4.4.4 Part of nature, part of the solution

It’s easy to feel as though humans represent the problem and that we are in direct opposition to nature. Of course, we are contained within nature, what we do comes back at us like a boomerang. We’ve seen it in our treatment of soils leading to land degradation and crop losses with rising food prices. We’ve seen it with extreme weather events that have been attributed to human activities. But if we’re a part of nature, how can we feel like we are? If our surrounding landscape is made up of shops, skyscrapers and tightly clipped lawns, how can we get a sense that we’re an important cog in nature’s great wheel? And not necessarily a negative one at that, but one of potential, with capacity to act with compassion and humbleness, one who can begin to see connections in nature and use them to improve societal health, one who can observe and reflect, and become an intentional player in the team. How can we get back to not just being, but feeling like we’re part of nature?