Human Vs Nature

For millions of years, humans lived in a predator-prey relationship with all species. Equilibrium existed on the Earth. As we lost sight of our origins, we began to develop tools and ways of living that insulated us from predators, the elements and the uncertainty of hunger. We explained away nature with mythology. We became arrogant, and developed religious and state institutions that justified our behavior and helped us to live with the atrocities committed every day in the name of god, king, country, ego and sport. Humans stopped looking to nature for answers, and instead came up with answers that suited the moment.

All life, all around the Earth, is now subject to the whims of the dominant culture: a culture repressed, disconnected completely from the wildness of the Earth and the wildness in itself. Only through this alienation could anyone commit such as the captains of industry and government do daily.

First we are animals

As you study the natural world, pay special attention to the other animals. What do they spend their waking hours busied with? Are they hunting? Are they preoccupied with mating? Are they building or finding shelter? Look at the other animals and see what the real focus of their lives is. Draw the inspiration for your daily life from the patterns of the natural world.

Survey your life. Are you spending your life striving for the things that an animal does, or are you toiling for things outside of those natural needs? Try to see the human place within nature. What changes can you make as you strive to live within that natural place? Strive to find your animal niche. Look at your life and make a decision to avoid the things that are not part of your natural animal. Live each moment with purpose, as does the squirrel or the dragonfly.

As you observe the natural world ask yourself, "Do animals take more than they need?" And ask yourself, "How many animals destroy for reasons other than self-preservation?"

What are you eating?

Are you actually sustaining yourself, or are you slowly killing yourself and the world around you? When you look at the natural world, do you see other animals passing up their basic nutritional needs for poison?

When do you think that the humanimal evolved? What foods do you think were available to that animal? Do you think that you are evolved to eat the diet you are currently eating?

Investigate the impact that your food choices have on the natural world. How much energy is expended to produce your food? Is it less damaging to the natural world if you grow a radish, or if you get it from the market? Ask yourself, "What kind of ecological damage is connected to an organic apple from the other side of the Earth?" Is processed vegan food any better for you or the planet than raising chickens in the city?

How many of your food needs can actually meet for yourself? Can you find it locally? Where does it grow? Before eating that piece of fruit, ask yourself, where does this come from? Can you find something similar growing wild in your neighborhood or bioregion?

As we think about our food, let's think about what makes sense, and why it makes sense.
Eat deliberately.

Where do you live?

Where does your home come from? Most of us live in houses which are barriers against nature. From our windows we may be able to watch the birds, but we can't feel the flutter of their wings in the air, we can't feel the chill of winter, can't smell the rain. It doesn't have to be this way. Our homes could be inspired by the homes of other animals, allowing us to dwell in the natural world again.

Look at the animals around you. Where do they live? Do they own the land? What are their shelters made of? Can you even see their shelters, or do they blend in so well with their surroundings that you can't find them? Are the animals' homes larger than they require? Does the animal build its home in a place that threatens the animal's very existence? How does your home compare with these?

An animal's home is utilitarian, not excessive. Animals' homes are made of natural materials: mud, sticks, sod, bamboo, straw. Animals' homes will degrade, once abandoned, or they will be taken over and maintained by another animal. Animals live in homes that breathe, that don't poison them. When you see an animal shelter, you see it as part of nature, not an impenetrable barrier between that animal and the natural world.

Our shelters should be constantly changing, growing, degrading, according to our needs. Shelter is transient, malleable, something that we can abandon from season to season, if our needs dictate.

We strive to find ways of healing ourselves and the land, letting the land heal us, and living in place. A place will only reveal itself if we are there long enough to see the seasons change, to sit very quietly, very still for a long time. This is the process of re-wilding ourselves, becoming feral. Re-wilding the Earth, defending wildness where it remains, and stewarding injured land onto the healing path of re-wilding, is our way. Learning the ways of nature-this is the path of Deep Ecology.