Nicholas Acker Landscapes of the Sacred #1: One with Nature

The author describes a moment in time where he could feel the connection of everything around him, when the place he was at transformed from a place of topos to a place of chora. “There was nothing particularly ‘numinous’ about this experience, only a deep sense of being connected in a single moment to everything present.” Everything in nature is interconnected in some way, dependent on different parts and processes. As humans, we have the gift to think and question and chose our paths in life and we sometimes move away from the basic and primal connection that we still have with nature. We are a part of nature and one hundred percent dependent on it for survival just like any other living creature. But we have somehow distinguished ourselves as better than our surroundings, more important or privileged than the rest of nature. Being in nature and allowing yourself to become fully absorbed in the beauty and interdependence of everything around you can be a humbling experience and a spiritual one as well. Being in an area completely deprived of human interference, without buildings and streets and the distractions of life, one is able to connect to the basic elements of life. There are no skyscrapers blocking the view of an endless horizon, or cars whizzing by making loud noises, or TVs to fill your head with nonsensical information. There is earth, sky, and air; all of which can be fully appreciated and absorbed when we realize that everything we know as humans is derived from the land around us. We are not only living dependent on our surroundings, but also connected to them on a deeper level. We are born of nature, in nature, and we die to become one with it again in a cycle of life.