"Earth is the only place in the Universe where Life is known to exist."
- Wikipedia (stating the obvious in a monumental way)
When my parents decided to name me Gaia, they unknowingly instilled in me a lifelong consciousness of the singular importance of the Earth and its role as the Mother of all things. The word Gaia is ancient Greek, "Ge" meaning earth, "Aia" meaning grandmother. Therefore, Gaia literally means Grandmother Earth. Gaia was an extremely important part of the Greek pantheon of gods, and I am of the opinion that Gaia's important role in Ancient Greek myth mirrors their attitudes towards Nature. Greek civilization was extremely urban for its time, and yet their effect on the environment comes nowhere close to the atrocities that modern society inflicts upon the planet. (We aren't digging up any ancient Greek bulldozers and coal refineries, but I assume their life wasn't too much different than ours).
My namesake has defined my relationship to the environment and my attitudes toward it. I remember growing up with an intense connection to the natural environment, which was present even in the vast concrete jungle of suburban South Florida. I saw past the manicured landscapes of coconut palms and landscaping and saw that "wild" things existed, if you looked hard enough. I was enchanted by geckoes, snakes, spiders, horseshoe crabs, clovers, banyan trees, and all the unique wildlife that lived just in my backyard. Visiting the Everglades, I couldn't help but think about my backyard, and how, before I was born, a long time ago, everything looked like it. There were no houses, no one draining the water from the Everglades and putting it into swimming pools and watering their precious golf courses. It made me very sad to think about the way my species has destroyed everything around it in the name of "progress" and how I wished things could go back to the way they once were. There was a point where the sight of a well mowed, even large grassy lawn made me just a little furious inside.
Florida's natural environment hangs in fragile limbo with ever spreading construction and development. The Everglades and various types of ecosystems once covered the entire peninsula, with some startlingly beautiful species of plants, birds and other animals. Almost all of the land has been converted into real estate. Species like the Florida Panther, the only swamp-dwelling large cat in America and what I consider to be a totally awesome creature. (Imagine: big cats in the WILD, right next to Disney World!) Well, their population is depressingly low, in the 60s or 70s last time I checked. I take classes at Tufts with more people in it than that. Imagine being one of 70 living humans left on this planet. Extinction is going on all around us, and is the biggest reason why I think human's behavior with respect to the environment must change immediately.
There was a time in the history of humanity when nature was not something to go visit, but an intrinsic part of existence. Man did not need to tear down wilderness to live, such action would have been counterproductive and probably sacrilege. Modern society's severance of this vital connection to the Earth has lead to unprecedented amounts of pollution and damage, probably in more ways than you and I will ever be able to fathom. Whatever I can do to counter this monumental lack of consciousness of the environment and damage to it is worth it, to me.
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