![]() ![]() We share our space with animals and with nature. Watching these gentle giants made me realizes that humans do not have ultimate power over the world as we may sometimes assume. Regardless of the crises which overwhelm me, life continues according to its natural rhythm. As I sit here in my living room writing, those elephants are probably still chomping their food. On the one hand, the stresses that permeate my Los Angeles life may not be as large as they often feel. On one should be written: “I am but dust and ashes.” And on the other: “The world was created for me.” ![]() I thought of a Jewish tale attributed to Rabbi Simcha Bunim, who lived in Poland in the 19th century.Įveryone ought to have two pockets, each holding a slip of paper, so that he or she can reach for one or another slip as the occasion demands. In that moment, all that mattered to these elephants was the taste of their food as it traveled to their bellies. ![]() Their mouths orbited around the bamboo and each swallow sounded like a colossal suction about to rip everything from the ground. Their wrinkly, grey skin appeared otherworldly. I paused for a moment during my walk so that I could observe the elephants as they chomped their umpteenth meal of the day. All of my shifts were with a single group of fellow week-long volunteers. During my time at the park, my volunteer shifts included cleaning elephant enclosures, preparing elephant meals, and feeding the elephants. Elephant Nature Park offers day-long, overnight, and week-long volunteer opportunities. They then live lives of neglect and abuse – all for the profits of humans.Īll the elephants at Elephant Nature Park have been rescued so they may live out the rest of their lives safely in the park. In order to get them to safely interact with humans, elephants are snatched from their mothers in infancy and subjected to an unnatural and abusive process called “crushing,” which renders them submissive to their human trainers. I was in midst of my week-long volunteer adventure at Elephant Nature Park, a nature reserve outside of Chiang Mai, Thailand, that spans more than 300 acres and houses rescued Asian elephants.Īsian elephants are frequently used in the tourist industry, illegal logging, and in street begging. One afternoon last January, I took a walk alone so that I could spend time with the elephants. ![]()
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