The call of the wild

"I know the thrill of the grasses when the rain pours over them. I know the trembling of the leaves when the winds sweep through them. I know what the white clover felt as it held a drop of dew pressed close in its beauteousness. I know the quivering of the fragrant petals at the touch of the pollen-legged bees. I know what the stream said to the dipping willows, and what the moon said to the sweet lavender. I know what the stars said when they came stealthily down and crept fondly into the tops of the trees."

~ Muriel Strode, "Creation Songs"

I am by no means a wildling, nor a wild man, though I have lived amidst the wild men of Borneo, known famously as: "the head hunters of Borneo." I am often enticed by the wild, and find the call of the wild irresistible, alluring, charming. By 'call of the wild,' I certainly am not referring to those wildly wild young things that trot around to the arousal of passion. It maybe that some women are not meant to be tamed or tampered with; just need to run free, until they find someone just as wild to run with them.

Whatever; the call of the wild - of nature - that I am referring to is neither that of the awakening of ardour, nor the "call of nature" as is commonly understood. Neither have I picked up any of the head hunting tricks while living with the "head-hunters of Borneo"; though in retrospect, I wished I had because there are many a heads that deserve stalking and dethroning in Sri Lanka. Wilderness is what I mean: where nature's peace will flow as sunshine flows into trees.

Whither the winds will blow their own freshness, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. Adopt the pace of nature and discover the secret of patience, is what I say to all and sundry who care to listen.

In wilderness, I sense the miracle of life. I believe there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, to which if we unconsciously yield to, will direct us aright.

Happiness

Of what un-costly material is our earthly happiness composed of, if we only think about it. What wealth have we not had from a flower, and how unfailing are the dividends of the seasons.

These pleasures and bounties of nature are available to us, free. Only a will to know and seek, and the time to delight in, are the need. Great things happen when men and mountains meet: For, there is nothing better than the outside of a mountain, for the inside of a man, and it does not come about by jostling in the street.

As you sit on the hillside or rest prone under the trees of the forest, or sprawl wet-legged by a mountain stream, the great door of happiness opens - a door unlike any we are acquainted with. "There is a pleasure in the pathless woods.

There is rapture on the lonely shore. There is society, where none intrudes. By the deep sea, and music in its roar: I love not man the less, but Nature more" said George Gordon, better known as Lord Byron, the poet. Nature teaches, whereas man preaches.

There are no sermons in stones given by nature. In fact, it is easier to get a spark out of a stone produced by nature, than a moral. Then why is it, that very many of us have neglected to enjoy what nature offers us free? What humbugs we are.

We pretend to live for Beauty, and yet never care to see the Dawn! I understand that everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in; but where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul, we neglect to grasp.

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better: said Albert Einstein. We live in a country where nature is bountiful, where nature stints not. That is why we Sri Lankans too have acquired these traits of a large heart and open arms because we are the children of the soil, of mother Lanka.

I remember a hundred lovely lakes, and recall the fragrant breath of pine and fir; of coconut, kithul, and palmyrah trees. The trails that run along the sea, the forest, and the mountains are as threads of silk on a cotton cloth; and opalescent dawns and saffron sunsets are the stuff of poets. What beauty Sri Lanka is possessed of; a miniature world in itself; given liberally and lavishly; free to all comers.

It has given me blessed release from care and worry and the troubled thinking of our modern day. It has been a return to the primitive and the peaceful. Whenever the pressure of our complex city life thins my blood and benumbs my brain, I seek relief in the trail; and when I hear the birds singing to the yellow dawn, my cares fall from me - I am happy. Nature is my medicine. Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.

To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug. To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure, is most perfect refreshment. "Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair" said Kahlil Gibran, a Lebanese-American artist, poet, and writer.

Dusty

We adults are always so busy with the dull and dusty affairs of life that we forget to take joy in the grass, trees, and running streams; in Nature. Thus, the happiness that flutters in the air whilst we rest among the breaths of nature is not ours to appreciate. We realise not that if we truly love Nature, we will find beauty everywhere, and peace. We have forgotten that the woods are for the hunters of dreams; the brooks for the fishers of song; and, to the hunters who hunt without the gun, the streams, and the woods belong.

All I want is to stand in a field and to smell green, to taste air, to feel the earth want me; without all this concrete hating me. In life, I never had any other desire so strong, and so like covetousness, as that of which I might be master, at last of a small house and a large garden, with very moderate conveniences joined to them, and there dedicate the remainder of my life to the culture of them that purify, and the study of nature.

Familiar

Some relationships are those that open us to something new and exotic; some others to those that are old and familiar; yet some to those that bring lots of questions; a few to those that bring us somewhere unexpected; many, to those that bring us far from where we started, and those that bring us back.

But the most exciting, challenging, and significant relationship of all is the one we have with nature.

Let us permit nature to have her way. She understands her business better than we do. If we can find time to love the wilderness, the Nature that surrounds us; we will find that we begin to truly love the self we love to love.

Without the wilderness, what would shape our lives? It will be akin to not falling in love, not having babies, not being who we are. After all, people come into our life and they go.

But, as is it is comforting to know that the ones we love are always in our heart; Nature will remain in our heart, to comfort us, when none is left; if we love her devotedly.

"If you wish to know the divine, feel the wind on your face and the warm sun on your hand" ~ The Buddha.

See you this day next week. Until then, keep thinking; keep laughing. Life is mostly about these two activities.

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