Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Wild
There really are no true ‘wild’ spaces. This goes for national and state parks which are groomed and controlled with fire, the management of permissible species, stay-on-the-trail rules, etc. They’re controlled carefully, and as Emma Marris says, “it takes a lot of work to make these places look untouched.” If we go to these parks and spaces labelled as showcasing ‘wilderness’ and ‘wildlife’, (which, no, we don’t necessarily control the animals, their individual movements and behaviors, so they are still free-roaming animals) how much are we really interacting with a nature as Bill McKibben describes, a world separate from humans?
Marris questions whether this is truly interacting with nature, (her working definition as that which is marked by the presence of multiple species, of thriving life) since humans and especially children, can’t do anything at these parks. We can’t climb the trees. We can’t take the pine cones or pick the flowers. We can’t dig up the dirt with our fingernails. We can’t veer off the trail. There’s no room to tinker.
So I’m left wondering (a lot), how do you connect with nature? Do you have a picnic, hike, sit and look, wait until no one's around so you can breathe, break the rules, and get your feet dirty? What do you do in this space? Where is Nature for you? (inside yourself as a deep-seeded feeling that it gives you, or just under the trees on campus? ...ah)
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Evening Cloudier,
ReplyDeleteThere truly are not many wild spaces as you have stated. I have thought of this often while traveling down the White River, kayaking with friends. It is well manicured and kept to be safe for tourists, but I lose that sense of adventure of dragging my boat over rocks and climbing banks to see further up the river. It is nice to have these places but I will always wonder what it looked like a hundred years ago.
I feel that National Parks may soon be the only thing protected from human corruption, and as sad as that makes me feel, that is why we are not permitted to adventure off the path. Even those of us who would not harm, litter, or take things.
I connect with nature mostly in a sensory way. I love the feeling of the sun on my skin and the sound that nature creates. There is something calming in sitting by the river and thinking about all of the wonderful things you see. I think I feel most connected to nature when I remember that nature asks nothing of us and we as a species do nothing but take from nature. I feel most connected as a respectful observer. Not taking but appreciating, preserving.
Meta (Blog 1)
ReplyDeleteIt seems like what a lot of people were discussing during blog week 1 was what exactly constitutes "wild nature" and what can we do to "connect" with it.
I can't exactly say I understand how to connect with nature. I used to go camping often as a child, but not in the tent type camping, like RV-type camping. Interacting with a "wild space" like a campground is still very much not wild. Although there is much of nature still being controlled by humans, there is so much that we cannot control. Like how often people get lost in the woods, or attacked by animals. To the animals the world is still wild, and also theirs, but to humans people think it's like an amusement park to do what we please.
I like what Birds says about connecting in a sensory way, I love the feel of sun on my skin and the touch of flowers, but maybe still in a controlled environment.