When people confine themselves to their prisons made of asphalt, concrete, glass, bank accounts, office cubicles, new cars, large homes, malls, theaters and our inflated egos, we have no concept of what our natural world offers us. I believe some people feel they are bigger than the world, own it and have the right to destroy it. The word that comes to mind is entitlement. Yet, we really have no idea how insignificant we are in the scheme of nature. How many of us focus on what we can take from the world not what we can offer back to the world? What direction would our world be moving towards if more (idealistically everyone) were to connect with nature? Touching nature does not need to be a week long back packing trip. It can be a walk in a natural area or wildlife refuge or the local botanical garden or your own garden or a farmers field. I like how John Sexton says it in the quote I posted a few days ago, “…I feel quiet, yet intense energy in the natural elements of our habitat. A sense of magic prevails. A sense of mystery. It is a time for contemplation, for listening…”
3 Comments
Earl
Monte, It’s hard knowing just where the balance point is. We all enjoy the benefits of mans technical achievements and while I’d quickly agree we’ve moved too far in being unplugged from our natural surroundings I’m sure we’d really not want to do without it all. it’s a subject I think of regularly in trying to find my own perfect balance as a lover of nature and a gadget guy. 🙂
Lovely photo that pulls you back into it.
Monte Stevens
Sorry its’ taken my a while to respond but I’ve been under the weather for a few days. I experienced first hand the benefits of mans technical achievements this morning while at the ER. I think the romantic in my jumps out there once in a while.
ken bello
It’s a delicate balancing act we see in our daily lives. While we have to live in an advanced technical age it should not impact our appreciation for the natural world. You bring up a good point, there does seem to be a lot of “entitlement” and I see it in a lot of young, well educated people now. I don’t see the same commitment people had 30 or 40 years ago.