"In the beginning and
the end, human beings are creatures of the wild"
Sam Keen - Fire in the Belly
Sanctuary
It’s probably only
logical and appropriate that this list of heroic virtues end with the virtue of
wildness. Sam Keen makes the case that we are over-domesticated – probably over
urbanized and at the mercy of increasingly complex technology, too, I’d add.
Many of my literary heroes – Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman – wrote compellingly of
the human need to be in touch with nature, to experience our own “wildness” and
to escape the paralyzing conformity of contemporary society. That was 150 years
ago and yet, Thoreau’s advice is more important than ever. “We need the tonic
of wildness...At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all
things, we require that all things be mysterious and un-explorable, that land
and sea be indefinitely wild, un-surveyed and unfathomed by us because
unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature.” [Henry David Thoreau,
Walden: Or, Life in the Woods]
How many of us have
in defending some resistance to formal religion at times, exclaimed, “But I experience
the Divine best in nature?” Today, the virtue of wildness, the ideal and idea
of wilderness are more important than ever for human beings to maintain our
balance, find some outer peace to match the inner peace we strive for, and to
preserve that legacy for future generations.
Rather than go on at
length about my own feelings about the need for wildness and for preserving the
wilderness, I am going to share the introduction to a free pdf essay by
TinaMarie Ekker. I’ll provide the link for you to read it in its entirety if
you wish at the end of this introductory passage.
The Idea of
Wilderness
“Wilderness is
Relationship. All cultures across history set places apart from the routines and
common behaviors of daily life. The purpose of these special places is to reorient
our focus and perceptions in a setting that is conducive to reflection. We
approach such places differently than we do the usual places in our daily
lives, and it is the restraint in this interaction that makes them special,
enabling us to experience the unique values these places provide in nurturing
the human spirit. Examples include shrines, memorials, and ceremonial sites.
Wilderness also is such a place.
Like all special
places set apart, Wilderness is not just a geographic location, it is an idea
and an ideal. The “idea” of wilderness encompasses certain values that we as a
society have chosen to protect. Congress enacted the Wilderness Act in 1964,
with the singular statutory purpose of securing the benefits of an enduring
resource of wilderness:
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress to
secure for the American people
of present and future generations
the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness. For
this purpose there is hereby
established a National Wilderness Preservation System.
(emphasis added) (The Wilderness Act, Sec. 2(a))
The Wilderness Act intended that Wilderness would have
meaning, that it would be protected for something, not simply be a place where
certain activities, such as logging, do not occur. Although Wilderness may look
similar to other undeveloped landscapes such as national park back-country, it
is the way that humans interact with Wilderness that makes it different from
other landscapes.
In preserving
Wilderness we are essentially preserving an endangered experience, and an
endangered idea — the idea that self-willed landscape has value and should
exist. Wilderness offers the opportunity to experience a relationship between
humans and nature that is increasingly rare in our modern world, a relationship
in which humans do not dominate, manipulate, or control nature but instead
immerse ourselves as a member in the larger community of life.
What makes this
possible is the authenticity of Wilderness. This authenticity offers us a
window into a world other than the world humans have constructed and now
dominate. It is the authenticity of Wilderness that gives it deep meaning,
imbuing it with immense intrinsic value as part of the ancient fabric of the
earth.
What keeps Wilderness
‘real’ and alive in our world today is the attitude with which we approach and
interact with these Congressionally designated landscapes. In this way,
‘Wilderness’ is not just physical geography, it is also a concept that must be
protected and preserved if Wilderness - not just undeveloped landscape - is to
continue to exist for future generations to experience and enjoy.”
To read the rest of
this exceptional essay on the value of wilderness (it’s well worth the time),
please go to http://www.nuibooks.com/the-idea-of-wilderness-PDF-35225619.html
As artists and
writers we can make such a marvelous contribution to this virtue in our work…perhaps
that is our great gift - that we are privileged to capture and preserve this
ideal in paintings, photographs, stories and poems.
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