The Future Shall Be Ours: Back to Nature for Normalcy

Statement

Dear Friend,

Faced with the abnormal horror of recent terroristic events, how are
we--parents, adults, young people, the elderly, and children--supposed to
cope psychologically with these events? I submit one way is to connect
with the normalcy we find in Nature in our great country, America.

As a public high school English teacher, one poem I have taught to Juniors
is William Cullen Bryant's "Thanatopsis." The poem's title is a Greek word
that means "viewpoint on Death." The speaker of the poem tells someone
whose friend has just died that one way to achieve healing is to make
contact with Nature. "Go forth, under the open sky, and list/To Nature's
teachings…" the speaker says. (lines 14-15)

No doubt we all have ways we can get in touch with Nature. Here in
Congressional District 6, if you live in Scottsdale, or even in Phoenix,
you may know of the natural pleasures of Chaparral Park in which Chaparral
Lake is located. Many times have I walked around the lake to relax and
unwind. It includes a spectacular view of Camelback Mountain as well as of
the ducks and birds on and around the lake. People fishing also can be
seen around the lake.

While not part of CD6, the beaches of San Diego are frequented by many
Arizonans, especially in the summer. For me it's always great to sit on,
say, Coronado Beach, with the infinite sky--whether blue or
cloudly--before me and watch the sail and other types of boats move across
the water as I look to the horizon. This is a great part of America--our
seashores--and from this greatness of Nature in our own country we can
find some help in healing from the news we have taken in about horribly
unnatural things that have been going on in our country and around the
world lately.

Ralph Waldo Emerson described in his timeless essay "Nature" how he felt
standing in the woods: "Standing on the bare ground,--my head bathed by
the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space,--all mean egotism
vanishes." That's how I feel standing in the surf of the California
beaches watching the breakers come in.

Of course, beaches mean other things like Boogie boards, surf boards, sand
castles, volleyball, picnics, frisbee-throwing, and sun-bathers catching
the rays hopefully protected these days by sunscreen.

But in the context of some of the gruesome occurrences in our country and
around the world today, places of American Nature like Chaparral Park and
the nearby beaches of San Diego can, I believe, give us a real existential
strength to help us weather the shocks to our psyches that these events
can cause. That's why we need to make sure that we protect and take care
of our parks and beaches and other natural places that we can go to to
relax and recharge.

When elected congressman for District 6, I will support adequate federal
funding for parks and marine recreation areas so that our citizens will be
able to enjoy the benefits that can be gained from contact with the
natural environment.

If you would like to contribute financially to my campaign, please go to
my website at www.williamsonforuscongress.com. Click on "Make a Donation."
You may use a credit or debit card, or, if you wish, I provide an address
to which you may send checks. The transactions on my website are handled
by PayPal, making them safe and secure. Contributions are greatly needed
and appreciated.

The Future Shall Be Ours if we recognize, amidst the traumatic events that
sometimes happen in our world today, that contact with Nature can help to
fortify our perspectives, renew our spirits, and give to our lives a
normalcy that increases our confidence in the present and the future.
America is great in so many ways, one of which is the land itself, the
mountains, lakes and seashores. Embracing Nature in our country can help
us heal from so many things. It is our land, and we need to love it for
what it has to offer in this way.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
John

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