Nature - R. W. Emerson

Upon hearing the title "Nature" by Ralph Waldo Emerson, one may suspect it to be this perfect description of nature and why it's so important we take care of it. The opposite is true. What this essay discusses is not the typical motivational speech to preserve nature that conservationists give today, but rather the benefits of appreciating nature for what it is: a beautiful sight for human being's to accept. It talks about how too often we, as humans, are distracted by the demands of the world that we forget to stop and appreciate how great it is through our actions. Too often, we are caught in the waves of societal pressure that we never quite get the chance to go into solitude with it and experience the "wholeness" of nature that Emerson describes. Essentially, what he means is that humans experience a spiritual relationship with nature as man does with God. It's almost as if he was saying nature is his god or something, but that's a topic for another time/post.