The one without instincts

Mon, May 31 2010 by Vanessa.

So the last couple of months have been rather decent.  I’m starting to feel as though life is slowing down, the days are presenting themselves in such a fashion that I can actively take part in them and be present.  I’m able to look around a bit more, I pay attention to the world around me and once in a while truly see all of the nature, people and events that go on around me.  In doing so I have come to believe that many Americans, including myself, may have very few instincts.  So how do we survive?  Have our instincts simply evolved into more of a set of habitual survival skills?

I first came to have this thought while watching my dogs.  Yes, it’s another dog story.  Watching a domesticated animal live in limbo, somewhere between wild and “human”, is almost saddening.  Recently I had to leave my precious babies under the care of strangers working at a Pet Resort in Albany, GA.  I knew nothing life-threatening would happen to them during their week long stay.  It was as clear as day, as factual as 2 + 2 and my body and mind contained not the slightest bit of apprehension or true fear that they will not greet me when I finally returned and walked through the kennel doors.  They don’t have that same reassurance in their daily goings-on though.  Each one of my dogs showed signs of fear as they were taken from me and were kindly but forcefully taken into the kennel, away from their pack leaders.  They did not have the same knowledge that I had in that moment of separation.  In their world and in their eyes, this was a situation to pay special attention to and fear.  As we walk down the street each day I watch our dogs and how their body language and actions change on a dime.  One moment we’re walking along, happy as can be and then a “danger” appears or is detected and immediately they go on alert.  My dogs live in the wild.  My dogs live in a world where you still have to consider survival, threats and imminent danger.  I don’t.  And I don’t think that many other Americans really know what living in fear truly means.

 So how did we come to a place where we (Americans) live in the same space as wild animals and yet find ourselves so protected and safe that we no longer instinctively look for danger?  As young children we learn to look both ways before crossing the street.  However, this is not an instinctual act that prevents harm from coming our way.  We have to be told to look both ways (repeatedly, I’m sure) as a child and it’s not an action that stems from an instinctual need to survive.  It’s more of a cautionary action or habit that we form to prevent harm.  Yes, it is an action designed to prevent death or injury but not in the same way as an animal continually scanning its surroundings for a predator.  Babies find it necessary and natural to cry when they need help.  As we mature, this type of reaction to our environment is not only frowned upon but is not tolerated after a certain number of years.

Somewhere along the way, our country developed a mindset or a basic set of guidelines that we all (mostly) accept and obey.  We make hunting at the local grocery store incredibly easy.  We run from any discomfort with pills, HVAC systems and ice cream.  How then do we survive?  When I really stop to think about myself as a single entity on this “wild” planet, when I really look at my most basic survival skills, when I contemplate what I would do if I really lived in the wild, I feel helpless.  I believe that we vainly separate ourselves from all other animals and put ourselves on an unjustified pedestal because when you really boil it down we are animals.   Yes, we learn behaviors that appear to separate us from all other living creatures but when you boil it down and look at the most basic behaviors of most humans, the results strangely resemble those of “wild” animals.

In the end though, I’m quite glad that we’ve come to a place where scanning our surroundings continually is not necessary.  It allows me to take more time each day to just be present and enjoy everything that surrounds me.  Life is truly enjoyable these days.  I find myself overwhelmed by mini-episodes of almost uncontrollable giddiness.   I find myself waking up each morning with a feeling of contentment and true happiness.  I worry less and when I do start to worry I am able to put my worry into perspective and see that my worry or fear is usually just an arbitrary idea that society put into my head.  When I really analyze my worries I see that the worst possible case is truly, not that bad.  The most interesting part is that when I remove my worry and fear I start to feel more of the world around me.  When I am present with my day and I get out of my head I notice more of the world around me.  I feel the breeze on my cheeks, I hear the birds chirping overhead, I smell the aroma of flowers alongside the road.  All these sensations should be instinctively noticed, I would think, by all living creatures.  Yet somewhere along the way, I lost the ability to sense these things.  I remember experiencing them as a child.  Maybe we’re just more instinctively tied to our world as children.  Whatever it is, I’m glad that I’m once again noticing the world around me!

 And Happy Birthday to my little Ralph.  His instincts and my protection have kept him safe and sound for 10 years today!

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