I reside in a city, cities are often called ‘concrete jungles’. These two words are one of the most accurate representations of humankind’s need to advance, to invent, to innovate. We deplete what we find around us and then try to replicate it using technology. We are in a sense invaders, seeking to disturb the equilibrium found in nature to further advance. We were surrounded by wood and so we built industries utilizing it, conveniently forgetting that it was a finite resource, and then realization struck, depletion of this ‘resource’ had negative side-effects but the damage was already too far spread and the reversal has to be quick, there can be no ‘baby-steps’. According to Greenpeace, 80% of our forests have been destroyed or damaged beyond repair. Something that used to surround us has been isolated, driven to, for lack of a better term, extinction. At the rate at which forests are disappearing, the only way for the future generation to ever experience it would be through Virtual Reality headsets. To experience what we have before it’s gone I decided to head down to Cooks Forest, Pennsylvania. Cooks Forest is known for its variety of evergreen trees and hence it has also acquired the name, Black Forest, due to the sun never reaching the forest floor due to these trees.
Visiting this beautiful state park just for a weekend, made the trip even more exciting and one with nature. Being in an area that is filled with evergreens and lacks any digital signal to the outside was therapeutic and made me feel connected with nature. The quality time of sitting by a campfire catching up with college friends and sharing our experiences of the years that have passed us, brought me back to a nostalgic feeling of being authentic and myself. Living in the city, we tend to form relationships virtually and then grow from there. But having this opportunity to spend a weekend with the ones that have developed my character and personality, I not only realized the naturalistic beauty that needs to be kept but it also sparked a light within me that I carry through my current city life.
Climate change is a topic that impacts us all, no matter where we reside. Our ecosystem is one of interdependency, take out one part and the rest crumbles. We say that sometimes the strongest response is silence, but silence has failed, we were silent for too long and now it is time for action. We need to collectively take measures no matter how small to fight this detrimental enemy. As individually, we are just droplets of water but together we could be a raging ocean. Sometimes all the world needs is an individual that is willing to be the current that directs the ocean. We see these people all around us; Greta Thunberg being one such example, but this person could also be you. You could be the driving force in your community that inspires those surrounding you to assist in this fight. As we come to the end of this piece of writing, I want to leave with words by Lao Tzu that inspired me to take action, “Love the world as your own self; then you can truly care for all things”.
The picture was edited on my iPhone by using the default features that the operating system provides. I raised the blacks of the picture a little to provide more detail in the barks of the trees and then saturated and highlighted the greens. Lastly, I moved the yellows towards orange to give it that final glow.
About the Creator
Craig Miranda
There's only 1 world, but 7 billion perspectives of it!
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