So there I was, in the midst of dozens of other concerned environmentalists, rallying in front of city hall. Our voices rang a thousand thunderstorms in unison as we all cried, "Save the Whales! Save the Whales!" And as our voices climaxed with every cry, my passion intensified even mare, I felt my voice straining as' yelled even louder, but I gave no bother. And in the joy d my actions, I turned to a fellow environmentalist and asked, "A whale must really be a thing of beauty for us to do all this." He just turned to me and smiled, "I don't know kid, I've never seen one myself." And with that, I frowned.

    Though the story in the previous paragraph was purely fictional, the statement it wishes to convey is 100% reality. I am not saying that you can only save what you have seen but something totally adverse to that. To further explain what I am trying to bring out, let's have another fictional story with a more realistic point of view.

    Once upon a time, there was a rich businessman who had a beautiful garden to his name. He found his garden so beautiful that he decided to embark on a crusade to save the country's trees and forests. Obviously, the idea in itself was well and good and the businessman attracted supporters as well as followers. The businessman then began to rattle the government for action and launched a campaign against illegal logging; and within a few short weeks, the campaign suddenly shifted into a battle between the loggers and the supporters. And as the rich businessman continued on with his agenda, he forgot all about what started it all his garden. He forgot about his beautiful garden.

    In other words, the alot of us who are so determined to make the world a better place, focus so much on the world's environmental problems that we forget the beauty of the world. Let me rephrase that; the beauty of our world.

    Hundreds of people quarrel among themselves for cleaner, fresher air; but when they arrive at a place of clean, fresh air; they forget to breathe. Others work so hard to plant trees across the meadows of our country that they forget to watch the tree grow and bloom. Upon occasion, those who strive for blue oceans are often scared to death when faced with the fact of swimming in those oceans.

    Our world is like a child. And just like any other child our world has flaws. No matter what angle you may want to look at, a shadow of a flaw is bound to turn up somewhere. As the world's "parents" there is nothing wrong with taking the child's flaws into notice and trying to correct these imperfections. However, it is very wrong to highlight these flaws. And just like any other parent, we might find ourselves looking only at the flaws of our child until all we see one gigantic flaw. We must learn to step back and look at the bigger picture, because no matter how short my years on this earth might have been so far, I have already learned that this is one beautiful picture.

    So the problem I am trying to state is not of nuclear waste or of deforestation, air pollution or of global warming. When put into terms the problem I am trying to state isn't actually an environmental problem at all, but it nonetheless affects our perception of our environment. It is the attitude of forgetting what we are saving. We sometimes find ourselves so engrossed with the hardships and struggle of saving Mother Nature's beauty that we forget all about Mother Nature's beauty. And that's what its all about isn't it? But why do bother doing such things when we ourselves do not find the time to admire the beauty we wish to preserve

    If I had a peso every time I heard the lines, 'This is one ugly world," or "This world isn't worth living here," I'd be a very rich man. Unfortunately, I am not entitled to such a pleasure and neither is anyone else I know of. But I am doomed to live in a world where some people think that this world is nothing more than a huge chunk of worthless matter Fortunately this is all changeable.

    The solution is quite simple and it does not even require an annual fund of millions or hard labor by millions more. All it takes is a thought. The mere thought that this word is beautiful. I know the mere sound of it is less than professional but whoever said that the good things in the world must be complex in nature?

    I do admit that this world is far from being perfect and that much work must be still done to preserve it as well as beautify it even more. However, the world is already beautiful and it is up to us for us to realize that. From the awesome and breathtaking Mount Everest to the tiny yet very intricate ant colony in our backyard, all that is in the world now is a wonder to behold. And as we strive for a better world and forget that, then we merely wasted our time. For if we do, then it would only be a matter of time until someone turns to you and says, "What were we saving again?"

Zig Marasigan
January 16, 2000

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