I hear sometimes from people who think seeing the land as one’s own body means creating or breathing life into an abstraction, something that doesn’t exist. I demand that we see it differently, grounded in reality; we abstract when we disconnect, not when we connect. We cannot live without air. We cannot live without water. The living land succumbs to a gangrenous wasting, wherever civilization touches it. Thus destroying us.

Seriously fucking awesome. I had made the connection logically and emotionally as seperate things, but reading this connected those dots and now I see a whole new picture. Thanks!

The endeavor to open my heart and my eyes to the the beauty of my surroundings as well as the constant influx of atrocities combating those beauties renders new difficulties on a daily basis. As the harmonizing connections form and bonds strengthen I know exactly what you write of, every gash I see lingers and with every gash I acquire the oppressive atmosphere of civilization provides the wounds with a ceaseless salting.

It occurs to me that like the manatee if we want to survive we must face these marks with the fortitude neccesary in order to bear the burden with noble dignity and resolve. Not only do we have the capacity to connect and share the pains of the land, we can share the resources of it’s strength, and both of these aspects keep us sharp.