Observing nature - Meaningful and Meaningless

I believe that it is essential for people to take themselves out of the equation when observing nature. Just sit, stand, or lay there and observe what is happening around you. See how things operate without human intervention. Then, take a walk. Begin to interact, touch the ground, talk to the trees, sing back to the birds. Feel a spiritual connection between you and the rest of the world. Don't take without giving back, and don't leave behind anything but your footprints. Damaging the earth that tries it's hardest to provide for you is truly one of the worst crimes of man. There is life at every size, looking up at you, and down upon you. Realizing how meaningless you truly are in the scale of the natural world is ironically, and perhaps counter-intuitively, the only way to perceive things as they truly are.

Give thanks in whatever way you believe to be right, whether that be a prayer, spoken or silent, or simply a reassuring gaze at the beauty of the forest, the ocean, the tundra, or the plains. This thanks reassures yourself and the earth that you are one and the same. Religion is not necessary for one to feel ties to the earth, and in some cases it can even be detrimental. Faith is a tool, used by many to cope, and many more to deceive. In my eyes, faith can only truly be exercised when no one is standing over you telling you what to believe in. The best way to regain your faith is to understand that there is a stronger force in the universe, a binding force that allows for all life, is to take a walk in the forest. Seeing how everything still manages to stay alive without ego really digs into the selfish world view we all inevitably develop as humans. The great equalizer is the realization that we are all equally meaningful and meaningless.