I was thinking about this phrase we all use – “getting back to nature.” I’ve said it myself countless times, usually when I’m feeling stressed or overwhelmed by life. But lately, I’ve started questioning what we really mean by that.
What seems to be true for me is this: we can’t actually “get back to nature” because we are nature. Just like trees, rivers, and mountains, we’re part of this living world. Every time we breathe, we are sharing air with every other living thing on Earth. The water we drink and the air we breathe have cycled through countless other forms of life. Not to mention that even our bodies are home to billions of tiny organisms that live on our skin, under our fingernails, in our guts.
This separation we’ve created in our mind is a cultural artifact that comes from philosophical and religious traditions, which put humanity at the centre of everything and consider humans as superior to everything else in the rest of the natural world. They say we are as its masters or observers, not just another aspect of it.
This way of thinking has profound consequences that are leading to environmental destruction, exploitation, and a fundamental misunderstanding of our true nature. I also believe it leads to the sense of loneliness and isolation that many of us suffer from.
We may live in cities and use technology but they are as much a part of nature as a beaver’s dam or a bird’s nest – just more complex versions of what other species do.
Believing we are separate from nature is like believing that my left hand isn’t part of my body – it just doesn’t make sense, does it?
Science is slowing catching up too. The more we learn about ecology and biology, the more we see how everything is connected. From the smallest microbes to the largest ecosystems, it’s all one big network, and we’re woven right into it.
Right here, right now, you, your family, the trees, the sky, the cloths you wear, the rivers, the rain, every other animal out there – all of it is nature.
So maybe next time you find yourself saying “I’m going back to nature,” remind yourself “you never left”.
