Getting Back to Where We Once Belonged
Posted: Monday, July 20, 2009
by Dianne Lehmann
Artisan Jewelry from SyZyGy
This morning as I was washing my face and brushing my teeth, three small black ants were investigating all the lotions and potions that sit atop our cultured marble bathroom counter top. We've had visits from these ants on a regular daily basis for a couple of months now. They've been very polite in that they do not invade in large numbers. Chiefly, they seem to be looking for water. Most often when I come into the bathroom, I will find them in the sink, sipping from the little bit of water that remains around the drain.
We had another neighbor who was deathly afraid of all the small critters that live in our area: squirrels, chipmunks, mice, rats, bats, bunnies, snakes, lizards, toads, etc. Birds did not seem to bother her. She was convinced at one point that squirrels were living in the walls of her house and it made her frantic for a while (it was really just her fear talking to her). She thought often of chopping down her fruit trees because they attracted animals into her yard. I never told her that most likely for every rabbit she saw there were at least five she didn't and that mice were probably living in holes in the ground around her house. I did, on several occasions, remove snakes from her yard before she might see them.
Whether you ascribe to the theory of divine creation, believing in Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden, or choose instead the theory of evolution you have to concede that they have one thing in common; we have our roots in nature and living with it and within it. Our world is a natural one (thank goodness I can still say that) with all sorts of organisms hopping, flapping, swimming, buzzing, slithering, crawling, sliming and walking upon it. And yet we seem to be more and more trying to deny that we are any part of it. I don't believe we are doing ourselves a service by this. Frankly I think that we are harming ourselves.
We barricade ourselves in our homes, vainly trying to keep the little critters and bugs and bacteria and viruses outside. As long as there is a way for you to get out of your house, there will be a way for some other living thing to get in. And the tiny insects don't need even that much.
There was a movie made for theatrical release based on the television series Star Trek: Next Generation. I believe it was titled Insurrection.In it there is a peaceful, agrarian society that is being observed without the society's knowledge. Eventually, our star trekkers come to learn that this society possesses very advanced scientific knowledge and that they simply choose not to use it in their everyday lives. They follow the rhythms of nature; the rising and setting of the sun and the turn of the seasons. They live in harmony with their world without the need to bend the world into some specific and totally human-created shape.
There is a beauty in nature. Beauty that does not figure or connive. No plodding thought or rationalization. It's a beautiful instinct a knowing what is right and good. That is what we lost when we left the Garden. That's what we need to get back.
The world the natural world is not only as "science" would have us believe. There is also the "unseen." The things the rational, linear mind can never know but that the body remembers. The visceral good feeling in the smell of rain on the way. The anticipation in the feel of lightning in the air. The rightness in the smell of the dampened earth, the singing of birds and the chirping of crickets. The smile that comes unbidden to your face at the sight of a baby rabbit. It is this realness that I sense when walking in the forest or the desert. It is the realness of the natural world that makes me feel that I belong.
Can we have our homes with running water and convenient waste disposal, our cars and buses and trains and planes, and still live in harmony with nature? I believe we can if we always hold in our hearts the knowledge that we walk this earth not by virtue of a right to, but rather as a privilege. That it is not ours to do with as we please simply because we have hands with thumbs and a mind capable of linear thought. We can live in harmony if we keep it clear in our minds that what we humans want and do is no more important than anything else. And we must always consider the consequences of our actions.
Now, I'm not saying that we should feel guilty every time we get in our cars to go somewhere or that we should let colonies of mice run rampant through our homes or that spiders should inhabit every corner (but you know that if you don't like lots of little gnats flitting about your house, the spiders will do a good job of controlling them for you). I'm just saying that we came from the natural world and it would be best for us to live in the natural world. Let a little of it in now and then. Get out into it even more. Don't worry about the bugs and critters and bacteria so much. Get out of your cars. Go walk in the woods or desert or swamp. Get away now and then from all the human agitation and concerns. Go somewhere that you can see nothing but what Nature made. Get back to where we once belonged.
