There is this special balance to how the nature around us allows for life to grow and flourish within its environment, that I believe is often overlooked and taken for granted. As Barbara Kingsolver said, “I think of the children who will never know, intuitively, that a flower is a plant’s way of making love… or that trees breathe out what we breathe in.” I have the sense that nature thrives off of a state of equilibrium, where all of its species live peacefully in coexistence, knowing they each need other to survive. As I’ve said in my previous posts, it seems that all parts of the earth work together to function as a whole, but hierarchical thinking has justified a world of dominance. Our readings this week showed us the power of understanding our roots to nature, and the importance of wildlife for the benefit of our own psychological states. We have learned to question how the destruction of natural wildlife for a man-made way of life through commercial development kills the natural communities of the earth. I think we have become so consumed with creating our own world that we forget where we, as humans, come from and we lose sight of how a balanced, natural environment is good for our souls. We have this estranged relationship with nature, that needs mending because, “wildlife puts us in our place,” (Kingsolver).
The picture above is from my hometown of Sandwich, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It is of a beautiful weeping willow tree that use to live in the center of my hometown. I get a little sentimental over this tree because I grew up watching and admiring its natural beauty. As a kid it reminded me of Pocahontas, when she would listen for and appreciate the wisdom of Grandmother Willow. She was wise because she had lived for so long. Her strength and knowledge reminds me of what Terry Tempest Williams said, “these lands have been here for millions of years, and they will certainly outlast us by another million years or more,” (6). But, now the weeping willow that I watched and loved growing up as a I drove by or stopped to take pictures underneath it’s canopy, has now been taken down for commercial purposes. I was heartbroken when hearing of the news. I remember feeling as if my home had been invaded, and destroyed. That tree was a part of my world for so long and now it is gone. Williams would see this kind of human destruction as a result of people being so separated from nature. I agree with Kingsolver that wildlife helps to put us is our place, because it helps us to see the earth in its natural state, untouched by the greed, corruption, or ignorance of humankind. I think we become accustomed to our environment and when we stay in one place, such as a city, it becomes our normal and we can forget that the Earth was not made this way. We stop questioning if its okay to cut down trees and build more corporations or developments. We become use to breathing in the toxicity we create. But, nature has the power to bring us back to our roots, back to a natural state of balance and coexistence that our world has thrived on in the past. Williams believes, “there is a resonance of humility that has evolved with the earth. It is best retrieved in solitude amidst the stillness of days in the desert,” (17).
Kingsolver, Barbara. Knowing Our Place, PBS, 2002, http://www.pbs.org/now/printable/transcript_smallwonder_print.html. Accessed 15 Feb 2019.
Williams, Terry Tempest. Home Work, https://umassd.umassonline.net/bbcswebdav/pid-1227044-dt-content-rid-11913334_1/courses/D2830-12796_MASTER/Scanned%20from%20a%20Xerox%20multifunction%20device001%283%29.pdf. Accessed 15 Feb 2019.
Brenna, George. Weeping Willow Near Sandwich Town Hall on Chopping Block, Cape Cod Times, 2016, https://www.capecodtimes.com/news/20160822/weeping-willow-near-sandwich-town-hall-on-chopping-block. Accessed 15 Feb 2019.
Hi Victoria,
I really like your comments about dominance and hierarchical thinking. I think it’s so important to know that we should be living in a state of equilibrium with nature instead of dominating it. Sometimes I feel like people don’t think they need nature, or that they only need it for food. I also feel like people assume that we as humans are the top of the food chain, when we are far from it. It takes natural disasters, shark attacks, bear attacks, et cetera for people to realize how our society and way of life couldn’t mean less to every other animal and has only been a destructive force throughout history thus far.
Hi Victoria,
I am in total agreement with you in regards to nature/wilderness being beneficial for our wellbeing. When I go visit the mountains in New Hampshire I feel so renewed afterwards. Nature is where I go to recharge because commercialized society with its cars, traffic, buildings, and pollution can be very overwhelming to me.
I am so sorry to hear about the Weeping Willow that was removed. That’s so sad! The quote you provided by Williams about how certain lands will outlast us after millions of years was an important one. It makes me think about all the plastic pollution in the ocean and how human ignorance has lead to an alteration of this very important natural system. Yes, the ocean will go on long after we are all gone, but what kind of damage will we(humans) have left behind?
Hi Victoria,
I’m so sad that willow tree is no longer there. I loved how you related that to Pocahontas when you were a child. Even in cartoons, nature is considered female.
Your post is very intuitive of the fine balance we have with our environment. I liked that you picked up on William’s point that nature humbles us. It sure does. There is nothing that I can create that will ever match the beauty of the mountains or the wilderness of Utah. Nor will I ever be as powerful as the bobcat that stared down Kingsolver. Like you, I believe that humans have not been humbled enough and without being put in our place we have dominated our environment.
Did you read the bell hooks excerpt? I was fascinating to read about the relationship between black and Native American people in the United States. I found that both had a relationship also with the earth, one that the white man lacked. She writes “the sense of union and harmony with nature expressed here is echoed in the testimony by black people who found that even through life in the new world was ‘harsh, harsh,’ in relationship to the Earth one could be at peace” (hooks, p. 364). Just how we fear that forget we are from the earth, hooks writes that in our modern society we have forgotten that black people were “people of the land.” The migration north has broken their spirituality with the earth.
Do you think the next generation will forget where vegetables come from? Will there even be a patch on earth left for vegetables to grow?
-Nina
Hi Victoria,
I love the Cape. I have gone there many times throughout my life. First I went with my parents while growing up and I just found out in recent years that before they had children, still newlyweds they dreamed of moving to the Cape. But life got in the way and they never made it there. They do now have a timeshare in Yarmouth that they go to each June. I’ve being visiting them while they’re there with my family. My husband and I got married on the beach in Barnstable back in 2007. I therefore, have a great love for the Cape and it is a big part of my history.
It is sad when something like the tree in Sandwich you mention being taken down and just disappearing from every day life. These landmarks are a huge part of our upbringing and so meaningful to the inhabitants of the towns. I wrote about my current town going through some struggles dealing with builders trying to take over our town center and the fight is a passionate one for the town’s people. Our town doesn’t even allow any lights on signage (the signs can have spotlights on them but they cannot have electric or backlights) so preservation of an “old town” feel has been ever present and written into laws for many years. I’m sorry you lost such a meaningful place that offered you comfort and I hope that this type of thing doesn’t happen again. It’s always strange to come back home and find things completely changed and unrecognizable. My hometown in CT doesn’t look anything like it did while I was growing up. Change isn’t necessarily a bad thing but there are certain things that should be protected and part of the charm lives in the history of a place, like my current residence and like Sandwich as well.
-Tara