Why Nature

In March 2010 I decided to run a 24 hour 250k relay race from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea. The last thing I expected was for it to be an amazing environmental experience, but it was one of the most amazing experiences I've had in nature. Maybe it was the fact that I had already run 10kilometers and it was 3 in the morning, but there was something extremely beautiful about running in the middle of the desert, surrounded by huge cliffs, and being able to look up and see more stars than I ever imagined. During this round of running, there were no other runners near me. I was alone. The air felt cleaner than I ever imagined, even though I could feel the sand particles in my throat. It felt pure. All I could think about was how beautiful and peaceful the world was at the moment. It was a stark contrast to living in Amman, Jordan, which is over developed and full of poverty. But just a few hours away was this amazing desert, completely undisturbed by humans except for a single highway that connects Amman to the Sinai. For some reason, I didn't even notice that road while I was running. What was under my feet was the least important thing to me. What I cared about were the amazing mountains and the vast sky. Everything felt right.

This is why I feel like people need to save nature. I could go into all the scientific reasons why we should save biodiversity, but to be frank that is not why I care about what we are doing the natural world. I believe in harmony and I don't think that modern human society embodies it the way it should, but when you see people in nature that seems to change. Any time I've spent time camping, in Bedouin villages, on small farms, or in an ecovillage I always found that people have more respect for each other. They live in harmony, with themselves, the people around them, and their environment. Things feel peaceful and in a world full of hustling and hate, that's what is needed most. By destroying our environment and raping the land of all its treasures changes who we are. We start thinking that taking what we want, being selfish, and dominating all that is around us is good, even though that is the worst way to live. I want to save nature to save humanity from itself, regardless of how silly and idealistic that sounds.