Personal Ecology and Belonging

I am often asked what it is I get from my extended wilderness trips. I have made several attempts in various forums to answer this and I have never felt I’ve captured the depth of impact the natural world has on me. Most people can understand the concept of Ecology and the amazing interactive and interdependent system that exists in Nature. However, I like to think that we each possess a Personal Ecology that is its own complex interconnected system that in turn needs to be involved in the larger Ecology of the world. I sometimes think of this involvement in turns of an ongoing dynamic act of absorption. Ultimately, it is also an act of discovery... discovering that, in Nature, everything belongs... even me.

A large portion of our species, through a series of misguided attempts to replace this belonging with some false sense of superiority, has lost this most precious of connections and become ill. One of the symptoms of this illness is the way so many have removed themselves from process yet yearn for love, understanding and communion. We assert ourselves at the wrong times and arrest our own process as judgement, hatred and pride create a cloud of misconceptions that we wander in alone and blinded. We create our own alienation.

Yet Nature continues its constant flow in spite of us, where indeed, everything belongs. By being out in the natural world I can let myself go and enter into all of its processes and absorb it and be absorbed by it. It is through this absorption I find true wellness. The sequence of things becomes starkly evident, everything is as it should be and I am at peace. I believe the only real sin is the ignorance of these universal, timeless principles of existence. This ignorance stems from our disconnection from the natural world and is the root of all misguided behaviour. The education needed to combat this ignorance, like all meaningful learning, needs to be experiential. When we respect this neglected part of our Personal Ecology, and more importantly honour our own place in the greater Ecology of the planet everything becomes clear... not easy, but clear. At least that’s how it’s always been for me.