Today I took a trip to a local nature trail towards the rural part of town, told myself I'd pick a place far from the city and spend a few hours disconnected from it -- Airplane mode, and some small snacks and water.
I thought I would spend the time playing as a little kid, as if I still had that energy ready to go, grabbing sticks and living amongst the wildlife. But what turned into an amazing exploration turned into exhaustion as the trail went on FAR longer than I expected.
There was a lot of wildlife, tons and tons of different kinds of plants -- flowers, ferns, thorned berries, cotton plants, and this invasive weed that absolutely asserted its dominance over everything it grew through.
A gardener I was volunteering for mentioned the Caesar weed as an invasive species and I told her that truthfully the fight was over a long time ago, these things are in almost every park I've been in, and they've spread like mad.
There were bugs of different sizes -- beetles and dragonflies and these things that flap very loudly. Different birds like those that screeched in the distance. It was the wild, I'm telling you.
And, one thing really spoke out to me. Well, many different things:
All of these insects and all of these plants had everything they needed to survive contained within them. Indeed our bodies, too. In the spiritual community you hear a lot of talk about energy, and it's true that our bodies are very impressive machines with many tricks up its sleeve: Sugar for firey, short term energy. Fats for easy access but long term storage. Protiens for suuper long term storage and for muscles which not only carry enough power for me to run through the forest, but also store water.
And of course I linked this to the brain which is an extremely powerful computer with memory access and muscle memories. And digestion which handles collecting all of the energy we need from food. The list goes on and on, and the gist is that we have everything that we need to survive contained within our bodies.
The kicker though is our society. You can tell just how weak we've become once you see the life that animals and our ancestors have been through. I walked through a portion of the trail that had houses nearby -- the utmost stereotypical white suburban, middle class, middle-aged man and his wife watering their plants with the picket fence and the flat 2 acre land with a boat on the side, his alarm system and banana trees but only two of them...
(I had to get in my feelings for a bit because having my ancestors imported from our motherland and forced to be poor and work for 300 years arose those kinds of emotions.)
But then my mind went towards this world and its economic system, something it hasn't been able to escape for quite some time. All of this technology we've been using and getting comfortable with is making us far weaker and not used to the natural environment. It's so bad that we view nature as this all-loving, graceful, peaceful -- No! While it's true that life is a game and we're all part of the creation, we forget that life is a game, and it's not meant to be easy.
When was the last time you ripped your skin and saw the blood flowing out? When was the last time you got thirsty and there wasn't any water around? When was the last time you were bit by an ant?
There was a reason why we developed all of these body parts, it was because this side of reality is the hard side, and you need to keep your body trained or else you'll get comfortable, you'll get weaker, and then something will come along that you're not ready for.
I live with my mother, who is basically projecting the opposite of the growth force within me. Comfortable food, comfortable days, and anything new that happens, I get her mouth with a taste of judgement. If I'm not alone in my room on these computer screens, chances are she's complaining about it.
(Hell, the last time she complained was when I decided to move the chair out so that I could stand at the desk more.)
Sometimes I wonder how I would've fared if I grew in the streets -- would I have that tiny fear reaction whenever people make eye contact? Would I have been afraid of women? Would I be a lot stronger? Would money not be a struggle after I'd gotten used to it? Would I be more self-reliant, instead of crypto-reliant?
There is a time to be comfortable, but also a time to be tested. Every day there are tests, and choices to take harder ones. Today was a tougher test than I asked for, but it was very welcomed.
And the skills that I have definitely need to be worked on more -- both physical and digital.
Image credits: The internet, the first one is mine.
View this post on Steeve, an AI-powered Steem interface
