Issue 1: Trusting Mother Nature
Whenever I’m struggling with anything, one of my coping strategies is to step way back from the situation to seek perspective on it. In this instance, this didn’t require any effort; I had an immediate, intuitive sense of what was happening. (I hasten to add that I’m not presenting this as ‘the objective truth’, just my interpretation.)
Besides my ‘bobbing boat’ metaphor that I shared in my last message, the other thing that sprang into my mind almost instantly the scale of the pandemic became evident was that ‘humanity was being sent to our rooms for a time out to reflect on our bad behaviours’. As most of you know, I have been increasingly alarmed about humanity’s lack of urgent action regarding the climate crisis. In a bizarre way, it felt strangely comforting to believe that nature was taking matters into her own hands, just as a mother does if her child steps slightly too close to the cliff edge.
I mean this in a metaphysical sense rather than a supernatural one. My belief system is one of scientific rationalism combined with a respect for the vast mystery that scientific rationalism has not yet mastered. The most compelling, coherent explanation for our earthly existence seems to be the concept of evolution – that nature is engaged in a process of constant progress based upon a gigantic, 4.5 billion year old ‘trial and error experiment’. What works endures and prospers; what doesn’t falls by the wayside.
It feels to me as if, with superb irony, nature has sent her humblest organism to force us to alter our behaviours. These seem to include:
I mean this in a metaphysical sense rather than a supernatural one. My belief system is one of scientific rationalism combined with a respect for the vast mystery that scientific rationalism has not yet mastered. The most compelling, coherent explanation for our earthly existence seems to be the concept of evolution – that nature is engaged in a process of constant progress based upon a gigantic, 4.5 billion year old ‘trial and error experiment’. What works endures and prospers; what doesn’t falls by the wayside.
It feels to me as if, with superb irony, nature has sent her humblest organism to force us to alter our behaviours. These seem to include:
- Immediately and drastically curbing our carbon footprint
- Substantially reducing pollution and saving lives
- Making us protect the vulnerable and support each other
- Making us unite across divisions that had been created by Brexit, nationalism and protectionism
- Bringing us back to the local and essential
- Forcing us to co-ordinate globally rather than seek mere national interest
- Forcing us to prioritise what really matters to us
- Forcing us to include the vulnerable in our ‘global lifeboat’, if not out of moral impulse, out of self-interest (since the virus won’t be contained within any part of the globe if it isn’t extinguished everywhere)
- Allowing (some of) us to spend more time with loved ones (albeit not always a blessing!)
- Benefiting from the reduction in modern stressors like long commutes and business travel
- Considering an alternative to limitless economic growth beyond our global finite resources
And just as we are forced to surrender to this humble messenger, we find that nature is thriving in her spring rebirth. The spectacular weather that has accompanied this crisis seems like nature saying ‘look at me in all my splendour when you cease your toxic behaviours for a month. This is what is possible when we all live in harmony.’
And so I find myself even more attentive to what nature has to teach us and me. I feel that ‘biomimicry’, the emerging study and emulation of nature’s exquisite design, will go a long way to guiding us through and out of this crisis. I have never had so much respect and admiration for Mother Nature and I trust her to see me, and us, through this transformation if we are her humble pupils.
And so I find myself even more attentive to what nature has to teach us and me. I feel that ‘biomimicry’, the emerging study and emulation of nature’s exquisite design, will go a long way to guiding us through and out of this crisis. I have never had so much respect and admiration for Mother Nature and I trust her to see me, and us, through this transformation if we are her humble pupils.