Pico Iyer

I do. I especially feel the sense that I and my neighbors are living where humans were never meant to live. And what you quickly learn in a landscape such as ours is that the landscape can't flourish without fire. It needs fire as a kind of replenishing, regenerating agent. The Californian hills couldn't survive without fire. So our question as humans is how are we going to survive with fire?

And I loved what you said. I mean, humans are responsible for the climate crisis. But I think that's because we assume and have assumed we're larger than nature and nature is reminding us that we're not. And that it is much more powerful than we are. And that if we don't kneel before or defer to some extent to it or think anew about our responsibilities to it, we will be the victims.

And I loved what you said. I mean, humans are responsible for the climate crisis. But I think that's because we assume and have assumed we're larger than nature and nature is reminding us that we're not. And that it is much more powerful than we are. And that if we don't kneel before or defer to some extent to it or think anew about our responsibilities to it, we will be the victims.

And I loved what you said. I mean, humans are responsible for the climate crisis. But I think that's because we assume and have assumed we're larger than nature and nature is reminding us that we're not. And that it is much more powerful than we are. And that if we don't kneel before or defer to some extent to it or think anew about our responsibilities to it, we will be the victims.

Nature is going to continue long after we do. And it's our folly and our hubris to assume we can control it. The happy part of that solution is that – or the happy part of that idea is that insofar as humans are the cause of the climate crisis, we should be the solution too if it's not too late.

Nature is going to continue long after we do. And it's our folly and our hubris to assume we can control it. The happy part of that solution is that – or the happy part of that idea is that insofar as humans are the cause of the climate crisis, we should be the solution too if it's not too late.

Nature is going to continue long after we do. And it's our folly and our hubris to assume we can control it. The happy part of that solution is that – or the happy part of that idea is that insofar as humans are the cause of the climate crisis, we should be the solution too if it's not too late.

But I think the climate crisis comes out of our assuming that we can have our way with the elements and the elements are reminding us again and again that we can't.

But I think the climate crisis comes out of our assuming that we can have our way with the elements and the elements are reminding us again and again that we can't.

But I think the climate crisis comes out of our assuming that we can have our way with the elements and the elements are reminding us again and again that we can't.

And as you say about ravaging urban landscapes, actually the fire that took down my house, this was 34 years ago, went all the way into the town of Santa Barbara, jumped the six lanes of the intercontinental freeway that stretches from Mexico almost all the way to Canada. and came very close, even back then, to wiping out the whole town. So it's not as if we haven't had warnings.

And as you say about ravaging urban landscapes, actually the fire that took down my house, this was 34 years ago, went all the way into the town of Santa Barbara, jumped the six lanes of the intercontinental freeway that stretches from Mexico almost all the way to Canada. and came very close, even back then, to wiping out the whole town. So it's not as if we haven't had warnings.

And as you say about ravaging urban landscapes, actually the fire that took down my house, this was 34 years ago, went all the way into the town of Santa Barbara, jumped the six lanes of the intercontinental freeway that stretches from Mexico almost all the way to Canada. and came very close, even back then, to wiping out the whole town. So it's not as if we haven't had warnings.

It's as if the natural world is constantly sending us messages and we just send them to voicemail.

It's as if the natural world is constantly sending us messages and we just send them to voicemail.

It's as if the natural world is constantly sending us messages and we just send them to voicemail.

Well, she saw me in this infatuated state as if I'd suddenly fallen in love. And many a parent knows when their child returns starry-eyed, there could be problems on the way. But now, 34 years later... I've not converted, of course. I've learned that conversion for the monks means constant renewal. It doesn't mean just a sudden change of heart, like falling in love with somebody overnight.

Well, she saw me in this infatuated state as if I'd suddenly fallen in love. And many a parent knows when their child returns starry-eyed, there could be problems on the way. But now, 34 years later... I've not converted, of course. I've learned that conversion for the monks means constant renewal. It doesn't mean just a sudden change of heart, like falling in love with somebody overnight.

Well, she saw me in this infatuated state as if I'd suddenly fallen in love. And many a parent knows when their child returns starry-eyed, there could be problems on the way. But now, 34 years later... I've not converted, of course. I've learned that conversion for the monks means constant renewal. It doesn't mean just a sudden change of heart, like falling in love with somebody overnight.

It means constantly remaking yourself and re-understanding your relation to something outside yourself. But I think the best thing of all is that... I grew up in Anglican schools. So for 15 years in England, I had chapel every morning, chapel every evening. We had to read the Lord's Prayer in Latin on Sundays or recite. We had to recite the Lord's Prayer in Latin every Sunday.