The Urban Monk: Eastern Wisdom and Modern Hacks to Stop Time and Find Success, Happiness, and Peace by Pedram Shojai

Author:Pedram Shojai [Shojai, Pedram]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Rodale Books
Published: 2016-02-02T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

No Connection with Nature or Things That Are Real

ETHAN GREW UP IN Brooklyn, New York. He played on the sidewalk and rode his bike everywhere. If he didn’t get home before supper, there’d be hell to pay, but otherwise, he was free to roam. Mom usually made spaghetti or pizza for the kids, and then it was homework time. He’d have to wash his hands before they ate, and all kinds of black stuff would come off from playing handball or basketball on the streets all the time.

There were some trees lining the roads where Ethan grew up, but he never really thought anything of them. They were ornamental at best, and at worst, they were an annoyance because he’d have to fetch his kite out of them every so often.

Ethan’s mom was deathly afraid of the outdoors. She thought everything was out to get her. From street dogs to the bears and wolves she’d see on TV, nature was a dangerous place, and she tried her best to shelter her cubs from the wild monsters out there. His dad was too busy working to give a shit. Instead of counterbalancing mom’s phobias, dad would unwind with a beer and watch the game. He would yell if the kids got bad grades but certainly wasn’t a model scout leader.

Ethan grew up with an unconscious fear of nature and the dangers of the wilderness. Playing on the streets was cool, but the back woods were scary. He is now a marketing consultant in Manhattan who meets his friends for drinks and goes to music festivals for fun. The festivals are often in remote places, and he can’t get over his discomfort with how “dirty” it is. Camping is not his thing, but his friends and his new girlfriend love the stuff. Ethan feels like a wimp and is trying to suck it up and enjoy the concerts despite their rough venues.

He goes to the gym routinely and likes to sweat but only showers at home because he doesn’t trust the tile floors there. He uses hand sanitizer regularly and takes medications for his allergies. He applies sunblock daily and travels with his own pillow. He’s the guy who triple lines the toilet at work with sanitary covers and wipes the bottom of his laptop bag after having to put it on the ground at a restaurant.

It’s not easy being Ethan. After all, everything is out to get him.

THE PROBLEM

We all suffer from what Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, calls “Nature-Deficit Disorder.” Two to three generations ago, we lived much closer to nature. Our agrarian roots were preceded by millennia of hunting, gathering, herding, and fishing. All of these activities required an innate connection with the natural environment. We needed to understand the birdsongs, read the clouds, know the direction of the wind, follow the currents, identify invasive insects, and tend to a sick cow. Our very survival was tied to this knowledge, and our ancestors rose up the food chain by mastering these valuable skills.

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