Second to Nature

This was written in 2019 after a month of living outdoors in Myanmar. At the mercy of stray dogs, spiders, and scorpions, and at the mercy of rains that would take away our electricity or access to running water. Because we were at a Buddhist monastery, we weren’t allowed to kill or harm any creatures (even mosquitos). I still like to live by this rule today.

I loved that we were Second to Nature, intertwined deeply but in reverence to its power, its freedom. I bowed down to the spiders. I surrendered to the rains. I revered the dogs that barked all night long. Because they were free. They were true. We shared space, and I had no right to it anymore than they did.