We Need Nature Now More Than Ever

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my study of human wellness and modern malaise, it’s this:

The less connected we are to nature, the less healthy we become.

Humans like to tinker. Make stuff up. Create neat gadgets. That’s all fine, and has helped our species survive. We’re living longer, and are more comfortable, than ever. Cool.

However, the idea that the “human way” is better than the “natural way” is mistaken. And it’s sending us off a cliff.

We’ve become so focused on survival and reproduction now that we’ve lost sight of sustaining a world that can continue to support our survival and reproduction for generations to come. Our short-term, selfish, human thinking is separating us from our life-support system. And our greed is then taking that system and smashing it to bits.

It has gotten to the point where we believe we are separate from nature—above it all—and that our way is superior to the way nature has worked for millions of years. Anything that gets in the way of our ideas, our growth, our convenience is seen as an obstacle that needs to be destroyed.

Unfortunately, those obstacles are there for a reason. They are what will keep us thriving for generations.

The conveniences we enjoy come at a massive cost, and may lead to a far less comfortable life for us down the line—certainly for future generations—in what is the great irony of our hubris.

The natural way creates a rich forest ecosystem that supports millions of lifeforms for millions of years, in a perfectly closed system that just works, even if it doesn’t cater to one species in particular.

The human way burns that forest to the ground so we can grow cattle for Whoppers.

The natural way recognizes that all life is part of a system, no lifeform inherently more deserving than another, and that we all need to contribute to the intricate interplay of life, death, survival, and reproduction as best we can in order to contribute to the greater whole.

The human way clear-cuts an entire ecosystem, destroying homes for millions of lifeforms, so we can wipe our ass with the paper that’s created from it.

The natural way requires humility.

The human way demands ego.

Now, this is not a misanthropic rant about how humans are a cancer on the planet. Or how we should completely ditch modern society and go back to the hunter-gatherer days (which couldn’t happen at this stage, even if we wanted to).

Modern medicine is a miracle. Less people are living in poverty than ever before. We have too many calories, not too few. The Giants just hired John Harbaugh.

There is so much good in this human system.

However, it has become clear that, in order to maximize this good, the human way has to align with the natural way as much as possible.

Unless you’re the head of a massive corporation making millions (or perhaps billions) off the current human way, the idea that we should return to a more natural way of living is not controversial.

We’ve soaked our food in poison and concocted bizarre scientific formulas to replace nutritious food with ultraprocessed food-like-substances. As a result, our society has become sick with diseases that are preventable.

We’ve become reliant on corporations growing, processing, and cooking what we eat for us, and then struggle to keep up with rising food prices.

We’ve taken our bodies—which evolved to walk roughly 20,000 steps per day, lift heavy objects, carry things over long distances, and contort into a bunch of shapes—and forced them to sit in a cushioned chair for 12-14 hours per day. Instead of developing physical prowess, we’ve become a society of soft, weak bodies who moan about aches and pains that stem from inactivity.

We’ve blasted blinding lights into the night sky, ridding ourselves of the Milky Way and true darkness, then complain about not sleeping well and buying blackout curtains as a remedy.

We’ve taken a seasonal rhythm to life on Earth and shattered it in the name of 24/7 productivity, then wonder why we’re so stressed out and anxious all the time.

We’ve gobbled up the water we need so we can ask AI how to ask a girl on a date, then wonder why our droughts are becoming more severe each summer.

We’ve destroyed habitats for human development, doused our lawns in dangerous chemicals, and killed every animal that steps on our property, then complain about ticks and question why our kids have asthma.

And we’ve pumped obscene amounts of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere so we can keep the whole thing running without a hitch, resulting in environmental devastation, community destruction, and economic costs so grand that it would cost less to revert to the natural way regardless.

In other words, the natural way calls for pure water, clean air, real food, quiet environments, dark skies, and plenty of exercise.

Sounds good, doesn’t it?

So why do we fight so hard against it?

Each of these problems has become insanely complex. Pull at one string and it tugs on all 8.3 billion of us. While organizations like Project Drawdown have done much of the dirty work to investigate how we can transition the modern way into a more natural way (which is surprisingly feasible), I’m not going to pretend to have all of the answers. Nor should we believe that we can’t improve our own, individual lives if the rest of society doesn’t follow suit.

But what I can say with certainty is that we should clean our own corner of the planet. We must do our best to live naturally in an unnatural system. Because of this, our health, mindset, and experience of life will improve; our communities will strengthen; our planet will heal, ever so slightly, thanks to our efforts.

Embracing the natural way is uncomfortable. It requires giving up some conveniences. It demands more direct connection with Earth and life itself.

Good.

Because when the alternative is feeling the stress, anxiety, aches, pains, diseases, anger, and malaise of the modern world—all while sitting in artificially lit rooms staring at screens that rot our brains—getting our hands dirty doesn’t sound too bad, after all.

It can be as simple as you’d like.

Walk or bike as much as possible. Commit to eating real food. Grow and forage your own harvest. Embrace darkness and the night. Use human powered tools to keep your area quiet. Let the grass grow and watch the pollinators return. Use less. Consume less. Impact less.

We’ll never be “perfect”, which is a flawed term, anyway. We shouldn’t try to treat cancer with herbs or ignore a heart-attack in the name of lessening our carbon footprint. It’s also questionable how effective it is to become a recluse from the whole game and live off the land in isolation, when a strong community effort is what’s needed.

But we can take today to drop our egos, acknowledge that nature has it all figured out, and doing our best to live in harmony with that system.

Because at this point, it’s not just a better way to live.

It’s the only way to survive.