(Human) Nature
Nature always finds a way. At the very essence it has a symbiotic relationship to every living thing. A cyclical tale of balance within life and death. With immense diversity and patience. Human nature, however, still has lots to learn.
I have always had a fascination with human nature compared to the natural world surrounding us. We call it the “civilized world” but in the most concentrated areas for this have lost touch with nature itself and most importantly - ourselves. And ironically, we “escape” our daily life of stress, achievement, and material things, into the forest, to the beach, by the lakes and rivers, and we most often feel better and more at peace from it.
Balance is at the very heart of nature, an intricate web of beings supporting, generating, surviving, thriving. Domination and destruction is unfortunately at the heart of human nature, at least the more removed we are from nature. When I say domination and destruction I mean it on many different levels: of the mind, of the body, of each other, of our aspirations, of ownership, of material things, of land and property.
The more we lose touch with nature, I believe that we lose touch with our own human nature as well. This is evident when we look at indigenous communities where they live WITH nature instead of OFF nature. They build a support system that is symbiotic to nature and to each other where it based on connection, co-habitation with nature, and mainly purpose-driven. While many modern societies today are more distant from nature, the people are hyper-individualized, and mainly profit-driven.
Nature has a way of adaptation, to direct nurture where it is needed, and to prevail even in the most dire circumstances. Because there is always a striving for balance amidst creation and destruction. Too much of either makes the scales tip too far and thusly creates a reaction to every action. When the scales are balanced, the equilibrium is sustainable and small shifts occur for the benefit of all living things.
Human nature has much to learn of balancing the scales. Over-development, over-consumption, over-achieving, over-indulging, and over-thinking often times brings us beyond the edge of control and we find ourselves more aware when it’s too late. Our inherent desire for more of everything without the consequential thinking is far more harmful than it is beneficial. And I am not writing this as some nihilistic aspect of life as meaningless, on the contrary, I believe and strive for the betterment of human nature and how we can look at the ones that live closer WITH nature and learn to better ourselves. I am constantly learning and evolving how to live closer to nature (and to my human nature), in a symbiotic relation with myself, with others, and with the world. And I see how this is also coming from a very privileged personal experience, which is why I want to bring more attention and effort into collective liberation and social justice for all.
Imagine this. You live in the city with a regular job, you pay rent, buy groceries, spend time with friends on the weekends, you have goals and dreams, it is a comfortable life, yet also sometimes stressful, overwhelming, and boring at times. On certain occasions, you head out of the city, to a lake, to the ocean, to a forest nearby. Maybe you leave your phone and all its responsibilities in the car and just meander aimlessly amongst the trees, by the shoreline, or sitting on the grass watching the clouds drift by. You breathe deeply and you feel your mind soften from all the should, could, have-to’s, and musts. You begin to listen. To your inner world and the world surrounding you. And most likely this thought comes into your mind “I should do this more often…”
Now, this way of life isn’t accessible to everyone, financial security, freedom, equal opportunity, all play a large role in this, which also affects our human nature and the space we are allowed to explore and express ourselves. And for some, living closely with nature might be a reality where any urban kind of life is strange and undesirable. Everything and everyone is part of the intricate weaving of the world, we are all affected by the balance of the scales, and the more we aim for collective care rather than individual control, the stronger we weave the bonds with each other and with nature as well.
One of our greatest flaws as humans is that we don’t know what we have until it is gone. The disconnect we are experiencing with nature itself is also a disconnect we are experiencing within ourselves. The forgotten yearning to get lost in the forest is also the forgotten yearning to get lost within ourselves. It is no wonder that when we step out of our urban lifestyle into something rural, we experience a large part of ourselves that hasn’t been tended to. And the more we tend to that part, the more we see how the daily grind for a paycheck, for profit, for material things lose their shine, and we begin to see how human connection, a relationship to nature, to animals, to plants, become more vibrant.
Because nature is always a nourishing place to experience. Every sunrise, sunset, moonlit walks, singing rivers, whispering trees, fragrant flowers, the cleansing rain. They speak to us. Beckoning us to listen. To learn. To return to what was always there, before we walked on the moss, before we drank from the stream, before we rested on the rock underneath the sun. And still today there are people who never stopped doing this. Who found wisdom and knowledge, care and protection, medicine and healing, stories and myth. The so-called “civilized world” has a lot to learn from indigenous people and their communities.
To find a balance between the old and the new, not as a contradiction or replacement, but as a co-existing and collaborative exploration. To weave science and myth, to provide technology with ethical and sustainable means, to promote diversity and inclusivity, to consume consciously, and to listen patiently. These qualities are rooted in nature, they can most certainly be adapted to in our human nature as well.
When we tend to give more, rather than taking, what kind of relationships can we enrich? When we approach each other with curiosity rather than hostility, what can we learn and understand more of one another? If we fight nature, nature will fight back. We see it happening all over the world at this very moment. And so if we keep fighting human nature, it is obvious that it will fight back against us.
Whereas nature has patience and diversity dancing in a symbiotic relationship, human nature is conflicted with dominion and destruction. The more we fight, the more we lose of ourselves. It is time we return to a more symbiotic approach. We need to grow more than we destroy, we need to nourish more than we consume, we need to slow down rather than speed up, we need to share more than we take, and we need to give more than we hold, we need to cherish collective care rather than individual needs for the selected few. As much as we can with nature, as well as our own human nature.
This will require sacrifice, this will require massive change and courage. Yet I believe that whatever it is that we lose from this sacrifice, we are building something far more valuable than we can ever imagine. Nature understands this, and so can we.
