Living Together Within Nature On A Path To Peace

People go stir-crazy when cooped up in packed cities under the unthinking rush of the

current culture. When schedules and deadlines lay siege to our sanity, it would be a great idea

to go to a place, not necessarily isolated, yet feels lost in time. We do need to get outside, away

from electronics, get our eyes off the cellphones, and talk to real people. There is a great

restorative power in that. We just have to try doing it.

In the center of nature, our senses run together. We feel, taste, and smell the perfume

of plants. We hear the songs of birds and monkey caws, the incessant staccato sounds and whirs

of insects, and see the rustles of leaves and flowers waiting to get free in their original

profuseness. Look up at the sky --- lit by a warm sunshine --- that looks happy to glow from blue

to a bluer hue in an endless infinity.

The human quest for beauty in the natural world ping-pongs between opposing points of

view: traditionalism and modernity. It is impossible to not be aware of the growing

environmental catastrophe around us. Everywhere we cast our eyes the sad signs of urban decay

looks like a montage of industrialism’s crimes against nature which makes habitat protection an

increasingly tough task.

People have always been proficient at creating trash. We use up a lot of scarce water.

We know fully well the consequences of our petroleum-based lifestyle and the ecological

ramifications, yet we blame everybody else except ourselves. The preservation of our planet with

its complex, diverse, and fragile ecosystem seems like untenable with such kind of dispirited lost

cause attitude. Various technological solutions to lower carbon emission in the air we breathe

to save the shrinking store of life might be better resolved by a simple change of behavior.
 The near-collapse of Earth’s ecosystem is our biggest problem today. It is the clearest

example of a society that slowly destroys itself by overexploiting our resources. Living together

in harmony would be difficult to come by in a world that is split by multiple languages and

divergent beliefs --- not to mention the never-ending tug-of-war between those who spouse

modernity and those who refuse to let go of their ancient and anachronistic traditions. Climate

change has been making its effects very visible and with great harm: more devastating storms,

icebergs melting, harsher sun, loss of animal and plant species. There are photos and

documentaries that attest to the serious threat of climate change and a face-to-face evidence of

unpleasant biodiversity loss.

Being green is not a trend that fades when the novelty of being an ecological warrior starts

to wane. Being green is not being an environmentalist who boisterously takes to the streets and

call for laws to curb tourism growth. The preservation of our forest ecosystem lies in being aware

to the possibility that our environment can heal itself with our concerted efforts so that the space

we inhabit in can become ever more natural and free-ranging. If we place a higher value on open

spaces where anyone can hike, expand his lung with fresh air, and watch the birds, forest

creatures, and insects electrify the air with a variety of their sounds, whoops, clicks, and screams,

where the brooks are clean, beaches free of plastic wastes, then we can truly call ourselves

partners for the good of this planet we cherish as home.

What we can relearn from such back to basics and rediscovering the pleasure and beauty

that is around us will let us understand what lies ahead in our future. We don’t have to paint

posters with slogans and shout our hearts out in front of television cameras and the social media

to let our concerns be heard.

 We can do it in a way that we can cross the world’s many cultures and connect dissimilar

faiths and beliefs and keep plodding on toward a way to a sustainable future for every interacting

human being as well as animals of all kinds, plants, birds, insects, and other life forms. This is the

way to be aware of the worth of everyday, simple acts of living and realizing together the dream

of a healthy Earth.

Nature is of an infinite artistry that lets us feel the wonderful sense of space and beautiful

stillness in its endless sustainability and power at interconnecting all of its parts and making it

whole. Technological leaps bring man to learn more of the world’s infinite potentials but we also

have to be aware and take caution to their perceptible overreach and make allowances for a limit

to human ingenuity. Happily, we are gradually figuring out how we can change the world by

paying attention to all the ways, big and small, in which we can responsibly co-exist. Being green

is the utmost important challenge of our times. We will see the day when the world’s color and

racial variances dissolve and harmonize to be able to live as one in every place that offers

tranquility to our hearts. It will be the day when lakes sparkle, rainforests are pristine once again,

birds sing on quiet mornings, the trees grow tall and beautiful, and butterflies, as big as birds,

flutter happily.

Peace, that rarified desideratum of all human conditions, will reign and our children’s

grandchildren will infinitely thank us for this.

-O0o-
LIVING TOGETHER WITHIN NATURE ON A PATH TO PEACE

ORATORICAL CONTEST

Y 0LYMPICS

SUBMITTED BY:

MAIA D. MINDO

Coach

BANGKAL HIGH SCHOOL