by Cordelia Riordan

Created on: November 07, 2008

Ever since childhood, nature has held so much of a sway over me that it is part of m y religion and spirituality. Any kind of high, medium, or low nature calms me, though I prefer medium and high nature. I can walk miles upon miles in a canyon or nature reserve without feeling tired, for nature itself energizes me. I can be soothed even when depressed or angry simply by the wind caressing my face like a lover brushing a finger along my cheek. The sound of the waves hitting the shore draws me in until I lose myself to the sheer power that takes over me from the primal ebb and flow of the ocean.

From my experience, nature has this power over everyone who is willing to feel it. Most people who don't are simply too lost in their every day lives to notice, let alone those who feel they're separate from nature. Nature and we are far from separate.

Throughout my life, I've known that we, as humans, are part of nature. Nature's power is our power. The beauty and power of nature should never be lost to anyone, for if we lose nature, we lose ourselves.

Have you ever felt the breeze on your face and truly felt it? Have you stood, vulnerable before one of the greatest powers on this Earth and just allowed yourself to be lost like generations of people before us? Have you ever wandered through the trees and practically felt the oxygen being released from their beings? I have, and this is the most benevolent power of nature.

However, nature has a darker side. Hurricanes, tornados, floods, fires, drought, famine... all are part of the darker side of nature, the part of nature that rules over death. However, in my belief system, even these things have meaning and purpose. No force of nature is ever truly random or destructive for no reason. Wildfires are designed to set dead plants ablaze so that new plants could grow and flourish, but at the expense of the old, for instance. Both of the dual forces of nature do not discriminate. While a tornado does not worry about what it will tear free from the ground, a perfectly formed dew drop does not decide not to form on a plant merely because of superficial reasons.

The power of nature is both creative and destructive, often simultaneously. If we allow ourselves to feel the natural forces of the world, we can all experience the lessons that nature brings right to our own every day lives. Personally, I wouldn't have nature any other way.

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