When nature is not nature...

My little family and I recently rugged ourselves up and braved a wintry Melbourne day to visit the Melbourne Museum, where the main attraction is currently the Titanic exhibition. But before we walked through the Titanic exhibit - which, incidentally, was great, and worth being packed in like sardines for - we thought we could walk through the Rainforest Secrets permanent exhibit. It's quite amazing, and is in the centre of the museum. It effectively brings the outdoors inside, as there is no roof. But as we entered the glass sliding doors to walk up the pathway, a sign had been put up blocking our entrance saying, 'Due to high winds and wild weather, this exhibit is temporarily closed for safety reasons'. So, we wandered off to another area and meandered around until we were ready for the Titanic - which is a timed exhibit, where you 'board'.

After exiting the Titanic, we walked past the rainforest again and saw it had been re-opened. Clearly the dangerous winds had subsided enough to stop the managers worrying about law suits....But it got me thinking. We had all braved the so called 'dangerous winds' to get there, and if the tree's in the exhibit are affected by the winds, well isn't that part of nature? But clearly this is an artificial nature. One that is manipulated, managed and tightly controlled for customer's/visitor's.
Paying to 'experience' nature, in a controlled environment means we are not really experiencing nature at all - it negates the whole point. It made me feel that the whole orchestrated process was contrived and a little absurd. This was further illustrated to me when a young boy turned excitedly to his mother and asked, 'Can we keep going so we can see more of the nature?' Real nature exists, and it isn't found indoors, or in a museum. Real nature can't be contained, is largely uncontrollable and is innately beautiful.

As we were leaving the 'nature' exhibit, I felt overwhelmed by how strongly I felt about experiencing real nature, and what a formative and positive effect spending time in the Australian bush had on my childhood.
I recently heard an interesting segment on Radio National about how important it is for kids to spend time in nature. Richard Louv, the main interviewee, claims that paediatricians in the US rarely see broken bones these days, and that they are increasingly seeing repetitive strain injuries from computer games. Ironically, repetitive strain injuries have longer and more serious complications than broken bones apparently. So kids, put down that PlayStation console and go climb a tree!

Day Spa's & World Poverty

The lovely Mr D bought me a gift voucher for a treatment at a day spa recently, and I availed myself of this opportunity yesterday. Several things struck me as I lay there having my skin smoothed, polished, hydrated and generally pampered;

1.
Since when has frequenting day spas become the norm for the middle class masses? In my mind, spending several hours - or even just attending - a day spa was the reserve of wealthy women, with too much money and not enough to do. You know the types - the 'ladies who lunch' set who have nothing to do so fill their day's with spa and salon appointments; the type's who start philanthropic foundations. Lady McMahon comes to mind. So how did going to a day spa become something the middle class masses partipated in? Which brings me to my second point....

2.
While laying there doing essentially nothing, except for relaxing, it occured to me that the process of paying to do nothing is the ultimate form of commodification. At a day spa you are basically being sold an idea, or a state of mind. Sure, there are services involved, but most of that could be done at home yourself. No, the whole point of going to a day spa is to feel spoiled, indulged. Effectively you are paying to feel good about yourself - it's the commodification of self worth.

3.
My conscience was being somewhat of a miser yesterday, trying to ruin my indulgent experience by reminding me that while I lay there having a grand time, there are people who cannot afford to feed themselves, rendering the 'relaxing' element of the experience somewhat redundant. However inconvenient my conscience was, it did have a point. It seems almost obscene to spend what for some in the developing world would be over a years wage, on having a massage and a facial.

4.
In Australia, we have become so wealthy that going to a day spa and spending hundreds of dollars has become something the average person particpates in. But according to the World Bank, 80% of the worlds population lives on less than $10 a day. I think it's time I stopped defining rich as the person who lives in a big house on the water, and consider myself rich. Becasue the reality is I am. Most people in Australia are, when looked at from a global perspective.

Will I ever go back to a day spa? Probably. Will I enjoy it? Yes. Will I also feel guilty? Yes.