WHAT THE NATURE?

When I look around and see all the natural beauty that surrounds me, I cannot help but be in awe of it all. Such mastery and craftsmanship! Simplicity and complexity combined to create such a beautiful contradiction, all held together by a thin thread of balance. Whether we are conscious of it or not, nature has been the sole inspiration behind mankind’s inventions. She is indeed the muse that inspires creative expression and scientific invention. Maybe we can take comfort in the notion that she is not far away. We need only catch a glimpse of her gaze and then find ourselves flowing in her rivers of inspiration and carried away by the waves. That was a tad bit romanticized, but still, the connection is possible as long as we are available.

Human society has come a long way. Despite the few bumps on the road we have made immense progress. We have organized ourselves into an entity that lives by its own rules. Creating systems that allow us to override volatile aspects of nature. Farming, food storage, and irrigation systems are just a few examples of ways in which we have secured ourselves from being totally dependent on nature and her moods. All this is good! We can rest assured that we have food to keep us fed and shelter to keep us warm at night. We have also made great strides in harnessing the elements, allowing us to generate power at will. Now we can change the room temperature to our heart’s desire, we can send messages across the sky to distant lands all around the globe in an instant. This is the stuff that fairy tales are made of if you were born three centuries ago that is!

So where are we going with this, what’s the next step? A fully digitized world? Space colonies, spa treatments, and mud baths on mars? Can we take a step back and reflect on what it is that we have lost to gain all of this? How much of ourselves have we lost, and how much of our ecosystem have we compromised? How many species did we have to bring to the brink of extinction and how many human lives did we have to exploit? No matter how marvelous our creations could be, they will always pale in comparison to nature. Not just in beauty but purpose as well, because nature has mastered the art of balance. Everything in nature exists to contradict and simultaneously complement the rest of creation. Morbidity births beauty and from decay springs new life, and so is the intelligence of nature. In our pursuits, we have strayed from the path of nature. Nature is life. To go against it is to go against life itself. Our actions are evidence of this, because they have brought much death and destruction, and continue to do so.

I can only wish that humanity reflects on this soon and chooses a higher path, one that is aligned with nature. This does not mean that we will have to give up our freedom of creative expression, it is just an opportunity to be initiated by the master herself. Only then, will we fully realize our true potential. This is the reason I choose to follow nature and not society. Society is like an infant that wants total domination. It throws tantrums when it does not get what it wants. It will burn forests, set entire cities on fire, poison the water and contaminate the very air we breathe just to get its way. This is reflected in the kind of leaders we elect, they serve as a mirror for the current state of human consciousness. Therefore I choose to follow nature. Through her, I will learn to be a better brother to my siblings, a better neighbor to my fellow man, and a better guardian to the animal and plant kingdoms of the earth. Through nature, I will learn how to truly be!