Nature Doesn't Wait for You

Ever since Cameron Potter from the TCU Outdoors Center came to our class and spoke about what he likes about nature, I have thought about what he said. He talked about the ethics of being in nature and sharing that space with other people, animals, and other living beings. It resonated well with our larger discussion of how humanity has treated the environment since the Industrial Revolution. His words were a good reminder that even though we feel like we have no control over governments and international supply chains, we can control what we do as individuals. We have our domain in which we live, and we can control how we behave within that. If I spend time outside, it is my responsibility to leave the place as I found it. Just as we clean up after ourselves in a self-serve restaurant, or how my mom used to tell us to leave our cousins’ house exactly as we found it when we stay over, we must simply clean up after ourselves. It is good manners within society, and those manners extend to the outdoors even when it feels like there is nobody around. I reflect that it is a mark of true character what one does when no one is looking, and littering outside often happens when we believe no one can see us or that no one will be affected by our actions. I feel as though we have an even higher responsibility to be respectful to the environment when we spend time in it because it cannot act with agency against us. A restaurant worker can pick up your mess, but the grass cannot. It reminds me of the TCU motto, that our purpose as living beings is to be ethical leaders and responsible citizens in the global community. Sharing space with nature is a privilege, and cleaning up after ourselves is a simple matter of responsibility.

Another point Cameron made that really resonated with me was that nature does not compromise or adapt to you. It makes no concessions for whether you are tired, or hungry, or cold or hot. Nature simply is. It goes on, doing what it does to perpetuate itself, and everything is exactly as it should be. Nature requires that we let go of the comfortable standards we are used to in which society and its products attend to our every need so that we do not have to. I think it is a good experience to let nature bring us back to ‘earth,’ so to speak, and require us to rise above and get through the situation ourselves and by our own raw effort. For example, Cameron mentioned that when one goes on hikes or does some mountain climbing, sometimes you reach a point of exhaustion where all you want to do is get in bed or be served a refreshing meal. But you are not in the realm of urban luxuries, you are in the world. Your choice is either to stay where you are, and slowly prolong your discomfort indefinitely, or to push on through. And so, you must go on. I feel this predicament sometimes when I go on runs. Every time to decide to run, I debate whether I should go on the treadmill at the rec center or if I should brave the elements and actually go on a real run. The treadmill is always the safer choice because if I get a cramp or feel like stopping, I can just hop off and go rest. If I run outside, I am stuck there until I get myself back home. Even if I stop to walk, I still have a prescribed amount of distance I must cover in order to finish. It is certain, predetermined, and unchanging except by my own progress. While an outside run sometimes requires more mental motivation, one thing that encourages me to run outside is that I never regret it. Even if my run feels harder than it may have been on a treadmill, I get to feel satisfaction that my real, hard work resulted in a concrete outcome. There is no feeling quite like a good, hard run, and the feeling of fresh air through my burning lungs gives me an exhilaration that cannot quite be found on a treadmill. Another reason I like running outside is because it allows me to have a more individual experience. At the rec center there are dozens of people around me, and I cannot spend that time totally by myself. Being outside, however, allows me to just be with myself, my sweat, and my surroundings. I never feel more alive than when I feel the hard ground pushing on my feet and feel the wind rush through my hair and my lungs and legs aching. The organic experience is my me-time, in which I feel my body live.