Me vs. Nature
On days when I have a few hours to indulge myself, I will spend that time in our garden. Designing an aesthetically pleasing landscape is something that gives joy to both Rachel and me; the creation of a sea of beauty surrounding the island of our home. Of course this is seasonal since winters in northern Illinois are not conducive to growing anything outdoors. The darker days represent the time of year when we are envious of our friends in warmer climates who are able to tend their outdoor plants throughout the year.
During Spring and Summer, one of the never-ending tasks is the expulsion of weeds that encroach on the plants we favor. Seeds from foreign soils (our neighbors) find their way to our garden beds and insert themselves between the hostas, azaleas, coral bells, ferns, and all of our other preferred residents. Removing these interlopers is a constant battle, especially when pesky mosquitoes seem ready to defend the rights of weeds to grow wherever they like by doing their best to keep us from the task at hand.
But we remain undaunted and when we have those Zen moments of hands in dirt, we will happily douse ourselves with repellent to ward off those blood-sucking soldiers so we can remove the unwelcome weedy guests. In particular, after a good rain, there is great satisfaction in grabbing hold of a weed and pulling it out of the ground, roots and all. Bit by bit we cleanse the surface and once again feel a sense of accomplishment while enjoying a seemingly finished garden.
This feeling of completion is ultimately delusional, for the weeds will always return, for a finished garden exists only in our minds. Even with those who have the financial means to hire landscapers to spend the necessary time to keep garden beds weed free will, in the end, be overwhelmed by nature’s preference for a Jackson Pollack canvas of plant selection. Ultimately this is how it should be. We humans are only alive for a short period of time and this battle against how the world has worked for hundreds of millions of years is fruitless, no matter how hard we try to keep chaos at bay.
In many ways I am glad our efforts to tame the wilds of Mother Nature are only temporal. In essence everything is ephemeral regardless of how hard we try to create a sense of permanence. Our house, our garden, our possessions, and ourselves exist only in the moment. Change takes place and we are helpless in the face of that change which happens regardless of our desires to hold back time. And so it’s quite important to keep this understanding of nature in mind when planning a garden and allow bits and pieces of the unexpected to remain.
But what of the other ways we humans attempt to both tame and exploit the natural environment? Is my bit of gardening just a microcosm of the way our species feels justified in how we manipulate the earth’s natural resources for our own benefit, regardless of the long-term impact of that use? The answer is “yes” and “no.” In some respects my personal justification allows me to believe that by creating the landscape around our home I am producing a flora of artwork that adds to our lives, despite the fact that I am manipulating the natural progression of how plants propagate.
The major difference is that what my wife and I are doing is reversible. It would only take a few years for an untended garden to be stored to the native biodiversity found in most undisturbed woodland areas if we allowed it to go “wild.” Somehow, humanity has lost track of how we fit within the natural environment. We have separated ourselves from that critical connection, believing we are immune to the consequences of bludgeoning the earth, our only home, to extract the precious resources that allow for a balanced ecosystem. This ecosystem which allows us to breathe, to drink, to grow food, and to explore the wonders offered by this extraordinary opportunity of life and consciousness.
Yet on we go; burning hundreds of millions of tons of fossil fuels that are dumped into our atmosphere; fishing the oceans to a point where whole portions of the sea are almost lifeless; destroying entire swaths of forest (the lungs of the earth) for the sake of making the wealthy even wealthier. In any scenario, this is crazy behavior. We know we cannot control nature, but we can, and seemingly we are, doing our best to destroy it.
In some mythological beliefs, there are those who are convinced we have been given unconditional authority by a supernatural power to utilize the earth, its resources, and all of its creatures for our own benefit. Even if that fairy tale were true, what is the benefit? What can we possible derive from fouling our own nest, from creating a toxic environment so heinous that it can no longer support life? This does not seem like a benefit. It seems like a game of Russian Roulette where all of the gun’s chambers are loaded with bullets.
And so my attempts at controlling aspects of nature within the confines of our garden may be slightly hypocritical based on my personal beliefs as discussed in this series of essays. But I also know that I am not damaging the Earth in this process. That I have respect for the ground I walk on and the air I breath. That my goal, as always, has been to leave this planet in better shape than when I arrived back in 1951. I know there are many who feel the same as I do.
If only we all felt that responsibility, perhaps the future would not seem so bleak.
