The artificial boundaries we have created between our conception of the self and nature are a source of perpetual frustration. The idea that we have to go into a park or the woods to “experience nature,” that if we live in a dense urban environment, we are disconnected from nature, that most of what surrounds us, clothes us, nourishes us is synthetic, unnatural. Not discounting the importance of having access to clean air and water, healthy food, and a plant-rich environment, we are never disconnected from nature.
Whether you look at these boundaries scientifically or spiritually, you will find no evidence that our separation from nature is anything other than a lie we have embedded deep in our culture (I recently finished the book “self-delusion” by Tom Oliver – you can see a lecture based on the book here – which forcefully makes the argument that the separation from nature we created is a lie). It is one thing to recognize a lie, it is another, much more difficult step, to extricate ourselves from it, especially when living in a society that has wholly embraced it.
We rely so extensively on things we do not see, making the separation easy, fully justified. A big part of the exhibit is to show that we can minimize our reliance on processes that hide much of the impact our daily habits have on the environment and people. Wool can be environmentally harmful, but there are ways to procure it that are as traceable as fibre can be. Sourcing clothes differently and, more generally, eliminating our consumerist impulses is the easy part. What I fear is that even as we experience the painful consequences of our actions more frequently and directly, we are incapable of consciously changing the most destructive aspects of our culture.
This video features the various elements that are part of the exhibit and is a reminder that being part of nature is a wonderful reality.
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