I once watched a little girl in the park with her father. She was about 3 years old, maybe 4, dressed in a white coat with a fuzzy collar and puff-ball drawstrings. At her feet were several sparrows, hopping on the asphalt and pecking at the ground to gather the breadcrumbs that her father had scattered on the ground.
I will never forget the look on that little girl's face. Eyes wide, mouth open, forming a perfect lowercase "o." That child was sucking in the world like a dry sponge, enthralled by the birdies bouncing inches from her white maryjanes. I think this is the kind of moment Barbara Kingsolver is reflecting on in her essay, The Memory Place. She calls these instances of "gasping," exclamations of wonder at the little things.
It is in my experience that such instances exponentially decrease with age. One might argue that this phenomenon is a consequence of acclimation, or even overexposure. Indeed, if one is treated to the luxury calamari and champagne every day, the experience loses its novelty and becomes commonplace. I am of the opinion, however, that the true reason for this rapid decline in childlike wonder is due instead to a culture and social climate which forces value judgments upon our experiences and delineates an appropriate way to regard them. What was once a soft sunburst on a green stem becomes nothing more than a lawn weed once we "know better" and to celebrate a lawn weed simply isn't becoming -rather, it is looked upon as a sign of ignorance.
This jaded persona, I feel, not only creates an unenthusiastic and vapid society, but inhibits the exultation of that which may well be worthy of praise. That is to say, just because social pressures drive wildflowers from front lawns, doesn't mean society has it right. In addition, in inhibiting our willingness to allow ourselves to be impressed by the small and commonplace, we not only devalue but may also endanger what we find unimpressive. For Kingsolver, this is the creek, muddied and neglected for its being only a common creek and not something more exotic or pristine. It is the mourning cloak butterfly which, for some, may only excite when believed to be rare and fail to amaze when proven to be otherwise.
One might argue that such is the natural progression of personality. Only when we become more worldly, become informed of the “true state of things,” can we form our opinions of value. However, our "experienced perceptions" may not be the golden standard. Many a species has gone extinct due to neglect by peoples who failed to attribute to it any value -and those species that have managed to survive the installment of highways, cities and suburbs rarely receive any credit for their amazing feat. It is my opinion that perhaps "childlike wonderment" needn't be so childlike. That is to say, perhaps if it weren't something attributed to only inexperienced and naïve children, a quality not only maintained into adulthood but encouraged by society, we might have a greater appreciation for the world we live in.
At the end of her essay, Kingsolver ponders the fate of places undervalued by humans for their being conventional, unexceptional or already "tainted" by humans. This is a question only recently being addressed by the environmentalist community. There do exist -though this existence is debatable- untouched, pristine places of wilderness that need be protected and preserved. However, there are many more places that have been touched and these merit no less care on the part of humans. Though the tendency is to categorize, to designate human dwellings and nature's territory as separate, there are no separations to be made. Try as we might to create man made cities, trees and flowers grow from cracks in the sidewalk, rain falls from the sky, and earthworms burrow underground. Nature's presence is just as strong in urban areas as in rural, in developed regions as in wilderness.
The danger of suppressing those moments of wonderment, those "gasps," is the consequential devaluing and neglect of nature that is right in front of our faces. This is the experience of nature that we have the most potential to interact with and to form relationships with. Additionally, it is the part of nature which we can most immediately and strongly impact -positively or negatively. So why not create positive changes?
Urban ecology is a relatively new branch of environmental study which seeks to do just that. Urban ecologists first recognize that there is ecology to be found in urban areas, that there are species of plants and animals that have become just as well adapted to urban and suburban areas as humans. Rather than scoff at squirrels and goldenrod as being a dime a dozen, the urban ecologist is in a position to admire the complex systems able to evolve in areas of urban development as well as seek ways to augment them.
Urban areas and inner cities are not lost causes. Only when we perceive them as such is there harm done. Instead, there are many ways we could adapt our "civilized" infrastructure to better accommodate the wonders of nature right under our noses.
If only we would allow ourselves to gasp once in a while...
