THE 4 BEHAVIORS
INTENTIONALLY LIVE YOUR HUMAN NATURE
Stop
The 8 INSTRUCTIONS arise directly from matter-of-fact expressions of life in the natural world. The first step to reclaiming yourself as one of these expressions is – to STOP.
Just Stop.
Right now.
~~
Stop everything
even if just for a fraction of a second.
Stop.
INSTRUCTION NO. 1
CONNECTION
Stop.
From here you know most directly your connection with all else.
The trees of the forest are connected to each other by means of vast underground fungal networks. They talk.
INSTRUCTION NO. 2
VARIETY
Stop.
With stopping, life’s variety is no problem. In ecologies of wilderness and in human community, variety sustains health.
Every day, evidence comes forward showing how ecosystem diversity is vital to health – health of the environment and health of human bodies. Here’s evidence related to Lyme disease.
INSTRUCTION NO. 4
RELATIVES
Stop.
You are always in relationship.
We’ve known primates recognize themselves. We know dolphins have names for each other. Recently, scientists have found self-recognition in manta rays.
INSTRUCTION NO. 5
EFFICIENCY
Stop.
Efficiency arises from stillness, from presence.
One of our favorite words is murmuration – most associated with starlings that fly by the hundreds – even thousands – in swooping intricate coordination with never a wing clip.
INSTRUCTION NO. 6
RESILIENCE
Stop.
Recovery and renewal find solid ground.
Salmon swim home against the current, overcoming obstacles like human-made dams – against all odds. We’re learning that, for humans, too, living through stress builds biological courage.
INSTRUCTION NO. 7
ELDERHOOD
Stop.
Now you can hear your wisdom.
An orangutan mother may spend five years teaching her offspring how to build perfect thatched sleeping nests in the branches of trees.
INSTRUCTION NO. 8
UNCERTAINTY
Stop.
Admit uncertainty.
Biological science has determined mystery to be a fact of life. Searching for the missing link to finally explain life on earth, scientists come ever closer, even as they become more certain there will always be things we can’t ever know.
The Light Still Shining
Today marks the winter solstice. From this time of deep darkness our attention is naturally drawn to the glittering guidance of whatever scattered light there is. All the while beneath ground, teeming activity is underway to fortify and prepare root systems of giant...
Gratitude for what Sustains
Maybe you’re gathering with family this weekend. Maybe with friends. And maybe you’re spending the time alone. Whatever the case, there’s little denying the tensions surrounding Thanksgiving in 2019. In these days of public discord, usual glitches in the ways we are...
Thinking Nature
NOTE: Gary's book The Eight Master Lessons of Nature is out as of October 22 - in the US with Dutton, and in Dutch translation with Ten Have. We just returned from the Netherlands for a rich round of interviews and for team Full Ecology to take the stage again - this...
The Ecology of Poetry
This is our friend, Janice Gould. She died with pancreatic cancer on June 28 of this year. She'd turned 70 on April 1. Too soon gone, and no less pure a blessing to the people and other beings who knew her. Janice lived Full Ecology. She walked the curve of this...
Balance
One of the things that seems especially characteristic of people is our capacity for self-reflection. It's a byproduct of being able to think. We can participate in our lives and observe ourselves and our circumstances at the same time. It's a super handy skill. When...
Is There a Place Where the World Stops and Mystery Begins?
We've been in the back country. Hiking to a few mountain tops. Resting in the valleys in between. Funny how time in the wilderness can fit in the category of vacation - meaning something like leave everyday life behind. Go for the escape.Take a break from the...
Benevolent Disinterest
There is a guiding principle from ancient Hinduism – neti neti – not this, not that. We’ve really grown fond of this ancient method of inquiry. Like Hindu sages have suggested for thousands of years, it can be a reliable prompt for freeing ourselves from traps of the...
Leaning on What We Know – Loving What we Don’t
What can you tell from a hydrangea in full bloom? Maybe something about beauty - something about reliability in the big middle of uncertainty. Maybe something about hanging in there - about stepping out of the way of your own magnificence. Since, there it is, whether...
Why Intensive Retreats?
If you're on our mailing list, you've been seeing initial word of two retreats we're pulling together. One in mid September in Yellowstone country - a weekend. And another a full week in Guanajuato, Mexico next February. But why retreats? And this...
Wilderness Rangers – Stewards of Our Public Lands
In 1905, management of U.S. forest reserves was transferred from the General Land Office of the Interior Department to the Bureau of Forestry, and thereafter named the United States Forest Service. Some of the most beautiful and precious of these lands are tended by...
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