The Artist and the Natural World

Sonnet of Love and Life

The earth and humankind have much to gain

When surpassed by wants and needs and fall in line.

As humble seeds of flow’rs give in to vain,

So dost thou nimble mind do thirst to pine.

Woe is the desperate man who seeks to grieve,

When beauty at its finest, his betrothed.

Let not the wounded warrior hate to receive, 

But welcome natural rhythms to the toes.

For in this joy he may connect with love,

And take the natural world as his own bride.

In this harmonious union thereof,

He finds his humility does reside.

If this be the nature of man for life,

He will never meet disappointment with strife. 

-A Sonnet by Natalie

Wow Natalie wrote a Sonnet. Ok, cool. Now what? Well, I think this is one of the most important bodies of texts I have ever written because it is a gateway to appreciation and, more importantly, self-discovery that can lead to a wonderful connection to any art. Continue reading as I discuss this sonnet and offer a new clue-in to how the earth functions as a confidant, lover and scene partner. 

“The earth and humankind have much to gain 

When surpassed by wants and needs and fall in line.”

To be honest, a while ago, I never found the value in actors being present in nature. Frankly, I found nature to be untrustworthy, dirty, and boring. I never appreciated that I too, was a part of this seemingly unwelcoming terrain. I thought that nature was there to serve me. I know this sounds harsh, probably harsher than my thoughts at the time, but never-the-less, it was real. 

I understood that the earth was used for creativity and exploration, but I appreciated the physical demands it endured much more than what I could give to it. I appreciated that out of this earth, my material possessions were made. The acknowledgement of what is good and present in the natural world was there, but my relationship to the earth that I was living on was non-existent.  

This changed.

I was recently assigned the task of creating a work of art using the sounds I hear in nature to process and appreciate the rhythms of life in all regards. I found that the most intimate part of myself was in the forest behind the weeds of my material possessions. Surpassing my wants and needs and falling in line was something that never occurred to me. Falling in line with the world around me. Falling in line with everyone who shares this wonderful earth with me. Falling in line to the rhythm of my own heartbeat in perfect, harmonious contrast with nature. That is what I was missing. 

“As humble seeds of flow’rs give in to vain,

So dost thou nimble mind do thirst to pine.”

I began to realize that I was thirsting for this relationship. I was ignoring something that is innately in me. We come from a tiny seed inside of a womb and grow, just as a flower does. And when that flower comes to bloom, humankind does not look at the seed from which it came from, but what the final product is at the top. In fact, the product is as far away from the root as it can possibly be. The flower is trying to show itself off, yet it still depends on its humble beginnings for survival. 

Similarly, the human mind is the most developed part of the body; some would say that your brain IS you. Yet, that brain is the same one that defies your relationship to nature and instead focuses on innovation, technology, infrastructure, and the general understanding that humankind will continue to develop and flourish. It never focuses on the foundation from which it came and which it uses for survival: the earth. 

My mind was thirsting for me to pine for a relationship with the natural world. I may never experience it if I don’t fully commit myself to a conscious relationship. Sure, I always have a subconscious relationship with the natural world, it’s how I live, but I’m tellin’ ya, my mind wanted more than subconscious effort.

”Woe is the desperate man who seeks to grieve,

When beauty at its finest, his betrothed.”

How can I say that I am ever lonely with grief when I have the beauty of the earth in front of me, for me? The most attractive lover I can think of is right in front of my eyes! Of Course! Woe is the person who believes that they can’t ever find love. It is right in front of everyone! Unconditional love relies on someone caring so deeply about me that there is no task too great to show love. The earth handles that pretty well for me and has devoted much of it’s time to caring for me and giving me a great space to live. 

The earth is truly my betrothed, and everything inhabiting it, my family. 

“Let not the wounded warrior hate to receive, 

But welcome natural rhythms to the toes.”

I don’t know about you, but when I am wrong, I almost feel wounded. I feel like I didn’t do something right which led me to either hurt another person, situation, or myself. 

