Animals

When a cute animal enters the scene people take note. Animals impact us. I have heard much discussion about how animals connect us back to nature. Of course, that assumes that humans are separate from nature. I disagree. Humans, animals, landscapes and technology are all created from what is natural. Think about it. The split between what is termed human and natural is a simplifying mechanism constructed in our minds and through social intervention. Separating human and nature into two separate categories makes it easier to continue to engage in the unbalanced use of and acquisition of resources. If the animals we hurt aren't a part of us, that makes our mistreatment of them tolerable. But if we acknowledge that we are all a part of nature, then what we do to animals and our earth might be hurting us too. And maybe climate change, therefore, isn't a distant and separate fact of weather but something that is already happening to us. When we treat animals badly, we set the precedent for treating each other, and our earth, badly. And, what if we need animals to remain human? What if our animals help remind us that we aren't omnipotent and help us all live more gracefully and humbly (not a bad counterbalance for a society that depends on being number one)?

On Peoples' Minds: "I had this most wonderful dream. I lived on a farm with many animals. I felt as though we could communicate, and I felt like I was home. Like it felt like I belonged. Then it was time to go back to New York City, and I felt sad leaving these creatures - goats, sheep, horses and cats and dogs. Then I realized I could bring the animals with me, or somehow, I could live my life as I know it and still keep my relationship to these animals. That made me very happy -- like something that seemed impossible could be possible."

In the News: A friendly moose makes a community happy, and a man finds satisfaction saving the life of a bird. Makes it seems as though people haven't really given up hope on the idea of living more harmoniously with the nature that is part of us. We have just forgotten how to do it.