Takers vs. Leavers

takk fyrir síðast

One thing about Iceland that is unique and wonderful is the almost extreme connection to nature. Everything is about getting back to nature, protecting nature, preserving the beauty and origin. It shows in almost everything–walking culture in the cities, tons of bicyclists even in the country. All the focus on woolen clothing and ways to stay outside. Earthen roofs on so many houses, But the one thing that stood out is the extreme focus and penalty for essentially straying off the beaten paths. You just don’t do it. At all the parks and rest areas and basically everywhere that is not private land, you stay on the paths. Not doing so can result in serious penalties. At first I thought this was extreme but as I thought about it and as I considered it, the place is beautiful because they have not allowed it to be spoiled.

One thing that is a huge no-no is picking flowers. You leave them. And I’ll tell you, there are a LOT of them. Especially the Lupine flower. It is a beautiful purple flower that quite literally covers much of southern Iceland and other areas too. It is easy for us to see a field of these and say, “they won’t miss one”. Only 1. But if they have 2 million visitors a year and they are concentrated in the few months those flowers bloom, guess what, that field gets picked bare if everyone has that mindset. The reality is, if I pick something Mother Nature put there, I enjoy it for a short time and I take away the ability for anyone else to enjoy it ever again. Multiply that by however many people are going to come through, and suddenly we have a barren landscape. I know that is extreme. I know that isn’t how it would necessarily work, but it could. And teaching our kids to be leavers instead of takers is a good thing. enjoy it. Take a picture if you want. Leave it for others to enjoy. You are not entitled to take it. 

This reminded me of one of my all time favorite books–Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. I won’t spoil it too much but it is a discussion of how humanity split into two distinct cultures–takers and leavers– and how they have evolved and how they view Earth and our role in nature. It is deep and intellectual and challenging. It is also eye opening and maybe even a little challenging to our way of doing things. I love it. Read it if you want but just know it challenges a LOT of your thoughts, beliefs, ways of life. You’ve been warned. 

That’s all for this lesson. Next week I will write about crime and quality of life. Spoiler–Iceland is extremely safe, and well paid.