I hated that I was wrong about the earth. I went on a 30 minute walk, as I was told, and found that I have been missing so much in nature just because I was too ignorant to pay attention. I felt as if I wounded the earth with my ignorance to what it was trying to give me. 

Believe it or not, it comes down to this whole idea of talking and listening in a scene. I can’t just sit there and say my lines and expect myself not to listen to the person opposite me who is being so gracious in responding to my initial prompt. I have to be in a symbiotic relationship with my scene partner. Well, in this case, my scene partner is the earth. I can’t expect to have a great scene with the earth when I am not listening to it. It is telling me something and for the past 21 years, I have chosen not to listen. Now, I am finally responding. 

Since childhood, I have been told to stand on my own two feet and walk to my own rhythm, when in fact, the rhythm I have chosen has been given to me by my seed of growth and my surrounding earth. If I just listen to the earth and the rhythm it naturally gives me, I can find my voice through my walk, my talk and who I am. The earth provides me the rhythm for my toes, I just have to listen. 

“For in this joy he may connect with love,

And take the natural world as his own bride.”

Ah, the joy of finding who I am. Isn’t that the end goal really? I ask my successful family members what they want to do when they grow up and they still don’t know. I have found that this is the essential task of the human race, to find out who we are. And similarly, in acting school I am constantly being told to find who I am, as this is the first step to character discovery. Well, isn’t nature a good place to start? 

Finding myself is like finding love all over again. And finding myself with something that has accepted me for me since birth is the most joyous occasion I can think possible. The earth is all of humankind’s bride. Like any woman, it is dependable, unconditionally loving, and supportive of everyone and everything. That, my friends, gives me joy. To know that the earth and its creatures live together with me and welcome me gives me the momentum I need to imaginatively create, generate rich conversations and fully invest in whatever I am doing. This is what it has given me, and now I need to give that back in abundant amounts. 

And isn’t that truly what artists are for? To generate conversations that have never happened before, to prove to the world that we are not alone, to give back to a community that has been there for us time and time again. I am just now adding the earth to my community of followers that believe in me. That’s all. 

“In this harmonious union thereof,

He finds his humility does reside.”

I find my humility in my art, and now in the earth. When I consider that I am in union with the earth, I am humbled knowing that I am a tiny, tiny, tiny piece of the puzzle on my own, but the impact I make, whether for good or for bad, will reach much larger than myself. When I consider the earth to be my host, I find my humility knowing that I am a guest and there is another person, larger than anyone I can imagine, that lives here. Earth lives here, and I can choose to be a nice house guest or a destructive one. 

“If this be the nature of man for life,

He will never meet disappointment with strife.”

Let’s relate this back to theatre and the artist shall we? The name of the game is rejection, is it not? But, for me personally, now I am starting to look at that rejection as a way to re-engage with the natural world. I have something I can always fall back on as a way to escape, engage, or ground no matter what the situation is. Yes, as a senior in college, I have found my way to cope through emotional turmoil, but now I have yet another tool, a stronger tool, that can guide me to peace. 

It’s like that best friend that you know always has your back, but now that best friend is literally supporting you on your journey and they are always there for guidance no matter where you turn. 

Sure, maybe I will meet disappointment, but I know that what will keep me grounded is knowing that I have the natural world that is guiding me through. If I focus on the cues the earth is giving to me, I will be able to create unique stories, impact many lives, and ultimately engage people and communities from all over with my artistry and story. 

Where Are You At?

You already have a strong connection to the natural environment? Go check it out again; make sure there isn’t more there. You aren’t connected, but you will try? Good for you! It is the best experience and advice I can give anyone, whether they be an artist (who ISN’T an artist?) or not! You're not buying anything I just said? I urge you to find one part of the sonnet that you connect with our are intrigued by. Take that and sit with it for a while. Discover why you engaged with that set of words and what that means in terms of your relationship with the earth. 

Wherever you may be, explore the natural world this summer and engage with it as fully as you can! I promise you, you will not be disappointed by the results you experience!