is the peace that comes from inside, true peace that is independent of all external things, and therefore cannot be disturbed or lost. Getting there, of course, is no small feat and while being in a natural environment can make it easier to gain some perspective, which in turn can help bring that kind of inner peace, I have found that it takes some amount of detachment, especially from my beliefs, and, as I mentioned before, some amount of acceptance for the things I cannot change. I think it was D.T. Suzuki who said something like: if feeling anxious or depressed, do not ask “what do I need to feel at peace?”, ask instead “what am I doing to disturb my inner peace?”.
Monte Stevens
I very much agree with you. The peace, serenity, joy, happiness does come from within. I start my day with a quiet time of prayer and meditation. The less noise whether internal or external will be a step forward in a good direction. I’m not one to start the day with the world’s new.