Nature and Urban Life

Nature Meets Modern World. These trees may seem out of place when towering amidst man-made infrastructures. But they certainly bring beauty that no man's artful hands could ever come up with.

Nature has it, and city has it too. Living is certainly made far more fascinating not only through how you live every single moment but also through where you live. Of course, the bottom line would always be "how" - how you manage your affairs, how you face failures, how you handle success, how you perceive life itself. But really, "where you live" affects "how you live". It's a matter of choosing where yourself would fit and life may take on a whole new different road for a better living. The glories of nature are definitely priceless. Still, the city offers various conveniences which could be easily obtained at a price - and that's one factor we want too. Nature or urban life? I wish we could fuse both but it simply is impossible.

I've been through a lot of thinking as to deciding where I would want to build a house. Not that I'm ready to have one for myself; but I sure want to be ready when I finally have the resources. I have always thought that urban life is inescapable especially if one prefers an easy access to hospitals, schools, police and fire stations, and other public facilities. It's scary to think how many hours you'd have to wait just to reach a hospital during health emergencies, and definitely scarier whenever peace, security, and safety turn out to be at stake - not to mention NPA's dwelling in the suburbs and, yes, mountains. These are the primary advantages of living in areas where you can seldom see fresh lands that turn muddy during rainy days. It may seem ideal too to be living near shopping centers and the wet market. Besides not having to travel that much just to purchase both needs and (some) wants, you're also never left out with what's currently happening with the leading establishments. What an easy life! But, well, just as I have said earlier: these conveniences are at a price. Let's see the green side of the world and see if the pastures are greener.

I live in an urban area where trees still abound and less than fifty percent of land is fortunate to remain non-concrete. There's even a river (polluted - as is usual with rivers in urban areas), birds of various species, and even snakes. Butterflies are becoming a rarity and I miss those times when I'd even see one which wings measure to around five inches in length. Clearly, this means that I'm not that deprived of nature's glories to seek for the "green side" despite the easy, updated, sophisticated, tech-oriented urban life. The usual Filipino lifestyle far from urban living involves images of farms (and thus carabaos, cows, hay, farmers with their warm attitudes, etc.). Rivers, springs, and falls are truly magnificent views. Just a sight of a mere ricefield is actually already very appealing to the senses - the plain of green "palays", fresh soil which sometimes turns to mud or becomes dry and cracked like abstract paintings in a brown canvass, cute scarecrows (I wonder what the birds would say), birds of different species, and many other features that one's eyes could only capture upon laying eyes on one of Mother Nature's bests. Of course, nothing beats seeing wild animals - such as deers - on the loose happily enjoying their natural habitat. It's not like going back to the olden days. It's having the good things of the olden days in this modern age - the beauty of nature.

I'd really prefer nature over the stressful and noisy clutter of the city. In fact, speaking of security, people in rural areas are actually kinder and warmer, and yes - I should say more innocent - than those living in the cities whom most of which we couldn't trust (I am not generalizing though). Modernization truly has its contributions to moral degradation. As with health, the fresh air and tranquil atmosphere are certainly most favorable compared to the polluted urban environment. We could always bring what we have on cities - gadgets, modern living, etc. - in living with nature's glories, but never vice versa. Perhaps it is better left that way in order that we be able to enjoy both at their fullest. Afterall, what is nature if it is to be tamed by man? And what is city if it is to remain untamed?