It’s Too Easy to Forget, We’re All Part of Nature

“The goal is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with nature.” – Joseph Campbell

The urban cacophony in our day-to-day lives has put an invisible veil on our eyes. We are so led by our busy schedules that we tend to ignore the importance of nature and by doing that, it makes it easier for it to disappear without us even noticing once. We are destroying nature in the name of technological and societal advancements.

Pause for a moment and ponder, how often do you get to hear the sparrows chirp in your backyard? How often do you fill your lungs with non-polluted fresh air? How often do you see places filled with lush greenery?

The answer to all these questions is the same for most people – “Almost none!” From the birds to the animals to the ozone layer up in the stratosphere, we have harmed them all and sadly many among them have either already been extinct or are on the verge of extinction. The sad truth is that we are so engrossed in our busy lives that we have taken nature for granted.

In Shadowshine, his debut novel about a captivating animal adventure, Johnny Armstrong says among humankind’s biggest failings is not understanding that we are all part of nature. Of all the communities that are most important to our long-term survival, the community of nature is at the top of the list.

Living in the information era, we are bombarded every minute with mind-boggling amounts of information. The positive side is that we can be aware of the advancements, but on the negative side our civilization as a whole is suffering from a plethora of problems which didn’t even exist in our previous generations. Sadly, the negative side has weighed down a lot more than the positive.

In this hustle-bustle, we forget that we need nature to survive; we forget that our cores are all connected to the whole of life on the minute cellular level. Without nature, life cannot exist, let alone humans! There is a harmonious symphony in our universe that keeps everything connected and each one of us has a crucial role to play in it.

Now, do not get the wrong notion that it is all bad out there and we need to live reclusive lives at a snail’s pace. No matter where we live, we have nature all around us. We just need to embrace and acknowledge it as an integral part of our lives. Taking small initiatives by ourselves and making it an individualistic priority to do our part, no matter how small, will ensure the balance again.

Take a walk by the park, spend a weekend amidst the woods, go on an animal adventure in the zoo, plant a few trees, minimize air and water pollution as much as possible – these are the simple yet highly effective things that each one of us can do. It might seem insignificant individually but when each one of us becomes responsible, our planet can again be a wonderful place to live in harmony.

To conclude in the words of John Muir, “And into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my soul.”