Introduction & Peach Blossom

Introduction

(Page 341).  This passage was about how influential man and civilization in general can be on nature.  This really made me start thinking about how although people are separate from nature, we are a part of it just as much.  We influence nature so much, and we need to start taking better care of it.  This made me think of one of my favorite quotes, “We did not inherit the earth from our parents, but we are borrowing it from our children.”  I really like this quote because it makes me want to take better care of the earth for my children.  In this passage, the quote “their cultures maintained a sense of nature as intimately connected with who we are” (p 342) really made me think of how if our society was more connected to nature and had it as a sense of how we became who we are today, we would want to take better care of our earth.

Peach Blossom

(Page 344).  This poem depicts a fisherman travelling down a stream where he finds a cave.  He goes into the cave and discovers a small village of people who live simple and ordinary lives, but are very happy.  They had “lost all connection with the outside world” (p. 344).  I think that the moral of the story here, is that everyone can be happy if they go looking for it.  Being happy is achieved by simplifying your life, in whatever way you see possible.  People in today’s society need to recognize this and not stress over the little things in life.  American culture is probably one of the biggest cultures that need to simplify.  A lot of other cultures in the East, like places of Africa and India, lead very simple lives.  They are much happier there because they are more aware of themselves and the world around them.  They feel connected to everything and are happier because of it.