December 16, 2014 - 16:17
When going out into the beauty of the world that so abundantly surrounds us, we always speak outside of ourselves. When we talk about landscapes, we focus on the trees and flowers. We so often find ourselves as something added onto the backdrop of the environment. In doing this, we subject ourselves to the idea that nature is something outside of ourselves. We get it in our heads that we taint the natural world and, in doing so, ignore our position in the natural world. I assert that the environment is defined by the variation it can exhibit, includes life in a multitude of forms, and is subject to change. Nature is not simply a construct but a vessel by which life can manifest and permeate.
The idea of nature, environment and the natural world are much more abstract than we would like to believe. Yes, we can go out, touch a leaf and say that it’s nature. We can walk outside, look at trees and say that it’s the environment. But when you put more variables into the picture, the answer changes. We look out at a neighborhood of houses and say that it’s urbanization. Without thought to the stone that creates each brick or the plants that sit at the window of each home, we declare this land our own. It is funny how we believe that a minuet contortion of nature dictates absolute control. The dandelion that breaks through the cement sidewalk is nature. The wood that lines the floors of a home is nature. Nature is not limited to what is outside. Environment is not limited to what animals inhabit. The natural world is what it chooses to be, how it chooses to present itself. Man does have the power to manipulate the land, but so do birds and bees. Is a bird not using natural resources in an unconventional way when it twist and intertwines twigs to make a nest? Is a bee not deciding what flowers grow where and how well when it pollinates certain areas? Simply because the way we interact with the environment, we call it something different. If we think of nature as a body, we are simply cells in it. “’Body’ refers indiscriminately to any entity that exist,” (Alaimo). The separation of self from environment is dangerous because it allows us to cause harm and disconnect from the consequences that ensue. It gives us the ability to neglect our agency in the problem and play the bystander while still holding the detonator. The division demeans the “multiplicity” of nature. “To be a body a body or system—especially in the case of autopoietic entities—is to live from the world. These systems can only sustain themselves through flows of matter-energy through them,” (Alaimo). It would not be in our best interests to separate ourselves from the world, and we cannot continue to do so without negative backlash.
To deteriorate the barrier between ourselves and nature we must acknowledge our role as being a part of nature. We are living beings; nature nurtures life without discrimination. It provides for shelter, food and companionship. The environment was created to survive of itself and for the survival of its inhabitants. There are so many actors in the grand play of life and nature coordinates them all. The sun gives energy and light to the earth that it may be used to fuel and heat. Plants grow to feed the hunger of the stomach and desire of the eye. Animals graze upon landscapes to hunt and be hunted. Humans take part in the world to learn, reap and sow. There is an established relationship between all of these different networks. Though unique to each other, they all come from the same innate connection. To be an object in this world is to be an object of this world. Nature includes humanity. Just like the natural world, we grow and change—live and die. In walking among the fauna of the Morris Woods, I am reminded of different stages of my own life. I not only see the young trees as myself but see how I am a mirror to the tree as well. Though not seen or always felt, a connection is found in this moment of similarity. We are not separate and not pure apart from each other. We are both in a world that demands of us and pushes us. Though the construct of our traumas are different, our struggle is the same. Though we may cause traumas of the natural world, it is part of our place in it. “How can we simultaneously be part of such a long history, have such an important influence, and yet be so late in realizing what has happened and so utterly impotent in our attempts to fix it?” (Latour, 1). We confuse the world’s dilemmas for indirect consequences and not direct harms. We ignore the agency that environment has in itself and attempt to enact our own at will. In not realizing our place in nature and respecting nature as an actor in its own story, we fail to achieve the healing we ultimately seek.
Like a grand ecosystem, the environment as a whole has niches that need to be filled. Some are constructive, destructive or a combination of the two. Many situations call for the destructive to make way for a more magnificent reconstruction. In the case of wildfires, a forest can go through stages of growth and decay. The grand sweep of acres of land through fire can be necessary to allow for new growth and development of the environment. It is one of nature’s ways of keeping itself healthy. Though many can be put at the fault of man, some fires are caused by lightning strikes and other naturally occurring phenomena. The earth must be kept at balance and adjust to its ever-changing landscape. Now, prevalent in present as in past, humans are a part of that ever-changing landscape. Humans’ imposition onto nature is simply an abuse of our will. I do not say this to mean that humans have no place in the world but that we inevitably are unaware of our boundaries. Predatory animals do not venture into the territory of another group without expectation of retaliation. Plants do not grow onto the paths of others without a fight for resources. For humans, the retaliation we get for being too encompassing is that of natural disasters. We build homes to close to the beach and hurricanes come. We take over too much of the inland space and tornadoes hit. We feed off of the resources until they are no more. For this, the environment must protect itself and reset the balance. There are many sites all over the world, even in America, where places were inhabited until resources were diminished. A great example of this is the old mining town of Picher, Oklahoma. Active in the time of past wars, the town is now completely without human inhabitants. Seemingly a toxic wasteland, it is forgotten by most. What is not known by many is the small acts of resurrection that occur every second. Now left to its own devices, nature is able to repair itself without the destruction of mans’ hand. The strength exhibited by this environment is all over but does not become potent until needed. The beauty of worlds recreated can only be seen after destruction. The only wish I would have for man’s action, in response to this role, is that we do not overwork the environment to the point that survival is impossible.
The relationship between humans and nature is complicated. It is not fully discovered and appreciated. The connection between mankind and the environment is young in realization. It is important for us to recognize the flexible definition of nature, our role in it and our adaptation to it. For us to grow with, and in, the natural world, we must act more consciously. Viewing the environment as external and as a mere reflection of our own abilities is the first fault, but also the most detrimental. The environment has an agency that we must respect. We must realize the nature in ourselves and view the world through these lenses.