As a nature enthusiast, I ponder over our paradoxical selective empathy. It’s crazy how it tends to resonate more with human anecdotes (sometimes not even that) than the silent struggles of our poor Mother Nature, who we are part of. I can see what happens there, though. Reading Mother Nature’s subtle expressions can be a challenge, for she speaks not in smiles or laughs or tears, but in the dreamy dance of leaves and the whispers of the wind.
It’s hard to progress with that idea when you look around to find little to no empathy in some human interactions. Our empathy is sometimes rusty, whether with other fellow humans or with Mother Nature. We overlook our integral connection with those who we fail to empathize with. We overlook our integral connection to other people. We overlook our integral connection to plants. We overlook our integral connection to animals. We overlook our integral connection to birds. We overlook our integral connection to fish. It’s an intricately intertwined narrative where empathy, feebly reserved for our kind, falters in recognizing the muted emotions of Mother Nature, who we are part of.
Mother Nature, who we are part of, sings to us a symphony of distress that echoes around the world. It is loud if we just bother to listen closely. You can never unhear it once you connect to it, and here’s where we fail; the disconnection we have with Mother Nature arises from how we sadly tend to perceive emotions solely through familiar human expressions.
If we want to progress, we need to stop for a moment. If we want to progress, we need to throw away our human-centric glasses that we see the world with and get a new pair that includes every little thing we overlook around us. Take a pause in our hectic day-to-day life, converse with Mother Nature, and engage in a silent dialogue. Embrace her gently as you realize that we are all intertwined threads in the grand tapestry of this beautifully disturbing world. I’m sure you will understand Mother Nature, for you are part of her.
By: Salsabil Yasser
Contributing Writer