"Ecosystems & Habitat" Reflective Response
- Jenna Lynn
- Feb 25, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Feb 26, 2022
“Urban cemeteries are among the largest and most stable of all open space systems. They are relatively large and because they are used for burial, they are protected from development and remain undisturbed for centuries.” (Robertson, 2017, p. 125)
I fear death. Not so much the cemeteries themselves but the idea of what they represent. Stillness. Inevitability. The place where you’re placed into the soil when your heart no longer beats within your body. Just gone. One day there, the next day gone. Poof. As if you weren’t even there to begin with.
But it amazes me that urban cemeteries are the most stable of all the open space systems. It makes sense that they remain undisturbed for centuries, thereby protecting the development of the environment around them. In a way, it almost makes it bittersweet, if you think about it.
A place I drastically fear one day going, is a place that is thriving and growing, bringing new life to the earth around the bodies that reside there. It’s a dark, yet poetic, end to human life. I know I shouldn’t fear the end, but I do. And even this surprising fact doesn’t change that for me. However, it does provide a newfound appreciation for these places and the good that it does for the environment. I want the planet to thrive, I want human life to exist long after I’m gone. And while I wish there was some way I could live forever, I know that’s not possible. But, cemeteries contribute to life, not just death.
And for that, I’m grateful.
References:
Robertson, M. (2017). Sustainability Principles and practice. Routledge.
*If you click the photos above, it should directly take you to the place where the photos were from. But, if that doesn't work, here are my photo references*
Comments