Every day I see the products of human endeavor: buildings, roads, bridges, cars, trucks, planes, ships, among many other remarkable feats of engineering. Most mornings, I also have an opportunity to see the sunrise, many nights, the sunset, and every day, wonders like trees, grass, hills, ocean, river, birds and other animals. Sometimes these natural views are spectacular, and always they remind me of the majestic beauty of our planet and the cosmos.
What has struck me recently is how much more I am inspired by nature than by anything built by human hands. I would much rather watch a sunrise than watch a plane take off or a cruise ship sail, amazing as those technical feats may be. And then I wonder why I don't spend more time in the outdoors - hiking, biking, going to the beach, or visiting national parks. I wonder, too, whether our tendency to invest more time and money in technology than in our environment (and often at the expense of our environment) reflects priorities that are precisely backwards. And whether, especially for those of us who live in urban areas, we have become so alienated from nature that we have forgotten how important it is to our well-being.
What has struck me recently is how much more I am inspired by nature than by anything built by human hands. I would much rather watch a sunrise than watch a plane take off or a cruise ship sail, amazing as those technical feats may be. And then I wonder why I don't spend more time in the outdoors - hiking, biking, going to the beach, or visiting national parks. I wonder, too, whether our tendency to invest more time and money in technology than in our environment (and often at the expense of our environment) reflects priorities that are precisely backwards. And whether, especially for those of us who live in urban areas, we have become so alienated from nature that we have forgotten how important it is to our well-being.
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