Yes, it does seem to be our fate to try to thwart nature for our garden plots. Or is it the other way around — nature’s fate to thwart our puny (in comparison) efforts? Nevertheless, I did enjoy reading the report from your field of battle. And I do applaud your respectful attempts to shoulder your shovels and shears in service of the worthy goal of leaving this planet in better shape than it’s currently in. Bless you.
Verna, thanks as always for your insights. Does nature have a fate? As I mentioned in my response to Jerry’s post, there are no rules aside from those we make up. And unfortunately many times those rules are an anathema to a healthy environment. Greed trumps rational thought in most cases. It is sad part of existing during this time of mass stupidity on the part of many members of our species. Oh well.
I’ll be first once again.
Hope that others will lay down some words to describe the sparks struck as they read your essay about gardening, with the expanded speculation of a wider consequence of learning from the soil and vegetative life. I assume that the header photo drawing the contrast with massive industrialization features a view of your hosta bed, wind sculpture and the bench inviting repose and meditation. The result of your handwork is striking. Indeed the view is a gift to everyone who passes by!
The title of your essay provoked thought. Are we really in a antithetical relationship with Nature? Of course not. Any human is as natural as a new born baby rabbit. The difference is species relative, and depends in the main on the angle of interpretation one desires to take. A striking feature of our species is that we are language enabled. With symbols we can leverage our physical sensations into abstractions which we more or less agree upon the meaning. This too is natural, as we have a symbology much developed over the dolphin, or the elephant. Or could a dolphin possess emotional intelligence that makes us quite stupid? To my point though. To think that it is humans vs nature is a massive mistake. (Which you have never made.)
You reference the temporal aspect of our tenure here. Time is often left out of our discussions, perhaps because we’d prefer to deny our mortality. Nonetheless a quick look around affirms that the Buddha was right. Everything that lives dies. It is productive to meditate upon one’s own short term lease here, to know that in due time I must leave. That’s not so bad. We are incredibly lucky to have shown up at all to this party! Time is a concept that is notorious to resist definition. Though if there were no change, there would be no life, no beauty, no loss, and no bitter/sweetness of our all-to-human experience. Rather than assume that we’re helpless in reference to time, why not assume that as a consequence of time we are allowed enjoyment, we learn to suffer, and we have the opportunity to influence the flow of time? I would suggest that as one who gardens, you are influencing the course of time and of life upon the patch of ground that you occupy as long as you remit a monthly mortgage payment!
You make an oblique reference to Christian dogma at the end of your essay, to those who believe they have a divine license to extract as much value from Nature as they can manage, even if none of it an be taken with them when they leave. I am with you – this is a blatantly obscene point of view. Untrammeled self-righteous hubris to cast oneself in the role of a predator with the god’s blessing. No wonder that Nietzsche characterized Christianity as the metaphysics of the hangman in his Twilight of the Idols. In my opinion nothing has changed.
We are not here to despoil the earth or to immiserate those less fortunate than ourselves. We are here to become better and better skilled as curators, as conservators of life, of meaning and of beauty. Full Stop.
Jerry – Wonderful addition. I’m starting from the bottom and working my way up your response. I have to disagree with your premise that “we are not here to despoil the earth”. As much as I want to agree with that statement, the idea you present implies there is a reason why we are here and that perhaps there are rules that should be followed. Of course those of us who love nature, who revel in the awe of a new day, who cannot but be astounded by the complexity of life itself want to believe there is a reason to protect the land and our environment. But there are no rules. Even the concept of survival is something we came up with.
Yes, most religious dogma leans heavily in favor of bludgeoning nature for our own desire for more and more regardless of the consequences, though this is not completely true across all religions, even Christianity. There are many devout supplicants who believe that a god of some sort has given humanity a lease on our planet and a mandate to keep it in good shape. Unfortunately they are in the minority.
As I have stated numerous times, Change Sucks. But you are correct in that without change, without the light and dark, without the yin and yang of our existence, we would not know the beauty of this life. Both must exist for us to understand how to live.
The other creatures who share our planet cannot possibly conceive of the machinations of the human mind when it comes to greed, cruelty, and overt narcissism. But on the other hand, we cannot anthropomorphize them either. They are what they are and we should at least attempt to let them be without a threat of overt harm. But that won’t happen because we are steeped in a vapid stupidity that we cannot begin to see in ourselves.
And lastly, yes, that is our front yard garden, offering a small sanctuary from the cacophony of daily life.