Planet Earth

In the midst of this election, a crumbling economy, rampant racism, a sugar epidemic, terrorism, student loan debt, global warming, and the fact that the Ouija movie somehow made a sequel, 2016 has finally shown us a ray of light - and that light is the announcement of Planet Earth II!!!

While most people aren't avid watchers of nature documentaries, I don't think I knew anyone who wasn't infatuated with this show when it came out back in 2006.  It had all the elements critically acclaimed shows have: beautiful cinematography, amazing soundtrack, great characters, crazy twists, and of course, David Attenborough.  And while it's great that this show was so entertaining and captivating, it achieved something much bigger by reconnecting us with the natural world.  

It feels almost impossible to think about nature when so many seemingly more pertinent problems face us today.  Why should I care about an endangered snow leopard when I can't afford to pay my rent this month?  Why should I fight to save the Everglades when 13.5 million refugees in Syria need humanitarian assistance?  There is no doubt that we need to put our fundamental needs above a dying species, or that we feel a greater duty to help a group of people rather than a place we might never see in our lives.  But there's a reason why people continuously turn to nature when the turmoils of society become too overwhelming.  Nature reminds us that we are apart of something bigger than our day-to-day lives.  And in being apart of it, we need to be conscious of it (watching this show is a great way to start!)

Aside from all this seriousness, I really just wanted to make a post about this because Planet Earth was just an awesome and perfect piece of art, and I am so f-ing excited to see what season 2 has in store!!! Our planet is a truly lovely, bizarre, incredible place to exist.

In anticipation for season 2, I've been re-watching season 1 (which is on Netflix), so to tide you guys over, here are some grade A inspiring stills from Planet Earth:

Snow leopard mother and cub

Himalayan mountains

A Nile crocodile feasting on wildebeests

Cave salamander

Diver exploring an underwater cave

Desert dunes

Fennec fox

Emperor penguins

Pink-stained arctic cliffs (the pink is penguin poop)

Zebra herd in African great plains

Tibetan fox

Bird of paradise mating dance

Tree frog

The parasitic cordyceps fungi

Pygmy seahorse

Great Barrier Reef from space

Jawfish

Brittle stars

Baby owl attempting its first flight

Redwood tree leaves

Dumbo octopus

5 million snow geese migrating from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic

SEASON 2 GET HERE NOW!!!