Amanda DeSalme, Berry: intricacy of beauty to be kept alive

from Wendell Berry's A Continuous Harmony:
"Walking among all these flowers, I cannot see enough. One is aware of the abundance of lovely things-forms, scents, colors-lavished on the earth beyond any human capacity to perceive or number or imitate" (Berry, 46).

There really is a great abundance of beauty on this earth. Every season and every place has its own flourishing flora that continues to astound me. There is always something new to be seen, or smelled, or heard. I am dazzled every spring by tiny purple wild flowers that spread across the ground, like a fresh fragrant carpet. The assortment of bright colors in the spring after a stark silver and white winter bring me to awareness once again of the changing beauty. The constant green and blue of the hot summer is invigorating. There is even beauty in the dying of the green leaves on trees, the fading of colors into rich reds and golds in autumn, finally resting brown on the ground. And then the branches stand bare, reaching towards the sky- in the winter I always notice the vast sky, since the leaves aren't there to block it from sight-and glittering ice or snow delicately remind us of a colder kind of beauty. And then spring puts on another show. Nature is constantly changing and coloring our lives. Annie Dillard, in her book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, states that "Intricacy, then, is the subject, the intricacy of the created world" (Dillard, 128). There is so much intricacy in nature that we don't even comprehend half of it. Maybe that lack of full comprehension is why we destroy so much of it with our economy.

"All these places of unforced loveliness, whose details keep touching in my mind the memory of great paintings, now lie within the sound of the approach of an alien army whos bulldozers fly the flag of the American economy" (Berry, 46-47).

It is saddening to think that the American economy ruins so much of that "unforced loveliness." Since our school has been celebrating earth-day this week, I have been more aware of how essential it is that we conserve this natural beauty. As a whole, human beings should incorporate more of that awareness into their everyday lives. We all go out and enjoy the nice warm spring weather and then retreat back into our shelters, wasting energy and throwing non-biodegradable trash into landfills and harming the planet without even realizing it. I cannot fix the world's problems by myself, but I believe that the more people connect with nature, the more it will flourish. Just as the ancient Ainu believed that the spiritual connection they had with the animals they ate would keep the souls of the animals returning to bodies and flourishing, so do I believe that the more we love and appreciate nature the more it will abound. Mother nature will keep us in check if we get too out of hand. I'm not saying we should completely disregard any kind of action to save nature, but if you feel you are not sure what you personally can do for it--just love it. Any kind of spiritual connection with it will keep it alive.