Part of the Cycle

What can we learn from Nature? Should we just worry about today? What about tomorrow?

Part of the Cycle

We think we are so smart!

Are we? Really?

Something we cannot even see and have little defense against has forced us all into our “caves” and changed our behaviors almost overnight. A microscopic virus has entered our world, strong enough to change it. What can we learn from this? What is the voice of Nature saying?

Pride goes before a fall. We as human being have for eons been pretty sure we are the dominant species on the planet. We have the power. We manipulate the environment with abandon.

We now have fallen before the realization that we are fragile in the face of environmental opponents. Apart from threats posed by microscopic foes, we are equally vulnerable to global degradation and devastation. Our vulnerability is far greater than our ability to conquer and manipulate.

Our vulnerabilities are legion. The term “herd immunity’ is bantered about like a well-used soccer ball. “Herd vulnerability” is an equally viable term. Because there are so many of us, and because we tend to clump together and ignore the environment around us, we are subject to Benjamin Franklin’s thinking. Perhaps it was not intended to apply to pandemics, but he advised that if we hang together, we can avoid hanging separately. But separately we all succumb to the vulnerabilities of the “herd” and consequently die individually and suffer both individually and communally. Pride in our ability to stand is overpowered by our possibility of falling, both singly and as a herd.

We have much to learn from Nature in the current situation. Just as a small beetle can devastate a vast forest of great age, so a single infection can eliminate a rancher’s wealth as his cattle drop from disease or drought.

What can we learn from Nature in the face of such disasters? We must continually ask why, how, where, and when. The answers to these questions may only slowly address an immediate crisis. Over the long tail of time, the answers can provide a foundation for change and protection against impending disaster. The answers consider the “cause and effect” factor that has existed in Nature forever.

At this moment we respect the wisdom of the native Americans. Chief Seattle has warned us that “all things share the same breath: the beasts, the trees, the men.” We are all in/on this planet together. Because the cycle of life repeats itself endlessly, we are interdependent with all that is around us. What may seem like a small change—a butterfly fluttering in the Amazon—may ultimately have a monumental impact—a hurricane in the Atlantic.

If we want Nature to nurture us, support us and not destroy us, we must respect it. We are a part of it and it is in us all. As we crowd the earth and consume its bounty, it is easy to forget to listen, to observe, to consider. The result of both the crowding and the inconsideration is extensive. A wrapper thrown in the parking lot in Detroit, ends up in the gyre in the Atlantic. Einstein was right. Matter is not destroyed. It is transitory and exists in some form, somewhere, forever. In our pride of domination, we forget this lesson until Nature slaps us in the face with its reality.

We can be smart. Abstract thought is the thing that has brought us this far. Our use of it in this time of reset is our greatest weapon against repeating mistakes. Recognizing our interdependence with each other and our environment is our first step toward perpetuation and solution.

We can “hang together” and use our collective ability to address challenges. Answering basic questions of how, why, what, when, and where is eons old and has served to mitigate danger against predators and changing environments. Solutions can consider all the factors that create crisis.

Answers are not once and done because the questions are continuous. Never give up and stop thinking. Cyclical life requires cyclical attention. Our motivation must be big-picture driven. What might be profitable today could be astronomically expensive tomorrow. As Nature is our teacher, we learn to consider more than the immediate escape. We are interdependent and as such, one, but one of many and more to come. One answer, many questions.? Many answers, many questions. All are a part of the cycle of life.