Realize and Empathize
Perspectives on the world
Revisiting the past can bring back all sorts of memories from a person’s history, whether it was a tough period in that person’s life or an enjoyable one. I have been taking this idea into consideration more throughout this year and reflecting on the way I view the world today. I have grown up and gone through experiences during my lifetime which shifted the ways I perceive plants, creatures, and all the rest our world has to offer which makes it interesting to compare the way I viewed nature differently before. Training to empathize with other human beings seems to be an ongoing practice I learned which can’t be done without understanding first. And it is helpful to build that open mindset since this can be applied to my relationship with nature as well. Reflecting on these skills allowed me to build a curiosity for nature, due to the fact that I have taken it for granted before. Having the ability to empathize with others and understand them has taught me an ethical way of living which would translate over to the way I can empathize and understand the natural world I desire exploring.
Childhood Perspective
Children are born into this world without any knowledge, but they learn from their mistakes and experiences in order to gain an understanding of what is going on as they grow older. I can reflect on the subtle differences in the way I view the world, such as how I didn’t analyze the environment around me or how I didn’t think about the fact that everyone grows up in different environments and how that can impact the way someone perceives the world. It feels like Rachel Carson states that a “child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement” which helped me realize how different I think and act with the people I meet and the locations I visit (Carson 54). Carson is asserting that kids tend to live an ignorant and curious life because they haven’t learned about the societal norms as well as other aspects in life that may be common knowledge for older people. It is important to keep this same curiosity and excitement to learn more about the world as people get older, because oftentimes many people lose that sense of exploration. Kids who have never ridden a bike would think that those who ride them have magical powers to keep them balanced. A television screen may look like a portal to another world. The lack of knowledge on something made me think about it more, and come up with crazy ideas for what it does. But later on I would learn about the true answer to my questions, and I would no longer dramatize over the small details I learn.
Teen Perspective
Empathize with others
When I went through middle school and high school, I began noticing an ego I built growing up which taught me how to live a more ethical life. I was always focused on what I wanted to do and never considered trying to think more open-minded. I never thought about how another person could be feeling, only viewing the situation the way I feel like seeing it. I believe that I was treating the world like I was the main character, which can be beneficial or detrimental based on how a person goes about doing it. As my middle school years were ending, I formed a skin condition which would greatly affect my ability to perform physical activities, even the simple things such as taking a shower or going to bed. Although I have thankfully found a way to control my skin condition now, it was definitely a tough and annoying experience to go through as I was growing up. I would be motivated to stay home and play video games due to the state of my skin condition which gave me time to reflect on my life and the way I act. I believe that although this period in my life may have been a bad experience, it may have also been a highly beneficial experience as well. I became self aware of the way I act to my friends, parents, and strangers which would allow me to decide whether or not I wanted to change the way I act in the future. I believe that this skill I have learned to understand can similarly be applied when trying to build a better relationship with nature. Thomas Berry, author of Dream of the Earth, argues that:
“This is a sense of presence, a realization that the earth community is a wilderness community that will not be bargained with; nor will it simply be studied or examined or made an object of any kind; nor will it be domesticated or trivialized as a setting for vacation indulgence, except under duress and by oppression which it cannot escape. When this does take place in an abusive way, a vengeance awaits the human, for when the other living species are violated so extensively, the human itself is imperiled” (Berry 2).
Berry explains that people must realize there is a problem to begin with before they can work to fix it. We must understand that the ways we perceive the environment around us may be different for someone else and building an awareness of this concept can benefit people’s relationship with nature and how we can prevent disasters in the future. I can relate Berry’s ideas with what I have experienced while growing up during my tough health condition. I would begin wondering what other people are doing, how they feel, why they feel that way, and any other questions that come to mind when I interact with others. Having this kind of awareness is what Berry was explaining, but with nature. When people become curious to understand things they don’t know within the world, they must practice looking at it from different perspectives rather than choosing to see it the way they want to.
How this can be applied to nature
I can say that once I was able to respect and understand others before blindly building assumptions, I was able to find life more exciting and filled with more opportunities. According to Drew Dellinger’s article referencing Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham”, King states, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly” (Dellinger). King is asserting that everyone is living on the same planet and will have to deal with big global problems that form throughout the years of their existence. Whatever people manage to do in order to change the world, whether to benefit or hurt it, everyone will have to deal with it whether they like it or not. We only live on one planet and we have all sorts of choices we can make on this planet. Climate change may continue to worsen, people may live unhealthy lives, creatures may become extinct. Everything affects each other and we must learn to accept that and form healthier relationships with ourselves and the world we live in.
Empathize with Nature
I have been building my respect for nature as I listen and learn about the different perspectives on the world we live in. Being able to learn and change the way I view my environment has allowed me to spend time comparing and contrasting my relationship with nature back then and how it has changed now. Nostalgic locations I have visited earlier in my life are fascinating places to revisit and analyze. What do I find most memorable from these places? Is there something I may be missing or not noticing right away? What childhood memories do these places bring back? How would other people perceive this place? All of these questions are sparked by my curiosity to explore and understand the environment around me. When I view nature with an open mind to try and understand how it works, it becomes exciting and motivating to find the true answer to these questions because there may not be one correct answer.
By strengthening one’s relationship with their environment, he or she will be able to appreciate their world for how they see it. Understanding that the world is more complicated than it may seem is a practice I have picked up in order to defeat the ego that I once held when I was younger. By assuming I know the answer before researching, I am refusing to listen to other possible answers to the same question which will only cause confusion. Holmes Rolston, author of Is There an Ecological Ethic, asserts that “it is within man’s relatedness to his environment that all man’s values are grounded and supported” (Rolston 99). Rolston is implying that the more aware someone is with the nature around them, the more comfortable they will be with their understanding of the environment they are living in. I must continue my curiosity to empathize with the people I meet and understand the unlimited perspectives that exist in the eyes of others. But I must explore the areas I am yet to discover so that I can form this realization of the different natural environments and the beauties they offer.
Plans to explore
I have the desire to eventually travel to more countries that I have never gone to in my life as well as the nature heavy locations. I have grown up close to the beach which I view as my home, but I will definitely benefit from visiting new environments, weathers, and people around the globe to build up my understanding and get rid of any assumptions that exist in my head.
Works Cited
Berry, Thomas, The Dream of the Earth (originally published 1988). Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint Press, 2015.
Carson, Rachel, The Sense of Wonder (originally published 1965). New York: Harper Collins, 1998.
Dellinger, Drew. “Martin Luther King Jr. — Ecological Thinker.” drewdellinger.org, https://drewdellinger.org/martin-luther-king-jr-ecological-thinker/. Accessed 28 July 2020.
Rolston, Holmes, III. “Is There an Ecological Ethic.” Ethics: An International Journal of Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy, vol. 18, no. 2, 1975, pp. 93–109.
