The Grace of the Heron

I saw a heron land near me and I marveled at the undulating grace and precise movements it made. Not at all jerky like the smaller birds, it wasted no energy and moved with a sureness like a trained dancer.
In wild nature we see what we yearn for, the secret self, the as-is. Culture can be like heavy clothing in August. Yes, we can wear it and even become accustomed, but it is suffocating. The artifice of fashion has us hemmed in.
When I was an adolescent, long hair on a man was not just rebellious, it was downright dangerous. In the wrong establishment, your long hair could get you beat up and hospitalized. Less than twenty years later the situation had changed. My parents complained that my sister wasn't dating any long haired boys.
These artificial constructs seem trite, but are highly charged. In that , that they are so important lies a clue. Perhaps what is most frightening is our natural self. A thought experiment might help lead to insight. What is it about our "wild" selves that is so abhorrent? That we might become violent, unrestrained? Probably not, as violence is taught and even worshipped by this culture. It may be that as-is-ness is not easily fooled. That artificial characteristics, such as avarice, power and social standing (the pecking order) are not all that important to the AS-IS. The natural self wants to live and seeks a balance. It is not easily manipulated, nor fooled. It lives for itself.