Lesson from Nature

Nature shows us how to live. It give us all the examples, lessons, metaphors and stories we will ever need to learn how to live life more fully.

In the past year I’ve spent a majority of my time being in nature, learning to be present in it, to connect with it, to appreciate and marvel at it. I feel the most free and happy when I’m in natural places that are wild. It feels like returning home to a space that is expansive, peaceful, comforting, nurturing, and deeply loving. I can feel like a child and play and explore, knowing that all of nature is one big, free playground for everyone to enjoy.

At the same time, I also come across many natural places that have been co-opted for commercialization. There’s something deeply upsetting when I visit a natural place that has been turned into a touristic theme park. The large lines, the rules, the massive crowds, the tour groups, the signs, the fences and ropes, the trash, the rushing, the competition to take photos, the selfie sticks... I hate it all. It makes me feel sick. And my heart breaks for what the place has become.

What makes it so personally upsetting is that I see it as a greater analogy and reflection for how we treat ourselves. People have forgotten that they too are nature. We see it in all the ways people commodify and exploit themselves, willingly controlling their wild, natural spirits. People do this everyday in their lives by controlling themselves to present a certain image and make themselves fit for social consumption. And its broadcasting on social media only makes it more prevalent and more socially acceptable. This triggers me because it is what I once did to myself. I tamed my wild, inner nature, presented certain sides of myself to be more acceptable for work and society. I repressed the anger and resentment I felt when I behaved like the nice, amenable, responsible, productive, professional, rule-following asian woman archetype I was expected to play. When my wild nature just wanted to say f*ck it all, I’m living by my own rules.

There’s something deeply cathartic about being alone in nature. It somehow helps you remember a glimmer of your natural self. For me, I felt it was just a space where I could just be. There was no societal bullsh*t and rules and expectations and control. I could just be me, be free, and be in peace. I could breathe. And when I breathed, the air was clean. I could listen. When I listened, it was peaceful and calm. I could see. What I saw filled me with joy and wonder, not chaos and disappointment. I could feel. What I felt was expansive and freeing, not oppressive and restrictive. Nature became a safe space for me to re-learn how to just be myself and feel my way through the world. In a way, hiking and being in nature was an extension of my meditation practice. In my meditation practice, I’m able to find space within me to just be. To listen, to feel, to see, to understand. And when I’m in nature, I’m able to be in physical space where I can do the same.

Nature is not separate. Nature is what we are.

Humans are natural beings of the Earth and of the Universe. The same web of energy connects all of life—people, animals, plants, trees, earth, stars, etc. People have just forgotten about this symbiotic relationship over time, and choose to close off to it. The severing of ties from the land causes pain that only gets internalized and projected. Either through egoic beliefs of superiority—believing that we don’t need nature, or fears of wild, natural places and animals.

Nature is not controllable. Nature is wild.

This separation from nature and denial of our natural selves is an ugly, abusive relationship humans have created for and within themselves. Humans attempt to own, control, conquer, separate, divide, pave over, destroy, exploit and abuse nature to project and suppress internal fear, guilt and suffering. But ultimately, nature cannot be owned, controlled, contained nor divided. It does not know ownership, boundaries, restrictions, or country and cultural lines. Nature is a system, a network…rooted in the same core of the planet and informed only by higher intelligence of the Universe. For example, the very tree you touch in your backyard is connected to everything that grows from the ground via a larger mycelium network spanning half the width of the milky way galaxy. Nature will always run wild no matter what we do. And in our true nature so are we if we let it free. Let nature serve as an example of the raw beauty and expansiveness that we all yearn for deep in our souls. If it is left untouched, uncontrolled, free to be—to grow and go through the natural cycles of the universe—it will thrive and inspire.

Nature is not limited. Nature is abundant.

Nature is energy. The same energy as the Universe. Energy is always flowing through us and all around. When nature is free to go through its cycles without exploitation, depletion and control, it will regenerate and grow as it should and provide all that it needs to provide. Nature is powerful and resilient. It is expansive, infinite and incomprehensible to most human minds.

Nature is not ownable. Nature is free.

Nature may be divided, sold, owned and exploited for human consumption…but ultimately nature can never truly be owned by humans. We are simply allowed to temporarily occupy, enjoy and use it for the short lifespan of our species. Long before humans ever existed, nature was there witnessing the changes of the land, oceans and organisms. Nature is free and should always be free for everyone to enjoy. To charge ‘admission’ to nature is a crime. Nature doesn’t belong to humans, it’s an ecosystem for all living beings.

Nature is not to be feared. Nature is love.

Nature will always hold us in a way we will never be able to fully comprehend nor appreciate. It is the greatest mother, nurturer, teacher, guide and source of inspiration. It will always be there to support and love us unconditionally, for whoever needs and seeks it. When you open yourself up to the beauty, love and wonder of nature…I promise you will know what it feels like to be truly loved. It will restore your sense of hope and magic in the world. Nature holds no fear, only love. And it only has love to share with us.

Nature is not a vacation. Nature is home.

Nature feels like home because it is what we are. To perceive nature as a vacation or an escape is to be caught up in the illusion of our consumerist society. Living life in a concrete box with climate control and staring at screens all day is not home. And if we need a vacation or escape from our everyday lives then let that be a sign that something is off. Living in harmony with nature creates a home environment that feels more peaceful, content and joyful.

The severing of ourselves from nature leads to the ultimate suffering of feeling alone and to the destruction of our land.

When people destroy and abuse nature, people destroy and abuse themselves. Every time nature is destroyed, exploited or depleted, it is a reflection of what people do to themselves. Sometimes, the way people treat each other and nature is like a cancer, because we don’t recognize ourselves in each other.

The destruction of nature is justified as a means of survival when it is really just greed and capitalism at the expense of people and land. It is how human rights abuses are justified as well—rape, terror, genocide, slavery… It is a vicious, messy, and cruel interconnected web of being; a dark cycle that continues to shape our existence on this planet. Unless we continue to break it.

The basic act of respect—towards yourself, towards others, towards how you expend energy and resources, towards the environment and container that we live in—is all that is required. We must all realize that we are no better than any other living thing on this planet. The same energy that we are made of is the same energy that runs through all living beings—animals, the trees, the land. That energy connects us all and we are reliant on each other. Everything is intertwined.

Nature is an evolving masterpiece created over billions of years. It is here to remind us of the energy and magic all around us and within.