If you were to ask people what the true difference was
Between nature and the types of places that people generally inhabit and which for the sake of discussion we’ll call “human civilization”,
What do you think they’d say, besides noting the obvious dissimilarities in appearance - Trees vs. buildings, wildlife vs. people, silence vs. near-constant noise…?
We have such a strong awareness that they are incompatible worlds, but do we normally wonder why?

Sitting here, alone, gazing out at this wall of dappled green, I can’t help but think that it must have something to do with the fact that nature doesn't call for attention,
Whereas human civilizations demand 100% of our senses 100% of the time.
Through the evolution of our own choices, we have created Societies in which
We think about and attend to IMPORTANT stuff all the time.
Light are flashing, phones ringing, horns honking, people talking, cars darting around us, everything demanding to be noticed and served immediately.
An overload of information.

It is all so complex and brilliant that we find ourselves either dashing forward and diving into the race
or wincing, backing away and trying to block out the noise.
Maybe some of both.


Nature, on the other hand, simply is there.

Each tree, each mountain, each cloud will be just as happy existing
With or without an audience.
If you want to watch, listen, admire the tiny pulses of life radiating throughout the forest, great.
If you want to blaze on past to your city, eyes on the prize, never stopping to share in the fresh air, that’s fine too.

I guess the main point stemming from the contrast of these two worlds that actually affects us is that
When we’re not being called on, when we’re not overloaded, when we’re
not winning or losing or fleeing or chasing or fixing or breaking,
When we’re not full up to our necks with love or hate or worry or exhaustion or excitement or boredom or envy or pride,
We can be open to absorb other things. And nature lets us do that.

Instead of having “the big picture” shoved down our throats
We can be free to let the details trickle in… the chirping, the rustles, the fluttering leaves, the wind, the half-way dappled shadows, the aromas and hues that you actually have to search for…

This is nature, and this is different from most of what we've designed our lives to include.