I wrote this post after reading several different articles and having several conversations which all converged into a main idea- being outside in nature is good for us in so many ways, ways we don’t even realize. We’ve known for a long time that the sunlight gives us Vitamin D and prevents depression, that being outside can be calming and lower blood pressure, but there’s so much more going on here- mentally, physically, spiritually. Enjoy…
*photo credit- Matt Bango
Finding Dignity and Power through Nature (In a World of Propaganda)
“Bad language always leads to bad thinking, bad thinking to bad action. Bad language always dulls, never sharpens.” – George Orwell
We live in a world that’s been reduced to a permanent state of confusion, a world of lies and propaganda, propagated through screens, clicks, memes, and social contagions. Language has lost much of its meaning. Even while I’m pumping gas for my car, I’m being told about certain products I “need” by a video screen adjacent to the gas pump. I’m even being marketed to while I try to fill up. The best minds of our generation have been relegated to sitting in offices trying to get people to click on things. Words have lost much of their force, their definition, and we can no longer name things properly.
This essay isn’t going to focus entirely on the myriad ways in which language has declined, but of course a few stand out. A recent Supreme Court justice in confirmation hearings would not or could not define what a woman was, not good either way. Approved and regime – sponsored protests that killed dozens and caused billions in damages were labeled “mostly peaceful” while the truth is the exact opposite. Marriage is defined differently now in modern America, depending on who you ask. Amorphous slogans abound which have absolutely no certain and agreed-upon meaning, one truly egregious example- Love is love!
Since people think by using language, which are symbols for thought, a decline in language inevitably ends up causing a decline in thinking. When words and definitions aren’t stable, neither is thinking or culture. Names are means of teaching, and separating reality, as Plato taught. When names collapse, reality collapses.
A name-maker is a law-giver, as long as he understands the laws of logic. Words are symbols used as indexes of essences, so when words collapse people don’t have a steady frame by which to see, define, understand, and relate to the world. Existence is threatened by a collapse in language. Modern people feel powerless, and confused, with nowhere to stand. When definitions for basic things like man, woman, marriage, good, evil, right, and wrong, are no longer stable, public discourse breaks down too. Why argue or debate with someone when you don’t agree on basic terms? Rhetoric, which exists to lead people to the good, collapses into sophistry and its modern equivalent- propaganda. All language becomes “communication” – an atheistic and scientistic term which denies even the possibility of proper ends to the human being.
Despite the constant and confusing bombardments of noise and propaganda, there is hope. Nature offers an escape from the insanity, meaninglessness, group think, and propaganda. It’s a path to dignity in perilous times like these. Nature is a place to restore human agency, confidence, and power. It gets us out of the insane asylum of a culture with nowhere to stand, and helps us think clearly. It reconnects us to reality.
Nature has a way of restoring our power and confidence when confronted by constant propaganda. There are no confusing and meaningless slogans in the woods. There are no PR campaigns or marketing departments in the ocean. There are no thought – police or HR staff watching your every thought and word when you move into the forest. Ernst Junger, the German writer and philosopher wrote an excellent book about this, “The Forrest Passage” which dealt with the situation in Germany during Communist times. Just as in Junger’s time, when thought is mass-produced and controlled, a retreat into nature, metaphorically and / or physically, is called for. Nature offers a healthy and restorative way out.
A tree is a tree, a stream a stream, a flower a flower. Green is green and blue is blue. The sun rises and it sets. Nature is real. Just observing this process, unplugged and noticing, can offer a reset and a boost in morale. It’s not the whole point of life, but it instills in us a sense of perspective and calm. Language and thinking is restored when definitions take their proper place in nature. Time spent amongst creation restores us, allows us to think clearly, and even allows us to participate in the divine, if we choose to, through contemplation. Engaging in practices- doing something physical with the hands, like crafts, or hobbies, things like woodworking, martial arts, or playing an instrument, or many other practices, also reorient us to truth outside verbal sophistry. Practices, similar to nature, are a material reality which can’t be marketed to or manipulated- they’re real.
Unplug and get outside. Turn off the noise and the distractions. Engage in some practices, some hobbies, crafts, or other disciplines- they make us stronger and more able to resist groupthink. Go walk in the woods, go for a swim, start a garden. Engage with nature, with things as they are. Nature doesn’t lie and the things there are stable. Nature offers a path into a world of existence, being, and reality, even into the good, the beautiful, the true– the divine.
“Open” societies like ours are dissolving any concrete place for us to live, so a move towards what is real can be a powerful step back towards human dignity, confidence, and freedom. The city and all of its noise is man-made, a wonderful thing, but made by us. God made the country, the woods, and the meadows. God made nature, where things are what they are. The goal is to “get out” so that when we return, we come back with a firmer place to stand, grounded in the truth of things.
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