Saturday, September 30, 2023
Some people take a tough stance. They push around their environment until it concedes. Nature never pushes. She humbles. Humans bulldoze their way into the landscape and push out the so-called pests and wildlife. We’re pests and wildlife too! But we’re bullies. Nature will let you conquer her, but there will only be destruction. You are nature. When you bully her, you only destroy yourself.
Take a moment to see how nature really works. She doesn’t seem to be doing anything, but rather she is being done. She seems to operate stealthily. You don’t notice her progress until you stop paying attention to the outcome. I have a lush backyard, and if I travel for several days, things really get out of hand. If I see it everyday, I hardly notice that she’s working so quickly, so quietly, so esoterically.
Pushing impedes, while humility allows. You’re decreasing by pushing. You’ll get better results if you lay back. There will be so much more quality to what you could do if you work slowly, yieldingly, and deeply. You’d be much more effective if you produced with ease, rather than hard-nosed your way through increased volume. When I write, I never make myself. If the words aren’t there, I do not write. I ride my bike, or go for a walk. Sometimes the words just trickle in, other times they come like an avalanche. But the rhythm is never persistent. Sometimes it’s harvest and sometimes it’s winter. This is nature – spontaneous or off-and-on; a trickle or a raging river, but rarely a fist-clenching, relentless bulldozer. OK, there are occasional hurricanes, but for the most part, those are not the constant, but the exception. Realize your nature. Realize you are nature. Climb down from your bulldozer, sit in your lawn chair, and enjoy a nice glass of lemonade while you “work.”