Treading Lightly
Most Wilderness hikers with an appropriate sense of nature follow the practice of leaving no trace of their presence in the wild. There is a skill in learning not to destroy, break, or tread heavily around trees, underbrush, or paths, or leaving campsite use invisible to others. It is satisfying visiting a spot and leaving it as it were untouched, where successive hikers would not notice that anyone was ever at that same spot, just as I enjoy that experience when I'm out hiking.
I take this philosophy one step further. That is if I find a spot that has been visited and left scarred by passing humans who live only for themselves, I will take the time to return the place to erase the effects of uncaring visitors. To be the first, or the last, it should make no difference.
Shouldn't it be the same in life? In all you do?
It doesn't mean sitting at home and do nothing, it means doing all you do with care and consideration. Instead of maximizing our consumption of resources, we should live on this earth and leave it as untouched as possible. Minimizing the evidence of our existence, except in the minds of other humans. And if we find a place where uncaring humans have left too much confirmation of their visit, we should make every effort to erase those scars from that place.
It is so hard to do that in a modern society without being viewed as an eccentric freak.
7 comments:
On this note,
I'd like to say that in many parks I'm not allowed to walk there with my dogs because some people are just too lazy or ignorant to pick up after their animal...
So we all have to pay for people who are inconsiderate.
It's part of education. Some people will never get it.
At school, we always make sure that the students clean up after they eat, clean the tables and make sure the place looks like it was when they got there.
If our youth can't understand the importance of respecting their environment inside, how can we get them to understand the global and natural environment....
Hope you're having a great day!
Kissss
If only everyone would live life like this. *sigh*
Your comment at the end is so accurate. But then again, I like eccentric freaks!!
Great, thought provoking post!
yes!yes!yes! beautifully put!
i hope, when i kick, my gravestone reads, "eccentric freak." but then again, i want to be cremated... so maybe my urn instead? ;) yeah. so. nevermind.
You are amazing. And good Karma will bless you.
i join you in your world of being viewed as an eccentric freak! do no harm!
When I go into the park, to the hot springs, there is never any sign left that I was there.
Well, there was the time when I came upon this bunch of pine cones that spelled "WELCOME", I figured that was Mrs. God that left that message so I gathered more pine cones and added. "I LOVE U."
There are good reasons for not wanting dogs in the park here. And they are clearly posted in the park. This is a wild park here, not a domestic one. There are many other places people can take their dogs.
I really need a hike to the hot springs but the road is closed after the snow and high winds a few days ago. I just need to get away from humans and consumers for a bit.
I'm not sure how to clean up the human world but I know how to appreciate the natural world. That's why I organized so many beach clean ups in my county. In fact I organized the first county wide beach clean up ever here. If that's being a freak, then it's cool with me.
(The anon person is me, Pop from Morning Martini. Still can't comment on beta sites)
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