Earth Day, Earthly Paradise

The Italian explorer and sailor whose name has forever claimed its chapter in history, Amerigo Vespucci, wrote in one of his letters, “If there is such a thing as heaven on earth, then that should not be far from this” (the New World of the Americas). Why should he have thought otherwise? Paradise, as we have envisioned it through art, literature, music, or any other form is that place, physical or figurative, where all are desires and dreams can be fulfilled; it’s that other realm where the mind goes when thoughts borne wings and take flight, that space where we encounter what has always seemed to be missing and that place, where riches are abundant and life flourishes. A mythical and mystifying land awaited the Europeans as they set foot upon what they deemed to be the work of divine providence. Rivers swelled with life-giving currents, trees grew densely covering the land in a thick green layer and the myriad sounds of life reverberated throughout the space. Fecundity reigned, life begot life, rivers flowed and fused with earth creating more rivers, seeds were dispersed by the wind giving birth to fruit-bearing trees and the spirit ran free. The moon’s magnetism guided the oceans and the productive child-bearing organs of woman as the sun pulled the earth in a seductive courtship dance towards itself. Every passing second, the earth closes in on its predator (or prey if you like), spiraling rhythmically with the cosmos, inclining towards its fiery core.

More than all the fascinating natural wonders, the most impressionable were the inhabitants found to populate this sphere of earthly paradise. Bare, their strong, sculpted bodies glistened under the sun in earthy shades of oak, sienna, mahogany, while decorative stones adorned their lips, noses, ears and fingers. Running wild, running free, they seemed to live in a state preceding original sin, in a state of innocence, in a state of childlikeness where the many manifestations of nature were looked upon with awe and captivated wonder. Since then, such images of paradise no longer resonate with the age of modernity and science in which every curiosity hides a scientific explanation while nature and its resources, far from being sacred, are rather the material and tools for our liberal use. Prodigious measures are taken to procure the satisfaction of extravagant tastes and desires and human beings, alienated and isolated from the natural state of life, easily forgot that our planet Earth supports known and mysterious life forms far beyond just ours.

Witnessing the epic journey of the mysterious blue whale, the frenetic clamoring of newborn sea turtles inching towards the sea or the sudden blossoming of wildflowers in springtime, the spirit is sensitized and awakens to the grand symphony of life, in which we are but one movement. Jose Maria Arguedas, the great Peruvian writer, encountered existential harmony, peace and life in a metaphysical dialectic with nature while other writers and poets have created art in the act of praising nature. Human communion with nature is as ancient as time in which a silent language penetrated the soul. A profound understanding, impelled by intuition, of cosmic rhythms and relations leads us to startling recognitions and realizations of our conscienceless actions and ultimately, our apathy and ignorance as a society.

Earthly paradise, as once envisioned, was a virgin land, untouched and unspoiled by humans, where other forms of life flourished, where fertility and abundance reigned. Once discovered, the human hand ravished the land, taking possession indiscriminately of Mother Nature’s goods, violating nature’s ways and placing unbridled demands on its productive powers. Earthly paradise was an arm’s reach away but whether it is to be revived or whether we should bid it an eternal farewell is up to us.