Harrison Ford’s Message Urges Us to Pause and Listen to Nature

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When was the last time you really stopped to appreciate nature? In our fast-paced lives, it’s easy to get lost in screens and consumed by worries about the future. But stepping outside, embracing the present, and recognizing the incredible plants and animals that sustain us is essential. In a powerful video for the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, legendary actor and conservationist Harrison Ford reminds us to pause, listen to the quiet, and truly appreciate the incredible diversity of life on our planet.

Ford worked with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anthony Doerr to shape this message. The video carries forward the dream of renowned biologist and naturalist E.O. Wilson, who saw nature as something to explore, understand, and fall in love with. He believed that only then will we be truly inspired to protect it for future generations.

“My humble request for the coming year is that we make time to listen to the quiet,” says Ford in the video. “My dear friend E.O. Wilson—rest his soul—would say that the quiet voices are the most important. The krill and the caterpillars, the beetles and the bacteria. The ants.”

Ford continues, “The systems that sustain life on Earth, that put birds in our skies, water in our rivers, oxygen in our atmosphere are mind-bogglingly ancient, densely interlocking, and only partially-understood tapestries composed of millions of species, all exchanging matter and energy in a glorious, whirling ballet that it is so beautiful.”

Ford goes on to explain that ecosystems aren’t just “quiet symphonies,” to be admired—they empower us to live and breathe. He talks about the issues of industrialization and how man-made industries are destroying the very ecosystems that keep our planet healthy. “Every day we unravel our own support systems,” he says. “Every day they grow quieter while everything else grows louder.”

Ford draws a powerful comparison, likening each of our lives to a “single wisp of thread in the vast, mile-long rope of life.” He urges, “The most meaningful thing we can do with our time on Earth, is to ensure the rope isn’t too frayed for the next generation.” Ford emphasizes that a sense of “hopeful curiosity” and exploration leads to deeper insights and new ways of understanding our planet. This helps us discover how we can “best steward its enduring stability.”

Check out the full video below.