When I attended Tom Brown’s Trackerschool a few years ago, one of the things Tom said was that the only cure for our civilization was to get people participating in nature again.
Mick Dodge, the Barefoot Sensei, has a similar belief (though alternate means).
Do I need to say that I agree with them? Okay, then I will – I agree with them.
Our current culture is so far removed from nature that it’s scary.
By “nature” I mean “what is natural.” Not man-made “nature.” That’s called “culture.” I mean, cycles of seasons, cycles of moons, cycles of years. I mean tides.
I mean “ecosystems” – but not in the sense of a closed-off “ecosystem.” I mean it in the sense of the-thing-that-you-live-within.
Why do I think this is important?
Well, we come from this nature. All of the things that we do rely on it. Our ideas about things are largely constructions these days. They’ve been built up over years, decades, eons. Society, and civilization, and our various cultures, are largely constructions that have taken on lives of their own. Now, many people are hard-pressed to say what is “natural.”
But it’s actually the simplest thing to do. Here’s how you do it:
Take away.
Strip things away, until you get to the place where there’s nothing left. No TV, no cell-phone, no computer, no clothes, no books, no cars, no sidewalks, no toilets, no buildings, no politics, no religion.
There is nature.
It is still there. It is there while you read this.
I’m advocating that we all get closer to nature. I think we need to become less and less, as far as our material and mental possessions go. I think we need to reduce entirely, and return.
I’m full of optimism and hope that this can occur right now…for a few reasons.
First, the focus on “the environment” (kind of a silly phrase – which environment? – but hey, it sticks) has led people to a greater awareness of ecological issues (if not their own environments…sometimes…).
That concern by “consumers” has led corporations to take greater interest in the environment. While this is a double-edged sword, with car companies pushing hybrid vehicles (it’s still a “new car” folks – pollution due to construction, fabrication, and transport of the vehicle hasn’t changed a bit – and the gas mileage is really insignificantly lower than that of regular cars), and other companies pushing other new “green” products (made of plastic, which is a petroleum (read, oil) product…anyone out there? hello?), it still has led to (albeit, mostly weak) initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and an infantile level of thoughtfulness about ecological responsibility.
Second, there seems to be a loss of faith in some regarding the general state of things. People are starting to question, and to feel comfortable questioning, the way things are.
While Michael Moore’s most recent foray may not be everyone’s cup of tea (don’t know if it’s mine, I haven’t seen it yet), he is indicative of this movement…this push to seek better alternatives.
The problem we face is our existing culture, which will seek to subsume any efforts, and absorb them into itself.
That’s how systems work. Any system takes the energy that is given to it and uses it for its own ends (not for the ends that the “energy itself” would’ve hoped for). For instance, when you eat dinner. The spinach or steak you eat may have had its own intention. But your body will use it for its goals. Beyond that, your cells will use that spinach or steak for the goals they see fit (perhaps, grimly, cancer) – not for the goals you might have in mind yourself (6 pack abs, anyone?) – even though those cells comprise you!
Systems speak aside…it’s time we return. Is it too simple? Is there a way to package simplicity, so we can sell it? Is there a way to market “nothing?”
