Live with Sensibility

As humans, do we intrude too much on the landscape? What gives a person the right to intrude on this place? I suppose the only thing you can say is that the quality of your presence here in this way, in order not to be voyeuristic or consumerist, has to slow down to the level of attention where you begin to come into the rhythm of the landscape, those incredible moments, where we almost catch the landscape out in conversation with itself.

Ferguson Bourke

In the past year, I’ve become more active on Instagram where people share their beautiful moments to uplift one another. Some influencers bring a sense of peace and respect to nature, while others are loud with grand gestures and would do anything to gain a following.

• 

• 

I remember one winter our family took some Japanese friends to visit Kings Canyon National Park right after a I remember one winter our family took some Japanese friends to visit Kings Canyon National Park right after a beautiful snowstorm. We walked on the path and took photos from ground level with a wide angle lens to creatively make it appear that we were a part of the giant sequoia trees. We saw a few girls giggling and dressed up, posed in the restricted zones so they could be in the untouched snow. I felt a sharp pain in my own body as they walked in the protected zone where new life can have a chance to grow. Our gentle comments were ignored and they went happily to get their best Instagram moments. As I’m writing this I can still feel the pain in my own body.

I’ve been watching, sensing, and feeling what could be a fix to end this increasing behavior in our popularized digital culture. And most fixes come too late in the game. As I could not stop these girls from trespassing, we can not stop the city from developing a road going through precious wetlands once it has already been set in motion. The tendencies leading to the behaviors are already written.

Then what are we to do?

Nowadays, medical practice recognizes “preventive medicine”. This is a giant leap forward in progressive thinking. Not only should we think in terms of medicine, but we should also think in terms of preventive medicine – for the environment. To stop the tendency in ourselves that causes the belief that we are entitled to this land, that we are entitled to act in ways that could hurt others, and that we alone are the kings of this planet.

The only way to apply preventive medicine is to raise human consciousness to the level beyond selfish gains, personal inconveniences, and un-holy thinking. What I mean by holy is the sense of oneness – our connections to each other, to our environment, to the planet, galaxy and beyond. Before making another purchase we must ask ourselves “is this sensible?” Before tossing out the old shoes instead of fixing them we must think of the impact of our actions on the environment. I still wear that same little black dress I purchased when I was 18. I have clothes from my college days. And I do donate the items that no longer fit. But I do remember in my early 20s, I went through a phase of having a personal shopper and didn’t wear the same outfit twice. It was only through the gift of a decade of near-poverty after my near-death experience that I realized  I didn’t need much to enjoy life. And these early days of living large with endless consumerism was not living sensibly for myself and for the environment. Nowadays I enjoy simplicity with a small carbon footprint.

We ourselves must be the answer. We must elevate ourselves to a higher level of mindful awareness. When we can treat ourselves with respect, then we can treat others as ourselves, and the planet as our own bodies. We need less showing off and more true sensibility. Can we be a part of the solution?