Nature

Everything and everyone is surrounded and exists through nature. Whether it is human nature or nature in its purest self, it was made that way by God and is made to be appreciated, accepted and loved through its beauty. Everyone may feel lost from nature at times but it will always find a way to speak to us and we will find a way back to it.

In the poem "I wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth,  the character is wandering aimlessly by himself feeling extremely lonely. Until, he comes upon a a lake full of daffodils. There were hundreds and hundreds of them dancing in the wind as he explained the graceful moment. Suddenly the speakers loneliness is overtaken by a sense of joy. He now feels united with nature and the dancing daffodils. However, this joy does not happen immediately. It took time for the speaker to appreciate the beauty that was surrounding him. It was not too late though, he still connected with nature and felt like he was there for a reason now. The main point of this poem is that no matter how lonely we may feel, we are one with nature and sometimes people need to open their eyes and soak it in. The speaker took nature for granted before because now every time he feels lonely he thinks of the dancing daffodils and it brings him happiness. It is cool how the thought of a simple flower can completely change the mood of someone. In our everyday lives we sometimes take nature for granted. Whether it is a sunset that we do not take time to endure the multiple colors one shining light creates through the whole sky, or as simple as a small flower. Natures beauty is all around us and sometimes when we get ahead of ourselves, we need to stop and absorb all the simple things in life around us.

The next reading I read was "Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins. A reading that took me a few times to really understand. There is a wife and a husband who just moved into a new house because the wife is struggling with serve depression so the know it all husband had a grand idea to move and handle it himself. While she is doing as her husband says, which is to follow a rest cure, she begins to become very fascinated with the yellow wallpaper that surrounds her. Soon she realizes beyond the yellow wallpaper is, figuratively speaking, a trapped woman. A woman who is active during the day because she can get away with it, but is trapped at nighttime because she would get caught. This woman the wife is envisioning behind the wallpaper is herself. Finally, fascinated by the visions and patterns of the wallpaper, the wife begins to tear it down, indirectly seeking freedom of her confinement. While she's tearing down the wallpaper her husband comes in and faints and at that exact moment she is declared free because she is not imprisoned by her husband. This story can relate to people because first off, no one should be controlled by anyone. We are all capable of being independent and we do not need to be manipulated by a force that thinks they are overriding. Second, although isolation and self reflection can be good, eventually we will lose our minds because we belong with nature. We do not belong locked up hidden away from everything that exists just outside the walls. When the wife breaks free, essentially that is her fighting back and realizing she is longing for much more than just a rest cure.

The last reading was "Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Of all three readings, I believe this one is the most impactful and important. This reading summarizes all of them in one. It is about a lady named Georgina who has a red birthmark on her face. She is marries a man by the name of Aylmer. Aylmer was a scientist but dropped it for his life with Georgina. The red birthmark on Georgina was something she valued. It was distinct but some men found it attractive. She liked it because it was what made her, her. Aylmer described Georgina like most people did which was perfect. Well, almost perfect. He said she would be perfect if the birthmark was removed. Georgina took this to heart because it was something that made her unique and no one has ever said anything bad about it. Time goes on and Aylmer has a dream of removing the birthmark but while he was removing it, the deeper he went into her skin the deeper the birthmarks as until he eventually reached her heart. So Georgina demands he removes it if it makes Aylmer happy. Being a scientist, Aylmer had already thought of ways to remove the birthmark and conducted his plan. Him and his assistant gave her a potion to put her to sleep and they began the procedure. When Georgina wakes up, she is indeed perfect but she also tells Aylmer she is dying and eventually does. So Aylmer finally has his wish and perfect woman, but she is dead. Georgina died because natural perfection does not exist through perfection but rather imperfection. Georgina was perfect the way she was before. God created her unique and every physical aspect she possessed was perfect. As humans, we all have imperfection but embrace those imperfections because at the end of the day we are perfectly ourselves through those.

The connection between these reading is although at times you may separated from yourself or nature, the matter of the fact is that nature is always with us. Everywhere we go, everything we feel, everything we have is nature. Nature is the most beautiful and most powerful thing in the world because it is all natural. Natural creations are far better than artificial creations and will forever be. No matter the isolation we feel or endure, we are always united with nature.