Besides being a form of self-reflection, to contemplate nature is akin to contemplating life itself. Such a strange, multitudinous, complex, and overwhelming thing, so full of contradictions. Nature - "the universe in its entirety" - is so unfathomably unfathomable it seems hubristic, or just plain silly, to attempt to describe it.
It's a silly thing to do... maybe that's why so few have tried - but have they not? One could argue that organized religions and religious thought have tried to encompass the vastness of nature in their quests to explain divinity. But why not approach the topic more directly? Why isn't there a field of study that at least attempts to formulate understandings of nature? Again, one could argue that biology and physics have aimed at these understandings - but not in the way that I'm speaking of.
I think the time is ripe for a new field of study called Nature Studies - one aimed at bringing together perspectives on the idea of nature. The truth is, nature has already been the central topic for so many minds. It would be nice, though, to provide a fuller platform with which to comprehend a subject, that some would argue, will always be incomprehensible.
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