Where Do We Find Nature?
François-Xavier Stranix
Contributor
Hello, my name is a stupidly long French name called François-Xavier Stranix, and I am a student who cares deeply for the world, for the environment, and, of course, for Mexican food. But jokes aside, I hope that whatever I write affects at least a single person, that they might explore their connection to nature. Nowadays, the walls we are surrounded by in public environments are all grey, lifeless, uniform and essentially dead, but I believe change is possible when we are all united in replacing the obsolete “normal” that we let blend in the background, ignored.
Firstly, I’d like to say that some parts of the natural world in which we live is both the same as it was millennia ago, but other parts of nature are completely different. Now that that’s been said, I think our connection with the natural world is always relevant and should involve adding nature to our everyday lives, taking care of plants, animals, the air we breathe, the ground we walk on and so much more, for, arguably, we must be responsible for the actions that our species has done.
When I stated the ground we walk on, it made me think about what exactly is nature, because if the ground you walk on is made of concrete, is it still part of nature? Well either way, if the ground is rather dirt, like a farm for example, the quality of the soil is directly linked to the quality of farming, and that speaks of another idea, which is difference in location when it comes to connecting ourselves with nature.
Maybe it isn’t how we should connect ourselves with nature in every possible way, but rather how we should connect ourselves with what bits of nature we have in our lives as well as maybe adding nature to where we live, with us, or anywhere that makes us more at ease. An example of this, living in suburbs my whole life has made me love parks because they’re like a breath of fresh air within an infinite number of houses, and I’m sure without them things would be a lot worse. If you think about it, parks are amazing for children as well, I believe it is in our core to want to enjoy things to the fullest and especially as a child, as much as possible. Have you ever never wanted to go home because you’re having too much fun outside? At least for me, that’s how I would feel most of my life.
Getting back on track, I previously mentioned the idea that location, from where you are currently, to where you were born in, has an impact on your connection to nature. If I was raised on a farm with horses, I would no doubt learn to love and ride horses. So, what’s stopping you from ordinarily loving these things? Well, I’d say it would have to be that you are a product of your environment, it is after all the place where you were nurtured and unless there are outside ties such as something like family, a person that was born in a city with very little nature wouldn’t understand nature as someone who was brought up in it. So how do we make someone feel as passionate about nature? I don’t exactly know, but it should start by implementing nature everywhere.