Reminder

Last night I found myself outside on my front porch for close to two hours watching the skies as a massive thunderstorm rolled in. I watched as the storm surrounded me. I watched as the rain started to fall, and the lightning flashed in every direction. I watched as the rolls of thunder resonated deep within my core. I stood there, nearly unmoving, despite the rain, despite the lightning, despite the thunder, absolutely awestruck. Awestruck by the sheer power of nature, the beauty of nature, the elegance of nature. I was rendered speechless by the poetic destruction and the lyrical chaos. And while a thunderstorm seems so typical during these long, humid summer evenings, each one never fails to astound me. Each clap of thunder and bolt of lightning is a reminder of how mysterious, raw, and unique every force of nature is. Every natural phenomenon, no matter how large or small, reminds us how astounding the universe is.

Nature is, for lack of a better term, absolutely incredible. The surface of our earth is riddled with beauty that far surpasses even the most valuable of man made creations. From the peaks of the Himalayas, to the depths of the Grand Canyon. From the great sequoia trees, to the wildflowers littering Yosemite Valley. From the stars and planets that create our universe, to the specks of sand that form our beaches; every piece of the natural world is meaningful and beautiful on a level far beyond any human comprehension. So often we forget that, as human beings, we too are a part of nature. That we too, are not superior, but rather an essential part of the flow of life and the function of earth as a whole. We forget that the earth is not at our disposal, that nature is not an endless resource of materials meant to benefit us and us only. We must remember, and we must remember now, that we are to live in harmony with nature; that we are to live as part of nature, that we are to respect nature as much, if not more, as we respect ourselves. It is a Hindi belief that things must be destroyed for new things to created. But the human race is destroying at a pace too quick for nature to keep up with. We are working against nature. We are creating substances and devices that modify and destroy the natural beauty of the world from which our very atoms were formed. We are uprooting our very own existence, and we hardly even realize it, we hardly even realize that we are slowly destroying our earth. As a species, we need to take a step back, and take a long look at nature. We need to relearn how to appreciate the beauty, the danger, the impermanence, the nourishment, and the inspiration that nature provides. We need to learn from nature. We can learn that death is just as much a part of living as life is. This we can learn from the Redwood forest; a forest so dependent on forest fires to clear away the dead trees and the brush to make room for new life. We can learn that even the most seemingly stedfast things in life are ever changing. This we can learn from the glaciers that slowly shape our mountain ranges. There is an innumerable amount of lessons to be learned from nature, for our environment is the greatest teacher we will ever have. This truth can be so easily forgotten. But nature never fails to send us a sign, such as thunderstorm, to remind us of the raw power and significance behind everything our earth is home to.