I ponder why we need to add the ‘eco’ in front because grief is grief regardless of the species or shape of the Being loved…but my mind also understands that in our society we have stories that somehow Nature is less than us, and not deserving equality in our lives. We put the eco in front because it’s still odd that one would bereave something that isn’t valuable. Of course I mean this from the economic or societal level for those of us who are entrenched in the consumeristic story.
Of course there are those of us who see through this because our hearts have been touched by Beings other than humans. Grief arises because we love and find enjoyment from the interaction with others, and long to be with that other being, even after they are no longer here in that same form.
It’s in our nature to help, to love, to grieve. It’s in our minds to control, conquer, to subjugate.
To me it makes perfect sense to grieve the loss of Nature, we are part of Nature and when Nature is destroyed and a part of us is too. Nature is not something other than us and we have much to learn from Nature.
In Nature I often find myself, and remember what it’s like to just be, and to be accepted …the breeze moves through me like it moves through the trees, regardless of whether I’m wearing makeup or my hair is combed. It reminds me of what it’s like to move for the sake of movement without having anything attached to it - just the pure joy of expression and the freedom that arises from that.
When others think of gold and riches, my heart wanders to memories of open fields of golden grasses gently swaying and that sweet smell that arises when the sun warms the earth in spring (not the smell of dog poo thawing - yuck!). Or the leap of relief in my heart when the first crocus is spotted, signally to me that we made it through another winter.
I still tear up knowing that my favourite forest area to explore that was full of homes to other beings, was torn down and reimagined as a hotel. There’s a part of me that longs to hear the baying at night and I wonder where the coyotes went?! I used to sit on deck at night straining to listen, hoping I could hear them still. I moved away but I still wonder.
A part of me is sparked alive watching the geese turn south, knowing that they have a wisdom that many of us humans have forsaken. Every breath I take reminds me that I part of something larger than myself, each inhale a support line from earth, each exhale an exchange.
I find it harder and harder to find natural areas that aren’t disturbed by daily human activity, places where the quiet of the wild within can be heard.
We grieve because we love, and we tend to only protect what we love. We need to protect Nature, the ‘open’ spaces, the spaces void of human interferences, and the quiet.
Earth is sacred, worthy of respect, and anger arises within me when others do not treat Nature with respect. It angers me because it hurts me that they are not able to see the source of connection that is Nature, and how it supports me and us humans.
In a society that only sees Nature as a resource for monetary gain, I grieve for those people that cannot see the gold that open fields are, untouched by the breezes or reminded of what it’s like to be supported regardless of their value, and the wild voice within is gagged.
So please grieve for that which is lost so that we may be willing to protect what is left.
I hope that one day we will be able to rewrite our economical and societal stories to be able to see the sacredness of Nature, and be reminded of our Naturalness.