Place

My Place in Nature

“Among the greatest of all gifts is to know our place” - Barbara Kingsolver. Over the course of my life, my “place” has shifted dramatically, perhaps the most now as I prepare to finish college in the near future, and enter into the world, an independent, capable adult, with a passion to live life to the fullest. Often when going through difficult transitions in life I lose my place, and my world spins out of control, I don’t know where I am or where I am going. College courses have helped my discover where I can utilize my skills and leave a positive impact upon the world. No one spoke louder to me than Kingsolver, a woman who has all the option to live a life of ease and luxury, chooses to sweat it out in her yard showing that anyone can commit themselves to the land and reap its benefits.
Kingsolver’s quest to reconnect with the land is not a new idea, since the beginning of cities there has always been a population that feels the need to stay connected with nature and the natural process that supports the growth of every one of our lives and doesn’t hesitate to take us back after death. I too feel the urge to reconnect with my mother earth, and to understand what it is to grow food and raise livestock. The most fulfilling things in my life often are the simplest. Thoreau encourages us to take part in nature and to appreciate it to the fullest. “Open all your pores and bathe in all the tides of nature, in all her streams and oceans, at all seasons”. Beauty can be found everywhere and anywhere, from the concrete jungle of the city, to the towering pines and majestic waters that live free in so many places in our great country, I for one prefer the latter.
I believe my place in nature, is just that, a place in nature by my definition. Just the right amount of modern amenities without most of the distraction that modern life brings. Surrounding myself with the right environment is critical to my health and mental sanity. Making sure that environment stays around for others to enjoy is my duty as a free man who has taken so much pleasure from the earth for myself. Again I must turn to Thoreau when I search for help in explaining what nature means to me, his words ring true. “For all nature is doing her best each moment to make us well. She exists for no other end. Do not resist her.” I constantly feel the pull of nature, every time I am cooped up inside I long for her limitless freedom, there is more to her than I could ever hope to discover.
My place in nature changes constantly, as do I. However consistently my place remains in nature and not elsewhere. My single greatest passion surrounds me each and ever day, as natural beauty can be found even in places where the most unnatural things exist. In our greatest attempts to concur nature a simple storm will shut off our bright lights, and once again family and friends must pull together and rely on one another. The rawer one lives within nature, the closer one is to truly being human. I intend to let my ever changing place in nature guide me through the tough decisions of life, knowing no matter what happens, everything is how its supposed to be.