THE WORLD IS TOO MUCH WITH US
Growing up in Colorado, even though I spent all of my time outside, I managed to take the mountains and natural beauty for granted. I suppose it’s human nature to truly appreciate things only once we no longer have them. I traded the mountains for the ocean, which I’m extremely grateful for, but lately mountains have been on my mind a lot. Well, mountains, but more broadly, spending time in nature.
The World is Too Much with Us
The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;—
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.
In his poem, The World Is Too Much With Us, William Wordsworth gets straight to the point — the pursuit of material wealth leads to a loss of connection with nature. He was living through the Industrial Revolution and commenting on what he saw as a major shift — humanity’s disconnection from nature due to excessive focus on material wealth.
When Wordsworth wrote The World Is Too Much With Us in 1802, the UK was in the midst of the first Industrial Revolution. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, most people worked in agriculture, which Karl Marx might argue meant a closer connection to their work and nature. The Industrial Revolution transformed nearly every aspect of human daily life, particularly how we work and live. The growth of modern industry during Wordsworth’s life led to the centralized cities we know today. In 1800, only 3% of the world population lived in cities, in the early 2000s it was nearly 50%.
I recently heard an interview with a successful tech venture investor in London. When asked if she would consider living in Silicon Valley or the US, where she spends a lot of time, she replied that she wouldn’t due to her discomfort with the pervasive obsession with money that shadows every aspect of life there. Who would have thought that a wealthy business woman working in finance, living in one of the world’s financial capitals, would offer the most depressing critique of American greed?
Living in America and scrolling through social media makes it easy to see life as a rat race that can only be won by hard work, achievement, consumption, and little else. I fell into this trap as a young man and it taught me a lot:
Stress can ruin your life
Most of the stuff I actually care about in life has nothing to do with money
Relationships are the true currency of life
Our minds and bodies crave nature
Only a rat can win a rat race
Wordsworth is urging us to reconsider our priorities. He emphasizes the need to appreciate and reconnect with the natural world. I won’t rant about a return to a simpler, more nature-connected life, but I will say there is more to life than getting, spending, and dying. And I really do think the best things in life are free (or close to it) — going for a walk, hanging out in nature, spending time with friends and family, falling in love, swimming in the ocean, reading, sleeping, listening to music, making music, sex, kissing a dog or any animal, exercise, writing, learning new things, stargazing, cooking with ingredients “borrowed” from Whole Foods self checkout...I could keep going.
THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE
In a guest essay for The New York Times about wealth and happiness, author Seth Stephens-Davidowitz concludes that The data-driven answer to life is as follows: Be with your love, on an 80-degree and sunny day, overlooking a beautiful body of water, having sex.
THEE OH SEES - EARTHLING
Thee Oh Sees were founded by John Dwyer in San Francisco in 1997. Their sound is hard to define but includes elements of garage rock, psychedelic rock, punk rock, and folk music. As usual, I’m late to the party, but the song 'Earthling' from their latest album has gotten its claws into me over the past couple of weeks. For further listening, a trusted buddy recommended the album Smote Reverser (2018).
LINES WRITTEN IN EARLY SPRING
I’ll leave you with one more Wordsworth poem about nature. In Lines Written in Early Spring (1798), Wordsworth contrasts nature’s beauty with the disillusionment of man. The moral of the poem is that nature has the power to heal and restore us, if we allow it.
Lines Written in Early Spring
By William Wordsworth
I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.
To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.
Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And ’tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.
The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure:—
But the least motion which they made
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.
The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.
If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature’s holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?
Get outside and/or kiss someone you love!
IF IT’S NOT COOL, JUST ADD ICE!