The Restorative Power of Nature
Voltaire wrote “ Happiness lies in the cultivation of the garden”, and in times of coronavirus, I believe his words possess great resonance, for now, more than ever we need to re-establish our relationship with the natural order; our bond with nature takes on ever-more meaning and importance.
Even though I have clear thoughts on the topic, in truth, and irrespective of whether this Coronavirus pandemic has been induced intentionally (the conspiracy theory, which believes that the virus escaped from a Chinese government laboratory ) or not, isn’t it about time we ( humans) seriously reflected on our treatment of, and our relationship with, the natural world around us?
According to the WHO and the UN, there are clear indications that our destruction of nature has directly or indirectly led to this, and previous pandemics, but more worrying is the fact that although COVID 19 should be leading us to protect and preserve nature the reverse seems in fact, to be happening, see the examples of the Amazon, Madagascar and the Greater Mekong.
Unfortunately, the human race and individuals are endowed with a tremendous capacity to forget, which at times is important, but at this point in history, we should neither forget what was trending before the pandemic hit us (the climate change debate) nor should we forget the beginning of the pandemic. Sadly, this seems to have…
