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Sometimes I wonder if I will be better off living in the woods. Maybe that is the place for me. In this past year, I have spent more time outdoors and have really listened to the world around me, not the manmade sounds, but the sounds that are provided by nature. It is like a soundtrack from Sounds of the Suburban Forest. Sure, there may be some car noises in the background, but the primary focus in on the chirping birds and the zephyr from the west. (A zephyr, by definition, is a west wind.) I find it very soothing. There is a certain continuity about it, an instinctive look at something that has always been there, at least as long as this planet has harbored life. And I cannot help but think what a short period of time we have been “civilized.” That being our domestication if you would. Our settling into a three bedroom ranch house with a white picket fence and a dog named Fido.

We are not really sure of life before civilization, as no one took the time to write it down in a way we could understand. Sure, cavemen painted on walls, but that doesn’t tell me who invented the wheel. And I am sure no one needed to get a patent for it. I do have this vision of an ancient patent office, Flintstones style. It would be something, wouldn’t it? I also wonder if the people back then kept track of the years, one of them like, “Hey, it’s 4567 B.C. I have this sinking feeling Christ is going to be born in 4567 years. Better keep that day open.” But it amazes me how we have started accelerating to the point of unsustainability. Consuming all of our resources is something that we may not have seen coming, but it is time to start consuming less.

Maybe the woods would be a great place for us to live. I researched Henry David Thoreau and found that he spent about two years in the woods in a small shack. I guess it was the defining moment of his life or something, and it gave him some newfound perspective on life, love, and consumption. I think that if we all pitch in and go back to our roots, we can live in peace once again. We are always fighting over land, resources, or whatever else is this year’s “hot button.” So I guess transcendence of society is something we can all get a part of by spending time in the woods, away from all of this. I don’t know, but ever since reading the book Fight Club, I find it that my responsibility is to do something every day to get away, at least for awhile. If I were to ever take an extended vacation, it would be to a private beach, an undiscovered paradise. Why go to a place where you are trying to relax, but the family or whoever you go with is saying, “Let’s go here, let’s go there, let’s see the [insert tourist attraction here].”

I know that we have evolved in a civilization-type manner much faster than we have evolved biologically and this is something that may or may not cause problems. I am not a scientist nor am I a firm believer in us being “the crown of creation” and that we should “be fruitful and multiply,” as I feel we have done quite enough of that for at least a few generations. It is not something you can deny. Our population will become unsustainable. How many more people can we pack onto this planet? And with the current obesity epidemic at large, that could also produce some interesting problems as well.

I came across a website called the Church of Euthanasia, a great website that has to do with voluntarily lowering the population to a sustainable level. I found the website both humorous and dark, but also mean at times. I am not going to condone anything they have stated, but some of it did make a lot of sense. I feel like if we keep letting the population grow, the woods and all other solitudes will be turned into multiplex cinemas or minimalls, something I could not bear to deal with. I might become the next member of the Church of Euthanasia if that happens on a global level. I pray that this does not happen. But you never know.

In all of this, I find peace in knowing I am conscious enough to realize these problems and that I can take steps, personally, to limit my ecological footprint, and encourage others to do the same. It is our battle to be won. I know we were kind of just thrown into this at birth, as we inherited these problems, from our ancestors. We just bought into this sort of lifestyle, and it can consume us all. I am not saying the complete extinction of humans would be a terribly bad thing, as the remaining ecosystem will still thrive without us. We are not integral to the world, and as a matter of fact, we have done more harm than good, but there still is some good in there. We need to get more of the good out, the helping hands, cleaning up this world, so that way I can buy a small plot of land and move into the woods. Come join me. You’ll enjoy it. I promise.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 23rd, 2007 at 1:43 am and is filed under Inspiration, Theories, Intentions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.