We Cannot Go Into Nature

Our Most Painful Illusion

We cannot go into nature. We can remember that this is what we are.

The ways we speak are so interesting. We say we are stuck in traffic, while we are the traffic. We say we live on earth, while we are born of her, made from her juices and mud.

The notion of ‘going into nature’ perpetuates the lie and the illusion that we are separate from nature. It implies that we are not a part of it. This is a false perception.

City and nature

While it is true that when I live in a city, work in offices and travel in cars or public transport, I am not ‘in nature’, it is important to be careful of this expression! It easily becomes a lived and believed reality — the idea that nature is somewhere ‘out there’ to be visited now and then.

You may say, well, but it’s true: the forests, mountains, lakes and fields are far from the city dwellings. Yes. And, the simple fact is also: you are nature. Your body is made of the same ‘soup’ as all other living life (nature) is made of.

How are we nature?

All the elements make up our bodies: earth, fire, water, air — is this not nature? Right inside our bodies? As our bodies? The same electromagnetic frequency, or life-force-energy, that vibrates in all living things is also what animates our bodies and beings — the living life/nature that we are.

Just like trees, grasses, insects or animals, we are not aliens or outsiders, looking onto creation. We come from it. The earth births and nourishes us, just like all other life here. The earth’s minerals, air, water, fruits, vegetables, grains, animals, etc. pass through our bodies as we eat, feeding our cells that make up our physical body.

We are not aliens. We belong. Deeply. We are inextricably woven into the magical tapestry of all life on earth.

The most painful illusion

The crazy idea that we are separate from nature, separate from life itself, is the most painful illusion, and the farther ripples of this illusion manifest in diseases of all kinds — depression, anxiety, addictions, etc.

This illusion keeps us from truly knowing ourselves because when I am in the illusion of “I am separate from It, from life, from nature, from Creation”, I do not know my true self and I live a life in deep confusion and disconnection.

This illusion is not only painful for us as individuals. Us humans living out this illusion (in how we treat people, animals, nature, earth…) is the source of the greatest pain and destruction caused and experienced on this planet. Based on this illusion, we destroyed much of nature and earth — the very source of our own life and survival.

How much do we care?

When I live a life, believing that I am disconnected from earth and nature, I can afford not to care. I am disconnected from It — so It does not matter. Why would it? The illusion of separation brings with it the shadow of indifference.

When I know in my bones that I am an intrinsic part of All Life on Earth, it is hard not to care. In my experience, I have felt like it is impossible not to care deeply, when I sense and embody my interconnectedness with all life.

My personal dream

If I were granted one wish, it would be that humanity remembers that we are inextricably linked to All Life on Earth, all the time, and sees that every action we take has ripple effects on everything else, always. My deep wish is that we remember that all life (including us) is interconnected and precious, and that we completely align all our actions, businesses, schools, institutions, etc. with this remembered knowing.

Driven by my dream that we may all come to remember ourselves as nature and life itself… I started hosting ‘Nature Immersions’ in South Africa, where I live. Now I sit with the question of how to speak about it because I don’t like to say “I take people into nature”, as we are it already 😉

I take a breath, and I trust. I trust that everything is as it’s meant to be. Now. I trust that the wave of awakening and remembering that is moving through humanity will continue to gain momentum. I trust that posting this article brings positive ripples. I trust that I don’t need to know if and how and when we may wake up and see through this illusion.