the Native Americans inspire me, not in the cliche sense, but as a truly authentic experience of dependency on nature. Sure I bet there were those who didn't then or now don't experience gratitude to Nature or who took/take without regard, but as a lifestyle, in general, it seems to me that the Native Americans and many native cultures live as part of the landscape rather than by taming it, harnessing it, etc.. That's can be beautiful, though not always symbiotic just because it's nature. A great writer once described nature as "red in tooth and claw."

I live for beauty which can be found in nature or anywhere, even in the way a Coke bottle teaches me about the goodness of limitations. :) (long story) But that's much like a mystic's path--trying to find a way through the mundane.

I had a reaction to Amy's post, too, but I think I can get the spirit of what she was trying to share. I do think that pity ('I'm sorry you can't feel that') can come across as insulting and condescending, but I want to believe that it was meant in a good way.

Yes, we should be honest without being so frank that we hurt others, though when we are so tender it is VERY easy to hurt each other. Truly caring means self-discipline, even of our expressions.

When we can't see where others are or may be, we cannot reach them.