Nature Should Humble You
Imagine for a moment a world without humanity.
Earth still exists, but people do not. All the footprints and bomb craters we’ve left over eons have been washed away. Think of the tress, the mountains, and all their inhabitants. Does the Earth still spin? Does the sun still rise? Do the oceans still breathe?
It’s often said that the only thing that separates humanity from all other critters is our creativity; our ability to create complex subjects, both physical and mental, on a level no other creature is able to grasp. We build structures that aim to pierce the sky, as if the ground beneath us was not enough. We develop ideas that then turn into products that then turn into possessions.
The inverse of all this is also applicable: not only do we create, but we destroy. We destroy those structures to build new ones. We gather those possessions that were once merely ideas so they can eventually collect dust. We are Earth’s top superpredator, and we are not to be trifled with because we will flush you out.
Clearly humanity once served a functional role in our ecosystem as hunter/gatherers, but things have changed drastically. We’ve become too good at what we do, and have outsourced ourselves through automation and mechanical/bio/social engineering. As a result, we don’t have much of a role beyond simply existing to ensure we continue to exist. We have evolved beyond our own necessity.
In essence, humanity seems awfully…unnecessary. I’m not being misanthropic and I’m not chirping for our own eradication. We do a lot of good, but that good is largely relative to our own needs and wants. And that good is often temporary, as we are unable to fathom its potentially dire future consequences. The “good of humanity” is so rarely the good of our environment.
This is why nature is so humbling.
If you immerse yourself in it for an extended period of time, you eventually realize how little you matter. You’ll notice the leaves of a tree gently blowing in the wind and how beautiful and serene it all is. And then you’ll realize those leaves still sway and rustle regardless of your presence. The gorgeous mountains you trek and discover don’t cease to be gorgeous the moment you leave and no longer see them. They were gorgeous far before you existed, and they’ll continue to be so far beyond the end of your existence. The beauty and majesty of nature is both unassuming and incredibly self-assured. Your opinion of it does not matter, and largely, neither does your existence within it.
That is, unless your existence is leading to nature’s eventual ruination, and be assured that it is.
As the season changes and nature as we view it begins to wake from its slumber, get lost. Get outside and forget where you are, where you came from, and where you may need to go tomorrow or the next day. Allow yourself to be present and mindful of what is all around you that hasn’t been built with human hands and ingenuity. Take photos of it so you can remember it later and share it on Instagram. That’s fine. In fact, that’s even good, but don’t make that the purpose. Get outside and realize how small and insignificant you are. I promise you, it will be one of the best things you could do for yourself.
