NATURE SHAPES CULTURAL NARRATIVES
A tiny bug in your living room, a swaying branch over your terrace, spritely weeds sprouting in your yard, a barking dog in your neighbourhood, the natural world inside of a city is often considered more of a nuisance than a benefit, but it wasn’t always this way.
Historically, nature defined human values, behaviours and traditions. Culture was formed by our interactions with and interpretations of the world around us. For example, human settlements placed in fertile land, festivals in celebration of the harvest season, or the new year marked by yield of a certain crop.
The biblical narrative begins with God creating Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. They were given the mandate to take care of the Earth, thus forming a culture of stewardship. In fact, the word ‘Culture’ comes from the Latin word ‘Cultus’ meaning ‘care’. Its etymology connotes ideas of growth, tilling and cultivation. There was a symbiotic relationship between people and the planet – where humans were given the assignment by God to name every creature; where every plant served as their nutrition and all of nature was provided for their joy. It was the inheritance of humans.
URBAN LIFE AND NATURE:
While the world was created as an ecosystem with every part dependent on the other, the advent of cities and rapid urbanisation made humans and nature almost opposing entities. Humans created systems that were so separate from nature and no longer based on landscape or ecology, but solely on output for consumption – what we eat and how we dress are now largely influenced by globalisation and trends.
Because of this, we experience a strong sense of hyper-independence, extreme control over our environments and a mindset of ‘otherness’ when it comes to nature and its various creatures.
This has formed new notions of cleanliness in cities – concretised outdoors with every leaf swept away, grass cut to only a specific length, plants only in neatly lined pots, artificially fragranced chemical cleaning liquids for each surface, black plastic bags filled with garbage kept outside our houses.
Nature is hardly something we enjoy anymore, but rather something we try to protect ourselves from. Now, playing with mud is a fearful contact with germs, climbing trees is a precarious activity that could cause a bad fall, petting an animal is a chance of being bitten – We’ve put up danger signs on all of nature.
Today, we cultivate success at work, on social media platforms and with economic growth. Still moments of beauty and joy are preceded by accomplishments and mechanical tasks. Our instinctive interconnectedness and innate desire to ‘grow’, ’till’ and ‘steward’ the natural world are a long-forgotten treasure.
HOW DO YOU BUILD A CONNECTION WITH NATURE IN CITIES?
An important tie between nature and culture is knowledge. If we were to preserve and live harmoniously with nature, it would require us to become conscious of the world around us. Just like Adam and Eve, we could learn to name the trees, plants, fish and animal life around us.
Lean into your curiosity and ask questions. When you see a cloud pattern that’s prettier than usual, when you notice a beetle rolling a ball of muck, when you watch a frog leap out of the water and on to dry land, find out why!
Recently, one of my students didn’t want to walk near a muddied area and asked me to pick up something from the ground for him. I reminded him that God made us from the dust and a little bit of dirt was okay. He inquisitively touched his face and told me he didn’t feel ‘muddy’. Be appreciative of the beauty around you, even the messy parts! The polished, white walls of a city are nothing compared to the rugged and intricately ridged bark of the trees.
Make the natural world a part of your everyday colloquy. Move beyond conversations about the mundane and include stories about walks under canopies of trees, running on a beach with the sand between your toes, the new leaves burgeoning on your house-plant.
Consider the breathtaking world around you – it is a mystery that is worth unearthing. It is your cultural heritage!
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Written by Jerusha Isaac
