Pondering the Seven Life Lessons of Chaos (John Briggs and F. David Peat)
We live in an incredible jungle-world of fractal diversity. Waking up again in the forest with light rain dripping from vine tendrils, leaves pushing forth new waves of growth, every surface blossoming moss-lichens, grasses stretching so tall that their heavy seeded heads droop with the added moisture, ferns continuing to unfurl, glistening green of lush chlorophyll filling the lungs and senses… this tangled kaleidoscope of growth outside my window enjoying a pro-longed and endless Spring. So this is a vibrant temperate rainforest finally, after 3 years of Summer droughts, we approach mid-January rich in moisture, rain barrels overflowing, the forest stretching itself awake, filling blossoms with nectar, reaching out toward sun and sky. The long days no longer a dusty meditation through the hours awaiting the cool of night stars. Clouds pass and clouds cluster, winds sending rain and then ushering in sun, and the forest basks in the balance, the smallest details underfoot not shrinking away, but enveloping, grappling, surging forth into any open space weaving growth among growth in competition, in collaboration. This forest, an infinite open-loop system of creative potential and me at its doorstep looking in, drawing inspiration, becoming part of the swirling stream, giving and receiving love.
There is no comparison with man-made environments. Even the most intricately planned city-scape or botanical garden can not compare with the energy that a vibrant forest emanates. There is an ancient consciousness present here that fabricated spaces, no matter how detailed, fail to capture. Somewhere in their fabrication a loop is closed, the fractal potential cut-off, diversity homogenized, wave functions collapse into a few or one; we are held separate in our boxes and isolations seeps in. We may have 20 choices of drink flavor, hundreds of ringtone sounds to fill our days, but there is always a limit, a finitely produced quantity and the greater energy potential is masked, lost, forgotten.
For the first time in human history we as a planet are raising a generation of primarily urban dwellers whose daily existence is delineated by fabricated, man-made spaces where no matter the amazing high-definition digital detail the true energy and diversity of Nature’s potential chaos is packaged, limited, or completely absent. Our incredible bodies and souls have been ever-connected to Nature’s chaotic flow throughout our existence on this planet and we have thrived on that cosmic inspiration. Will this new generation recognize its absence? Will we find a balance or conform to our mechanized engineering? Would we willingly shed the essence of our humanity for a controlled and limited environment? And will Nature miss us as we distance ourselves into our plastic and steel and glass towers? Will She come calling us home? Can we ever truly plan and build and defend a physical space on this planet that does not in its foundation succumb to Nature’s chaotic will? What are our intentions as a People on this planet, inside this Universe? What are we losing in our daily choices, what potentiality do we absent-mindedly dismiss with our actions, our thoughts, our emotions? Are we each truly wanting to live in a fragmented world, that is, do we fear our unknown, unexplored potential so much that we can not even recognize how we choose collectively to empower the prisons surrounding and separating us?
I am a child born of privilege, have had every avenue open to me to pursue my heart’s desire. I could be a successful businessperson, a government executive, any leadership role. I could be materially successful with an ample, dry-wall house, two-car garage, vacation cruises, and technical devices for my play-things. There are probably many people who wonder why I did not choose that path, others who actively wish that I had. Instead I have run off to the forest where wild edges still linger and ask lofty questions of the Universe. Am I arrogant, am I selfish? Any more or less than the average corporate salesperson? I want to touch inspiration, believe in magic, find that cooperation and dreams are real, that love is stronger than fear. And to know that this modern-age too shall pass, with its expectations and hierarchy, its power and the powerless.
The forest yawns and smiles and Nature’s fractals, of which we are each an inseparable, entangled part whether we acknowledge it or not, continue to unfold.
There is no comparison with man-made environments. Even the most intricately planned city-scape or botanical garden can not compare with the energy that a vibrant forest emanates. There is an ancient consciousness present here that fabricated spaces, no matter how detailed, fail to capture. Somewhere in their fabrication a loop is closed, the fractal potential cut-off, diversity homogenized, wave functions collapse into a few or one; we are held separate in our boxes and isolations seeps in. We may have 20 choices of drink flavor, hundreds of ringtone sounds to fill our days, but there is always a limit, a finitely produced quantity and the greater energy potential is masked, lost, forgotten.
For the first time in human history we as a planet are raising a generation of primarily urban dwellers whose daily existence is delineated by fabricated, man-made spaces where no matter the amazing high-definition digital detail the true energy and diversity of Nature’s potential chaos is packaged, limited, or completely absent. Our incredible bodies and souls have been ever-connected to Nature’s chaotic flow throughout our existence on this planet and we have thrived on that cosmic inspiration. Will this new generation recognize its absence? Will we find a balance or conform to our mechanized engineering? Would we willingly shed the essence of our humanity for a controlled and limited environment? And will Nature miss us as we distance ourselves into our plastic and steel and glass towers? Will She come calling us home? Can we ever truly plan and build and defend a physical space on this planet that does not in its foundation succumb to Nature’s chaotic will? What are our intentions as a People on this planet, inside this Universe? What are we losing in our daily choices, what potentiality do we absent-mindedly dismiss with our actions, our thoughts, our emotions? Are we each truly wanting to live in a fragmented world, that is, do we fear our unknown, unexplored potential so much that we can not even recognize how we choose collectively to empower the prisons surrounding and separating us?
I am a child born of privilege, have had every avenue open to me to pursue my heart’s desire. I could be a successful businessperson, a government executive, any leadership role. I could be materially successful with an ample, dry-wall house, two-car garage, vacation cruises, and technical devices for my play-things. There are probably many people who wonder why I did not choose that path, others who actively wish that I had. Instead I have run off to the forest where wild edges still linger and ask lofty questions of the Universe. Am I arrogant, am I selfish? Any more or less than the average corporate salesperson? I want to touch inspiration, believe in magic, find that cooperation and dreams are real, that love is stronger than fear. And to know that this modern-age too shall pass, with its expectations and hierarchy, its power and the powerless.
The forest yawns and smiles and Nature’s fractals, of which we are each an inseparable, entangled part whether we acknowledge it or not, continue to unfold.
posted by Carol Bushar at 2:26 PM
2 Comments:
"There is an ancient consciousness present here that fabricated spaces, no matter how detailed, fail to capture. Somewhere in their fabrication a loop is closed, the fractal potential cut-off, diversity homogenized, wave functions collapse into a few or one ..." -- so true. The natural world is so mind bogglingly complex.
"For the first time in human history we as a planet are raising a generation of primarily urban dwellers whose daily existence is delineated by fabricated, man-made spaces ..." -- Historically speaking, do you know when this occurred? Just curious.
I've been reading "Guns, Germs and Steel" again and one overiding theme is: "humans conquer nature ... then nature destorys humans".
Wow, Dave, I sure hope that Jared Diamond´s theme about nature destroying humans is one cycle we can break. We as a planet have been increasingly urban with rising populations since the 1950´s. It was just in 2008 that the world population tittered at the divide of half-rural, half-urban living for the first time. Here´s a link I found helpful: http://www.prb.org/Educators/TeachersGuides/HumanPopulation/Urbanization.aspx
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