Lessons to be Learnt from Mother Nature

Mother Nature may be forgiving this year, or next year, but eventually she’s going to come around and whack you. You’ve got to be prepared.               Geraldo Rivera

Well, what do you know. A social media post I read recently summed the present crisis we are going through with the Covid-19 virus so well: it spoke about Mother Nature sending us to our room to think about what we have done to Earth. The social distancing and self isolation that are being thrust upon us is her way of getting us to look into ourselves and reflect on our hurried and hectic lives on the Rat Race Highway. 

Our dear mother has tried many a time to scold us through hurricanes, cyclones, tsunamis, typhoons, droughts, floods, heatwaves, bushfires, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and melting ice but like disobedient children, we never heeded her warnings. Now, with the deadly Corona virus comes the thwack on the head, the smack on the cheek, the slap on the wrist or the kick in the butt. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned so maybe it is about time  we stop what we are doing and listened. 

As a pantheist,  I owe more to Nature than the scriptures. Nature is all embracing: We live in it, and it lives in us. We can touch it, feel it, smell it, hear it, taste it, know it and experience it. Therefore, for me personally, it is much easier to be in the moment, observe Nature and learn from it as it embodies all the lessons that we need to revisit. Lessons in life that the Corona virus, an offshoot of nature, is teaching us right now. 

As a parent, Mother Nature dishes out parenting advice that far surpasses any of Doctor Spock or Doctor Phil. It would do us well to slow down and walk with this parenting expert to learn some important life hacks about bringing up children. In her quiet, unassuming way she gently teaches us what matters in the grand scheme of things - you just got to slow down, watch and listen. 

I run three after-school tutoring centres and sometimes I have to arrange make-ups for missed lessons. A simple task, right? You would never believe how packed the kids’ lives are: amidst the dance, horse-riding, drama lessons, sports activities, acting, art, music and play dates, there isn’t another spare hour in the week to fit a make-up lesson. The  kids are exhausted, they have hissy fits and sometimes they need to be cajoled into participating into various activities. Right now, the Corona virus is saying: Mums, slow down. Throw away the hectic schedules and take time to interact with your kids. Set aside some bonding time to do the food prep together, engage in reading activities and discussions afterwards, watch how the sun sets on a balmy evening, observe the spectacular colours of the lorikeet as it sucks the nectar from the bottlebrush tree, play in the rain or start a vegetable patch. Give them the space to simply be. They will still blossom and thrive naturally without all the so-called enriching activities.  

Once again, to borrow an example from my tutoring centres, we have students of all aptitudes and abilities as our business promises that we offer learning support so that your child can “catch up, keep up or get ahead”. Yet, most parents have a single-minded mindset that their kids must achieve all A-grades or be top in class. Children are like flowers - they are unique and come in all different shapes, colours and fragrances. Treat them like Mother Nature would. Be patient. Do not hurry their development. Nourish them with warm smiles, kind words and tight hugs and watch them grow. In their own time, they will unfurl their colourful petals to kiss the warm sun and bloom as big, bold and breathtakingly beautiful as they can be. 

In the recent catastrophic event of the worst bushfires that Australia suffered, thousands of people were displaced, too many animals perished and countless acres of forest land were scarred. Yet, amidst this adversity, there were these heart-warming images showing the resilience of nature: green shoots bursting through burnt bark and the life cycle started again. Nature was back in business. Be like Mother Nature:strong and resilient. Use the Corona virus pandemic to explain to our kids that sometimes the best laid plans in life goes awry but even though there are great losses, much inconvenience and a shift of our priorities, this too would pass. Instead of making as if they are burdens because of the school closures, we should seize this wonderful window of opportunity to teach them to weather the storm by readjusting their sails. For deep roots to take hold and grow strong, the wild winds have to batter the tree mercilessly. Only in hardship, can we become tougher and more likely to meet other challenges that will inevitably threaten us later in life. 

Our Australian prime minister has just announced that as a society we are possibly looking at a lock-down that could stretch as long as six months. Can you imagine contending with a house full of kids for that length of time? I think the Corona virus is going to kill more relationships than patients  and send many parents to meltdowns if not mental institutions. During this time, maybe it would be timely to teach kids about the joys of nature like in the good old days. We spent a lot of time outdoors, we ran around, played hide-and-seek, climbed trees, swam in rivers and lakes, made  up our own games (more-so dictated by finance rather than ingenuity) and never had the time to get bored. And even if we did get bored, we never complained to our parents; we dealt with boredom as it was just another state of being like happiness, sadness or hunger. Pampering our self-entitled kids with more stuff must stop - this is a timely opportunity to let them feel how the have-nots live. 

For far too long, we have been racing along at break-neck speed. This virus scare is a reminder from Mother Nature to take stock of ourselves; do an inventory of what matters most. You would have to agree it’s our health, family, human relationships and peace of mind that should take precedence and not mod-cons, consumer goods, egos or self-interests. As unpleasant as life is right now, may our children learn the simple, old fashioned values in life. Like nature intended. 

To conclude I borrow the immortal words of Albert Einstein who said: Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. Now, it is up to us to emerge from our rooms and acknowledge whether we have learnt our lessons in self-correcting the equilibrium of nature or not. Like any parent, Mother Nature is caring and forgiving but sometimes even unconditional love has its limits.