Welcome to the Jungle

We may have landed on the moon and invented wi-fi cell phones, plasma TVs and NetFlix, but deep down in our DNA, we’re still chimpanzee cousins wandering around in the jungle, trying to make it through another day. This is the conclusion I reached after my recent trip to Tinseltown. My ultimate destination was actually the Griffith Observatory, but since cars are no longer allowed at the newly-refurbished icon of astronomy, visitors must board a big bus in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre along the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Standing on the pink and bronze star-studded sidewalk, I felt like I had been dropped from a spaceship into a jungle. A concrete jungle, that is. Where were the peaceful parks? The vast open spaces? The soothing sounds of chirping birds? Everything was buried under millions of tons of concrete and asphalt and a cacophony of cars. From where I stood, it appeared that men are not from Mars and women are not from Venus after all; they’re from Los Angeles. There wasn’t a whit of wilderness in sight; only weirdness. Elvis was there, swiveling his famous hips and curling his lip. Batman swooped in. So did Spiderman. Even The Gloved One made an appearance. Thousands of tourists, cameras in hand, doled out dollars for the chance to have their picture taken with a famous face—albeit a celebrity impersonator.

Looking out at the sea of humanity, I wondered: Where has our natural world gone? Where have we gone? I believe we as a human species have lost ourselves because we have disconnected from the natural world. Brick by brick, house by house, office building by office building, we have paved over nature and, in the process, steamrolled our spirit. With every new “improvement” we have devolved, rather than evolved, as a species. My mom, who grew up in Glendale in the 1930s, often shares the story of how her family would pack a picnic lunch and travel across miles and miles of farmland studded with orange trees to reach the beach. Orange groves? In Los Angeles? There wasn’t anything orange in sight the day I was there, unless you count the fake tan on a Britney Spears’ look-alike.

Have we forever forgotten how to connect with nature? Don’t we realize how important the natural world is to our peace of mind—indeed to our very survival? I read somewhere that if humans were to become extinct from the planet tomorrow, in five years, many of the earth’s remaining species would begin to thrive. Yes, thrive. Humans are the deadliest predator on the planet and we are fast wiping out entire species of plants and animals. Can the human species be far behind?

Extinction issues aside, it’s obvious we have become more and more dependent on technology – our cell phones are rarely out of reach and we are responding to ever increasing amounts of email messages. We’re all trying to speak over each other rather than to each other. It’s time we learn a new language, one that Chris Griscom, the author of “The Healing of Emotion” calls “The Language of the Heart.” She writes: “When we focus on a tree, a plant, a bird, or other animals such as horses, dogs, cats…the language we speak with them is the language of the heart – that is, the universal means by which all forms of consciousness can communicate with each other.”

I’m going to try speaking “heart” the next time I’m in La La Land. Who knows, I just might be able to turn some of my fellow human predators into pussycats. God knows, the earth could use a break.

 

When she’s not staring at the stars (in the sky or on Hollywood Blvd.) , Karen is answering email. Send her a message at karenleestevens@cox.net.

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By Karen Lee Stevens,
Founder & President, ALL FOR ANIMALS, Inc.
Copyright © 2008. All Rights Reserved.

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