About Nature and How to Respect It

Nature is impressive. It is strong and powerful, it is soft and fragile, it is magnific and terrible. Those qualities can be found in every single little part of it if you only look close enough. Without nature we wouldn't exist. All the atoms and molecules, all our genes, our cells, they are all part of nature. We create great things like computers, our brains are able to come up the categorical imperative or language, all because we evolved in this one specific way. Let's be honest: We are lucky! We are the winners of the lottery called nature. I don't know if plants and animals can think and feel in such complex ways as we can but I highly doubt it. If they can it doesn't change the fact though that we are able to understand the consequences of our behaviour and therefore we have to act responsibly. We shouldn't treat nature as some tool that we can use, shape and destroy however we want, we should try to repect it! This can happen in many different ways: 

• Be kind to people of every race, gender and age. Help people less lucky than you, people that are maybe poorer than you, disabled or in an form less fortunate than you are, even if they got into trouble because they made an unwise decision or made a mistake. Errare humanum est.
• Be careful with what you throw away because actually, there is no "away"! The trash you produce effects nature. Take reusable shopping bags with you, use handkerchiefs, try to buy as little plastic products as possible. Little things make all the difference!
• Treat plants and animals with respect! I am not only talking about the cute ones that you like to cuddle. Where do the things you eat come from? Is a piece of meat really worth all the pain and suffering it brings to an animal? Is some make-up important enough to be tested on animals? Is your pleasure more important than some other creature's well being? Why do you think about cats or dogs in other ways than about pigs or chickens? Sometimes it is easier not to ask these questions because they are uncomfortable but it's the uncomfortable things we have to think about a lot more in life!
• Think about the things you buy! Often we buy things out of a certain mood and then they end up being not exactly what we wanted or nothing we really need. Shop with consciousness! You could ask yourself some of those questions: Do I need it? Do I really want it? Who made it? Where was it produced? is it worth the effect it has on the world?
• Most importantly: Treat yourself with respect! Give yourself a break, maybe in form of a nice bath with some (fairtrade) tea and a good book. You are important! Accept compliments and don't let yourself be pushed down by the bad things that happen in life! Remember: We are the lucky ones, the creatures that won the lottery of nature! We tend to forget that. A lot! 

Have a great day,
The Countess