Sustainability is about letting ecology sustain itself, allowing nature to reclaim what belongs to her. However, we have long forgotten the “rule of nature.” Other species are bound to the “rule of nature”, but we write our own rules and adopt practices that override nature’s powers.
Our controls let us exploit resources for money, and our rules allow us to claim ownership of land, rivers, and other lives. We are the only species who challenge nature’s power by man’s authority. And our control comes from our tactics and greed rather than our purpose of survival.
Our rules have always served us when it comes to a conflict between us and nature. This favour is because we play the roles of both “victim” and “judge” in these conflicts. For example, we decide which trees we chop, plant crops, and burn vegetation. We also determine which animals can live as pets and which should go to zoos or slaughterhouses. In all these cases, our decisions favour us and our interests. But unfortunately, we are the only species on this planet who invented the concept of “ownership” and started claiming ownership of anything we desire.
Our rules have always served us when it comes to a conflict between us and nature.
Humans have evolved “so much” that most of us have dis-engaged ourselves with nature and its rules. In this premise, the first step to understanding sustainability is – we learn to be part of nature. To comprehend nature, we need to see the natural world’s plainness and simplicity. But, it is equally important to see the whole picture because sustainability is the entire picture.
Experts have warned us to face the consequences of our actions and lifestyles and called us to act on the issue promptly and honestly. Our efforts require us to un-do many things that we considered “privileges” for thousands of years. But first, we should understand sustainability from a pragmatic perspective that differs from the conservative views.
Sustainability is not just a political, economic or social issue; it is neither a “left” issue nor a “right” issue. At the forefront, it is a psychological issue where we need people to think about sustainability as it is, without any filters and adulterations. Only a mind that can see simplicity can see how far we have stretched and deviated from the “rule of nature”.
However, seeing simplicity is not straightforward because of the nature of our minds. As children, we started our lives with a superficial sense. As we grew up, we accumulated a lot of information and knowledge, and the accumulation process continued every day. As we grew up, we forgot simplicity and started complicating things and issues. But it is not a life that is complex; it is not the world that is complicated; it is our mind that complicates perceptions and understandings. Our mind finds it exhausting to re-calibrate to its original form as it ages.
Because of our inability to reinstate our minds to their original form, we tend to hold a tremendous amount of data and dwell on them. We also hoard them irrespective of their relevance. We become “hoarders” of information even though a big pile of it is “junk”. Our mind harbours too much “junk” information. When we source our thoughts from this “junk”, they do not produce great thoughts; it is everyday science.
We inherited a simple life, and everything around us is simple. Nonetheless, things became complicated as we grew up. And now, if we want to simplify life, we need to know simplicity first. If we genuinely apprehend simplicity, we can appreciate nature and sustainability.
If we genuinely apprehend simplicity, we can appreciate nature and sustainability.
This article highlights the human mind because sustainability has become a hot topic but still lacks a universal understanding. Sustainability means many things for many people. Even though it is a holistic issue, it will never achieve its goals unless we have a selfless purpose. It is not about you or me; it is about the planet.
I have seen people saying, “it is not about you and me, it is for the team”, or “it is not about you and me, it is about the country”. But, this planet is much more significant than a “team” or a “country”; it is the only planet we have; it is our only home. And the unusual resistance in our path to sustainability comes from the complacency that comes from our minds. So, the foremost requirement here is to remove our doubts and scepticism.
Because sustainability is about the planet, ecology and all its components, we should approach it holistically. If we act selectively and miss specific parts, sustainability can neither sustain nor serve its purpose. And, as long as people are “sleep-walking” and interpreting according to their conveniences, we cannot make sense of sustainability. And without understanding sustainability, we do not know what to achieve. The only way ahead is to take everyone on board and leap towards the common goal of a sustainable planet. This idea is as much a psychological task as a social, political and environmental task.
