Mother Nature
Seems the more plugged in we are the more unplugged we get. The more power we use the less powerful we become. The more energy we burn the less energy we have.
Now that we have the TV, how much less time do we spend outside? How much more time do we sit passively on our ass being entertained? How much less do we read? How much more time do we spend in one-way communication instead of two-way conversation. At least before, when we just had the radio, we only had to listen. We could walk around and do other things while listening. The TV ushered in the age of having to both watch and listen. The couch potato was born.
We drive instead of walk. We watch instead of do. We observe instead of partake. We text instead of talk. We video conference instead of meeting face to face. We touch a screen instead of touch a hand. We push a button instead of swing a hammer or axe. In so many little ways we are willfully and increasingly creating an environment that isolates us more and more from our natural surroundings and our connections to it. In a very real sense as we plug in more and more gadgets and rely on the burning of fossil fuel to do our jobs, we are losing our connections to the real world. We are becoming unplugged to what is really important in life. We are isolating ourselves from our true nature and being denied the natural connections that feed our bodies and nourish our spirits.
When you never feel the strength of the wood as you manually screw in a screw or hammer a nail because you let the power tool do the work for you you lose a connection to nature. When you sit on a riding gas powered lawn mower rather than push a manual mower your body is that much further detached from the task. The swing of a sickle is a much closer relationship to nature than wearing ear muffs and slashing weeds and brush with a weed eater. The obnoxious leaf blower is heard on any given day disturbing the quiet for more than a one-block radius with a loud buzzing noise. Rare is the sound of the slow, tranquil, quiet cadence of the rake. One more power tool drowning out the chirping of the birds and the wind rustling through the trees. One less physical task we do on a regular basis. One more pound around the waistline from our inactivity.
Imagine living before the invention of the automobile, back to the time when beast provided the major means of transport. Imagine the visceral bond that existed between rider and horse. A rider, in the saddle, feeling the sway and power of his horse, was plugged into the natural world. There were no windows to shut out the outside world. No radio to camouflage and bombard.
Think back to the time before electricity. People had to be more in tune with the rhythm of the Earth and Sun. They were more aware of and closer to nature. The lighting of a candle was just a closer connection to Mother Earth. Candlelight touches our soul. It communicates with our true nature.
I can remember in my childhood when my aunts and uncles, living on the farm, had no indoor plumbing. There was something closer to nature about pumping water from a well. And the trip to the outhouse. That was as close to our true animal nature as you could get.
No longer do people just walk in the park. They are talking on their smart phone, texting or listening to music instead of taking in the sights and sounds.
The apex of this technological isolation is most apparent in the recreational vehicle or RV.
Why leave it at home when you can take it all with you!
Modern man out for a trip to enjoy Mother Nature and what do they do? Instead of getting away from it all they take it all with them. Driving a huge mobile home with a couple of dirt bikes and a car in tow they are off to enjoy the great outdoors. Inside the RV is every imaginable household appliance and technological gadget to entertain and keep all constantly digitally connected. Nature sure takes a backseat to this kind of camping.
I can't help but think we've lost something special in our arm's length impersonal day to day technological interaction with nature.
Unplugged
The Church of the Holy Shitters will post articles on our holy S.H.I.T. day ( So Happy It's Thursday)
Last week 2/21/13: Climate Change Deniers
Next week 3/7/13: Stop Plugging Away and Start Unplugging Away
The Holy Shitters Shitty Way of Life
Living Close to Mother Nature
originally posted at http://holyshitters.com/