This Article has been viewed 1,846 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (7 total)This is a great article. Of course, it would be wonderful if all of us consider the consequences of our actions. That's the key and you nailed it perfectly. We humans might be atop the 'reason tree', yet that doesn't give us free reign: the opposite should be true. In fact, because we are so smart (for the most part, although as a species we have some doozies) it should be a no-brainer for us to care for this planet.This is the best article I have read on Searchwarp in a long time, Dianne. Excellent!Hi Michael.Wow! Thanks so much. This is something that I feel very strongly about. I too have always thought that because we are what we are that we should be taking better care of our planet and everything on it. As far as smarts are concerned, there are all kinds of smart and ours isn't the only one. It's just a little more aggressive maybe.Anyway, thanks again.Dianne
HI Dianne, I love this, it is so true, but I do have to admit, I don't do critters in the house. I kill them if I see them, If I am outside, I am in their world and surely all the bites from mosquitos tell me they are trying to kill me on the spot too :-)Other than that, I agree. Nature is amazing and I am going to miss living in the country where I get to enjoy the deer hanging in my yard. I will even miss the wild turkeys I have to brake for when they mosey along - across the street.And you are right, no matter which creation story we believe, there is no getting away from the fact that nature is a splendid thing. great job! Love, hugs, and smiles, TeresaHi Teresa.Where abouts in California are you moving? Yeah, you might now have deer, but when Bernd and I were living in SoCal, we had skunks come onto our patio to drink water. There were raccoons and opossums. If you look for it, you'll find it.Here's a funny thing. A couple of days ago while taking a walk where we live, we saw a wild hamster come part way out of its hole. Bernd got curious and apparently hamsters can be found in the wild all over the US. Who knew?Now me, I don't have much joy of wild fowl and probably would be happy to leave the turkeys behind. Had a bad experience with domestic chickens when I was quite young.Thanks for reading.Hugs,Dianne
h dianne,those pesky little ants are running all over our kitchen counters, too.i leave spiders alone, or pick them up in a glass and put them out. snakes, i'm not too keen on, but we had one for 8 years, so i got used to it, and mice aren't so cute to me, but, i got used to them, too.i love sitting on my porch and watching nature go about it's business. i love the little chipmunks, and how they gather the leftover birdseed and bring it home to ma!thanks for reminding us how important our association with nature is,my best,sueHi Sue.It's what keeps me grounded. When I've spent too much time in my head with ... well with whatever ... I can get out in the desert or the forest (like yesterday) and get refreshed. You know, work out a new perspective.Bernd had yesterday off, so after lunch we drove to Lynx Lake and walked through the pines that surround it. It was great. I think you are lucky that you can see so much from your front porch.Thanks for reading and commenting.Hugs,Dianne
We seem to forget we are all part of mother nature. We should all let the call of the wild run through our veins at times. good articleHi David.I suspect we forget because we are all so busy trying to make our way through the human-created world in one piece.Thank you for reading and commenting.Respectfully,Dianne
Interesting concept that I have seen some take to the extreme, such as the entire living and dining room ceiling covered in mats of spiderweb.But I see your point- there is room for nature.Hi Ken.Wow! Have you really seen that much spider web in a home? I don't think I'd ever take it that far. But a few spiders in a couple of corners doesn't seem to hurt.I'm glad that you think there is room for nature because if our civilization fell apart tomorrow, that's all we would have. We'd for sure, at that point, want it to still be there, healthy and able to support us.Thank you for reading and commenting.Respectfully,Dianne
As a fisherman, kayaker, camper, hiker, hunter and owner of two bird dogs - great advice, Dianne. Now to get my wife to feel as we do. One bug will ruin an outdoor experience for her, in a heart beat. Spending the night in my cabin along a class AAA trout stream? Forget it! Good article !Hi Catfish.Sounds like my kind of fun. Though I could do without the mosquitoes ... I'm a bit allergic, and I'm not really one for hunting. And I gave up fishing because it got to the point where I was having trouble with killing the trout. I eat fish and chicken and cow, but I'm always glad that someone else has done the "dirty" deed.On a recent hike around Lynx Lake, Bernd and I saw a most amazingly large and long beetle. It was very flexible between its thorax and abdomen; very black with a white stripe down both sides and two sets of legs were coming from the thorax with one set of legs on the abdomen. Usually all three are on the thorax. We studied it for quite a while. It might have sent your wife running. I don't think badly of people who feel that way, I just wonder what all the fuss is about.I think it's great to get out into the natural world and I'm glad to hear that you enjoy it too.Thanks for reading and commenting.My best to you,Dianne
Dianne~ You have warmed me to the tips of my toes. I love that you wrote about this. I, too, am very much the same regarding 'visitors' in my home. I don't mind them as long as they don't crawl on me while I'm sleeping. When I find ants (and, oh yes, there are many here too) I bid them good day and ask them to please stay out of the food. For the most part, they are (as you mention) looking for water. Who am I to say they can't have some? The 'rule' here is, you can live here as long as you like, just please have a little respect for my space! It works!Giggles & Hugs~CamilleHi Camille.I actually talk out loud to the little crawlies. I find it helps me to focus my intent. Somehow or other, I think they get it. Sometimes Bernd calls me Mrs. Doolittle. It always makes me laugh.I'd prefer that they don't walk all over me while I'm sleeping either, but there isn't much to be done about that I'm afraid. They seem to have short memories and forget what I've said within an hour or two. :)Do you know that the people who compile useless pieces of information and statistics say that the average person will eat a minimum of 8 spiders during their lifetime and that most of these are consumed while the person is sleeping. What a thought! I've woken on occasion to a spider walking across my face and told it that it didn't know how lucky it was.You know, I think you are right. If we respect them and their wishes, they will respect ours. Brilliant!Many hugs,Dianne
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.