Our Relationship with Nature

Yesterday evening I attended the TigerLion Arts production of Nature, an "outdoor telling of Emerson, Thoreau, and their mutual love of the natural world."  It was part biography, part philosophical dissertation, and part immersive experience that was intended to direct one's gaze away from the distractions of our modern world and even of the flaws and nature of the play itself and to the Nature that surrounded us.

Set in the St. John's Arboretum, in one of my favorite areas of restored prairie, wetland, and old growth oak forest, the play attempted to be a moment out of time, to be a moment in nature, but constraints of form and setting limited its transcendental reach.  In the opening act, after the chorus welcomed us to what seemed to be a puritan church service of nature worship, they performed a collective sigh, the breath that can only be released in the presence of the stillness of nature.  As this meditative and hypnotic exercise rested in silence and the birds and wind seemed to rise in symphonic hymn, the ubiquitous buzz of a car on the highway was a painful reminder of our imperfect setting.  "Welcome to nature!" was the common refrain given by men and women in period garb, idyllically prancing in the prairie, yet despite every magical stage picture rendered by the natural setting, some aspect of human development or progress infringed upon its perfect attainment of nature.  Not a hundred yards from the nearest road, with telephone lines framing the sunset, a highway humming incessantly, we were assumed to be in nature or transported to nature in theater. There lacked an exploration of the nature of nature or a critical reasoning into whether or not our small slice of the natural world constituted the great Nature referred to by the two main characters.

The philosophies claimed a need for direct commune with nature, Thoreau demonstrating the personal peace and contentment that comes from study of and living in undisturbed nature and Emerson expounding nature's transcendental qualities and tendencies for enlightenment.  Emerson was demonized somewhat, becoming the antagonist in the play while Thoreau was touted as a sage, but in passages recounting their writings and letters one can see how brilliant both were.  Captured in brilliant light and shadow of the sun setting through the trees, mankind's reverence and struggle with nature was beautifully personified, however much they were forced to rely on dramatic and comedic storylines and interactive and self-aware meta-theatrics (all of which were great fun).

What is your relationship with nature?  This was the central question posed by this experience, when all the form and entertainment has been stripped away.  While dreamily struck by the beauty of our circumstance, there was some profound melancholy that stirred under the joy and wonder of the performance and our receptivity to it.

I tend to envision Nature as pristine, untouched, and pure.  To commune with Nature requires complete removal from human constructs and impacts, physical distance from all that we create.  I think of reserves of great size and wilderness where one can be sufficiently lost and encounter Nature in its original form.  This requires vast preserves of land with strict regulation to their unalteredness.  This definition relies upon the physicality of a space, but also to its spiritual nature--the effects it can have upon the human psyche.  It is contact with the divine or the unknown, to be lost in and under the dominion of something greater than ourselves.  Here we gain humility and reverence in the presence of the natural world, the great ideal of Nature that Thoreau and Emerson speak of.

The Arboretum, while a beautiful space that captures much of the natural beauty of Minnesota, fails to fit my definition.  It is human constructed and orchestrated, and lacks the physical dimensions to sufficiently transport one into the realm of true Nature.  Constrained by the sound of the highway, the presence of buildings on the horizon, or logging trails and paths, it remains a great place that offers a valuable experience with nature, but is only a partial reconstruction of true Nature.

So while Nature prompted an exploration into my relation with nature and allowed me to better recognize the natural beauty of our setting, it simultaneously led me to lament the lose of this ultimate sense of Nature.  While Nature is present in some places, unless one becomes Thoreau or Chris McCandless, we are left with traveling bands of theater and nature lovers who attempt with all nobility to return us to some state of idyllic reverence and recognition of nature, even while the nature we are left with leaves much to be desired.  Have we lost Nature?

It is tempting sometimes to write off, to give up on this Nature.  All trends and evidence seem to suggest that we are headed towards the end of the wilderness, where the only places left where nature exists are the few preserves that we have set aside.  A realist could view our circumstance, and with the looming threat of climate change, decide that the preservation of nature as it is in its pure form isn't a priority in the survival of human society.  This calculating perspective is rational and economic, but it lacks the depth and relationship with our environment that is crucial to our survival. Without the setting of Nature, we lose the setting from which we came, we lose the source of our mindset of sustainability, our values of care and humility.  Without these values, without Nature, we can certainly create a future, but lack something crucial within our relationship with our environment, our relations between each other, and our relations to ourselves.