Whenever I read/hear/see something about humans relationship to the wild, it conjures this remark by Aldo Leopold. It was an essay on marshes, but the idea was it applied to all of 'the wild':
“Thus always does history, whether of marsh or marketplace, end in paradox. The ultimate value in these marshes is wildness, and the crane is wildness incarnate. But all conservation of wildness is self-defeating, for to cherish we must see and fondle, and when enough have seen and fondled, there is no wilderness left to cherish."
Now I'm trying to take that wise observation and see how that applies to your remarks about independence, autonomy, authenticity, etc. Like, if you were able to completely rewild yourself, maybe it would be important that you didn't realize it? Or, putting it another way, when is self-awareness the paradox? 🤯
Yesterday I went down an Internet rabbit hole looking up scenes from “Office Space.” That movie still sticks with me because that was exactly how I felt at my first newspaper job, which was as a copy editor. It was not glamorous. It was many hours spent at a tiny cubicle, with lots of noise and fluorescent lights. (It was on my mind because this week I wrote about my regret about not becoming a wildlife scientist. So this theme for your post definitely resonates!)
Whenever I read/hear/see something about humans relationship to the wild, it conjures this remark by Aldo Leopold. It was an essay on marshes, but the idea was it applied to all of 'the wild':
“Thus always does history, whether of marsh or marketplace, end in paradox. The ultimate value in these marshes is wildness, and the crane is wildness incarnate. But all conservation of wildness is self-defeating, for to cherish we must see and fondle, and when enough have seen and fondled, there is no wilderness left to cherish."
Now I'm trying to take that wise observation and see how that applies to your remarks about independence, autonomy, authenticity, etc. Like, if you were able to completely rewild yourself, maybe it would be important that you didn't realize it? Or, putting it another way, when is self-awareness the paradox? 🤯
I love that. Thank you.
Once a thing has been touched, you cannot un touch it. Not really.
And I love that the quote mentions a crane! Herons seem to be a thing for me. They keep showing up.
Yesterday I went down an Internet rabbit hole looking up scenes from “Office Space.” That movie still sticks with me because that was exactly how I felt at my first newspaper job, which was as a copy editor. It was not glamorous. It was many hours spent at a tiny cubicle, with lots of noise and fluorescent lights. (It was on my mind because this week I wrote about my regret about not becoming a wildlife scientist. So this theme for your post definitely resonates!)
Beautifully said! Our planet needs more wilderness....keep writing!