The concept that we have “dominion” over Nature, or in modern parlance “stewardship” of the environment has not served us well.  Whether dominion or stewardship, it has resulted in a false sense of our supremacy and control of Nature.  The generally held position that Nature exists to serve us has largely resulted in us “biting the hand that feeds us” in every conceivable area of our lives.

Just take a look around your home for instance, and you’ll see what I mean by Nature being pervasive in everything.  There’s the clothes we wear, made of natural fibers such as: cotton, wool, silk, hemp.  There’s hair and facial products from shampoos to creams and masks containing every imaginable natural ingredient from: apple and oatmeal, to goat’s milk and urea.  Then of course there’s all the food, minerals and supplements we ingest, all produced from the Earth.  There’s the wine and the cork that seals the bottle; and the beer and spirits. And let us not forget the essential elements to life: salt and water.

When it comes to all the technology that’s in your home - clocks, watches, computers, there’s the crucial quarts chip that makes it work.  What about the source of power for electronic devices, kitchen equipment, heating/cooling, small appliances like dust-busters, electric drills, and hairdryers?  From the days of reliance on wood and coal to today’s oil, natural gas, methane, and solar energy (to name only a few), they all come from Nature.

Then there’s the physical shelter that a dwelling provides us.  Where does one begin with all the natural materials that make up the construction of a home? Once upon a time they were built of materials such as mud, straw or snow (an igloo); over time, wood, bamboo, stone, gypsum, cement, and others were added to the list of natural building materials.  If you pause and think for a moment, I’m sure you’ll come up with others.  And what about the tools that are used to build a dwelling?

Of course there’s also all the furniture, and interior and exterior finishes in a home.  Look around, at every turn, a natural substance forms a part of them: wood is everywhere in one form or another - table, chair, couch, desk, cupboards and shelves.  The granite countertop, the tile flooring, the aluminum siding.  And that’s hardly a complete list really.

Oh and let’s not forget the car on your driveway or garage?!  Thanks to the Rubber tree, we have the perfect material for tires.  Rubber also provides the tires on a bike, and the handy wheel barrow, the little go-cart, and the shopping cart you take with you when you go to buy groceries.

All this and we’ve not even considered Nature’s presence in our jewelry, footwear, and medicines!  It’s endless.

Here’s an exercise for you:  go through each room in your home and look carefully at its contents to identify just how many items contain a piece of Nature.  It’s overwhelming isn’t it? Our homes are infused with Nature! Yet, we keep pushing Nature to the brink, like a boss who lacks integrity in how he/she deals with their employees, while continuing to delude ourselves that we’re the ones calling the shots.

When it comes to Nature, who’s really dependent on who?  The irony is of course that we need Nature in every area of our life while Nature doesn’t need us. We are the vulnerable ones, ultimately at the mercy of Nature.  Are we fully awake to that reality and its implications for how we relate to Nature?  A new paradigm is needed: one that replaces dominion/stewardship with oneness and interdependence of all.

Many are doing good works to redress past abuses of Nature.  Many are developing new approaches to reconciling and healing our past relationship with Nature.  Many are helping to redefine our attitude and practices regarding our consumption of Nature.  Are you among them?  It takes each to shift from entitlement to gratitude and humility in order to redress the balance and recognize Nature’s gifts to us in each moment of our existence.

Let’s face it, we are completely at the mercy of Nature for each breath we take.  May that awareness inform our behaviour, our appreciation, and our sense of wonder.