Nature can be considered an integral part of the human life because it makes up the environment in which we are born, live, work, and die. It is obvious that every setting should be maintained in order to serve longer and be used by numerous generations of people. Soils, oceans, forests, dunes are small pieces of the natural environment we all live in; human beings were created to live in fruitful lands and forests rich for food and things that can be used to protect ourselves, to hunt the animals, to build houses, to heal wounds, and do whatever people are created to do. The question rises whether human beings should harm the nature which is their natural dwelling or they should do what they want to do even if it destroys the nature and all its pieces.
Orion Rises on the Dunes
Nature can be considered as a perfect world that is full of beautiful landscapes and peaceful creatures which are able to live in harmony. Henry Beston uses nature to depict peace in his essay Orion Rises on the Dunes. He uses the phrase “creation is here and now” (Beston 375) to explain that human beings are forgetful of the creation that takes place everyday. He continues with analysis of nature by saying that the things that are currently in the world are as active as those that were at the time of creation. Many people will tend to disagree with Beston’s idea because there are many changes that have occurred in the world and which continue being experienced globally.
In his essay, Beston has also used the phrase which provokes thoughts about the importance of nature maintenance, “Hold your hands over the earth as over the flame” (Beston 375). The author argues about kind treatment of nature by human beings and the treatment which one can observe today. The phrase describes the manner in which a person covers the flame from the candle with his hands top prevent it from going out when blown by the wind. In the same manner people should preserve the earth by covering it and not by destroying nature. In other words, Beston was trying to explain the love he had over nature and the way he wanted people to have the same love he had.
Nature is a part of our world as well as we are a part of nature; our inner world requires communication with nature which would be impossible after global destruction. Knowing nature means knowing ourselves, the same happens with protection and maintenance. Nature is a living being which should be respected and honored, consequently, by dishonoring and destroying the nature, people destroy their inner world which is full of beautiful and peaceful things, suchlike the last day of the summer season on the beach.
Why Leaves Change Color in the Fall
The beauty of nature which helps us to know ourselves is also described in the essay Why Leaves Change Color in the Fall by Diane Ackerman. The author compares leaves which fall from the trees in the autumn with bodies, “In time, they will become fragile and, like the body, return to dust.” (Ackerman 982) All the details which can be discerned are described as an integral part of nature. Diane Ackerman makes you ponder and picture all the small details that you would neither appreciate nor think about when looking at nature. The writer inspires her readers to continue the research and observation of nature because knowing natures helps us knowing our inner world, knowing details helps us appreciating small mercies.
Death in the Open
Nature is considered the part of ourselves, the story Death in the Open written by Lewis Thomas helps us to understand our inner world and find similar aspects of nature within human beings. The author explains to the reader that life is recycled, animals die in a secluded place, and they do not die in the eyes of others. When they die in a place where others can easily see them, it means that something has naturally gone wrong.
Lewis said that “[a]nimals seem to have an instinct for performing death alone, hidden…” (Lewis 534) This reminds me of the cremation process; whether the ashes are hidden inside a vase or scattered along the ocean or mountains, the ashes of the body are not for the whole world to see at a grave yard site. The feeling is more intimate this way because there are only a handful of people who will be able to visit the ashes not the full fifty or so people who went to say their goodbyes at the vigil. We can conclude that the death is an integral part of the life; the cycle presupposes that every life has a beginning and an ending; the nature and human beings are characterized by these two processes which let us progress.
Conclusion
Knowing natures is connected with knowing ourselves because the natural environment is our dwelling which should be examined, protected, and maintained. Writers presuppose that nature is a part of our worlds; the outer world gives us an opportunity to admire the nature and enjoy its beauty, while the inner one lets people understand themselves through understanding the nature, develop the consciousness through learning the laws of nature, know ourselves through knowing the nature.
Works Cited
Ackerman, Diane. “Why Leaves Change Color in the Fall.” Norton Book of Nature Writing. Ed. Robert Finch and John Elder. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2002. 980-983. Print.
Beston, Henry. Orion Rises on the Dune. Ed. Robert Finch and John Elder. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2002. 366-375. Print.
Lewis, Thomas. “Death in the Open.” Norton Book of Nature Writing. Ed. Robert Finch and John Elder. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2002. 533-536. Print.