Nature is a part of us

Nature is something relative to us. To some it is the park in the middle of the city, to others it is the field in their backyard or the countryside. To many, especially in the developing world, it can represent destruction. Some see it as a force we can abuse others one we should fear. To me, and I’m sure many others, I like to feel a part of nature. Nature is a forest in the middle of nowhere to which I can escape the realities of daily modern life; walk through, absorb the smells, watch the small ants or look at the clouds in the sky. In this way, it helps me reflect on my life.

However, the aesthetic of nature is finite. We like to look at nature but more than often we abuse it. To me and probably many others, we want the luxury of modern life but also the option to look at nature. We might complain that we don’t have enough shampoo but then we might also complain that we see too much urbanisation or development. To some this extends to complaining about developments that protect nature like wind farms; those that might tarnish the fields they look out upon.

At first glance, we might assume this is the separation of humanity and nature, it is not. The skyscraper we look up upon; the metals at one time were minerals of the Earth. The fossil fuels we burn at one point were deep within the Earth. The shampoo we use may include palm oil, a product that reeks of rainforest destruction. If we really look we are surrounded by nature in every waking moment of our lives. Medicine, cars, buildings the infrastructure we rely on at one point were what most would consider nature. For even the person that detests nature, and I’m reminded of Homer Simpson and his pig silage, they are a part of nature.

Perhaps one day we will realise that when we try to dominate nature, we are only subduing ourselves.