Occasionally I've been asked if I like living where I do. Usually I've complained about being bored and not having anyone around, being far from places of interest, etc. I realize that all this is true, but that I like being here for different reasons. It's just a case of not having everything I want and need at the same time and place.
What I love about living on a farm is the freedom I have, exactly because there aren't other people around. I can walk around and be by myself, I can play loud music late into the night and dance if I feel like it. It's tranquil being close to nature, surrounded by plants, the sky and space. It gives me time to contemplate the Big Questions like how did we get here and where we are going.
On the other hand I feel distant and removed from people and society. I do drive to the city to spend leisure time there but I feel like a visitor, I am not like the people who live there. I can see the nice things about city living too. It's mostly the people who I find interesting. People create Culture: Art, Science, Technology, Architecture and Design, also music, parties and other social events. Without people there is still Nature, there is Sound, Light, Whether and the night sky filled with stars.
Why does one have to give up Nature to live among people?
I mentioned what I don't like about country living, mainly that it lacks Culture.
Now, what I don't like about city-living is that there is not enough of Nature. There are not enough parks and "green spaces", let alone any actual wilderness. Instead cities are filled with the noise, pollution of machines. People have become not only dependent but also trapped by our own technology designed to serve us. I am not only talking about cars, although that's a big part of it.
Another artifact of modern living I have uneasy feelings about is our attitude with time, the constant living by the clock, the incessant rush to get somewhere, to getting things done. It's as if the present is not as important as some imagined future, only we never get there. Around in circles we go, day after day - sleep, wake, do stuff, go to sleep again. Are other people also asking themselves what it's all for? The realization that I am all I am Now and this is my life...how do I feel about that...?
I like moments when I am not thinking about ways to be better, live better, have more of something... and just feel satisfied to be breathing, be conscious of my thoughts, my surroundings, to feel one with myself. I know what that means and feels like, and it comes from living close to nature.
A meditation I suggest for others to try is to sit in front a tree, not too close or too far. Then pay attention to your breathing and begin to notice how the tree also extends its roots into the ground and is connected to you and everything else on Earth. Life is all interconnected and interdependent. We are all part of it, and what we do is not less or more important and valuable then the life of other things on the planet.
These are just some realizations I have made while thinking.
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