Nature

We are surrounded by it. Nature affects everyone; from those living in the concrete jungles known as mega cities, to those who sleep under the stars, all are influenced, albeit all to differing intensities. For the great majority of my life, I've lived in Troy, Michigan, where the great suburban life means the closest one can get with nature is the trees in his backyard and maybe the park across the road. Despite this, nature still has a profound impact upon my life, and the lives of all those around me, even if it is imperceptible. There are the obvious points: nature gives us the oxygen we breath, the heat that we live off of, the food we eat, and the weather that gives us cycles to measure time by. Then there are the subtler points: nature is what originally shaped us into humans through the process of evolution; nature is what defines what we build (cities, suburbs, farms) and how we adapt to things; it can also be argued that nature is what compels all our actions.

We can also simply appreciate the beauty of nature. Some of the most magnificent sights in the world are man-made, this is true; however, the most beautiful scenery in the world can only be credited to Mother Nature. The number of these picturesque scenes is constantly dwindling due to the crass way in which humans treat them, but several are preserved and will hopefully stay the way they are. Among those that are protected under national parks, Yosemite and Banff are the best that I have seen. Among the mountains, lakes, and miles of forest, you feel truly insignificant. Reading about how vast the world, the galaxy, and the universe gives little in comparison to actually experiencing a situation like that. It gives the impression that we, as humans, really matter little in the course of history, and will be slowly forgotten after death. It becomes of little wonder why a large theme in literature centers around nature.