Category: Nature’s Intelligence

Seeing

Seeing

july23 (1)Last summer I spent nights sitting under a blanket of black sky twinkling with white stars. The sound of waves lapping on the sand and humid air hugging my skin brought me into the present where I experienced the wonder of nature. Sitting quietly awaiting the birth of sea turtle hatchlings, I was gently guided to recognize and harmonize with the magnificent natural world.

A few miles east, tourists wandered through souvenir shops looking for trinkets with which to remember their vacation. Perhaps few ever understood the biggest treasures could be found sitting on a quiet beach absorbing the peace and magic of the place. While the Gulf of Mexico and beaches affected them, maybe many left never seeing the beauty….the deep beauty…or feeling their connection to it, as part of it.

laughing gull
laughing gull

I wonder if that’s why humans can so easily ignore the plight of our planet. Collectively we see through eyes blinded with superficiality: Nice ocean, nice beach…oh, look a sea gull…wow there’s another tee shirt shop….let’s buy a $20 tee shirt to remember….nice flower….nice tree…too bad they are clearing them…gotta go to work…can’t save everything….oh that’s sad about the dolphins, let’s get a tee shirt with a dolphin on it….could I have extra plastic bags for shells….just put your cigarette butts in the sand they’ll dissolve….recycling takes too much effort….

There are probably many reasons humans ignore their connection to nature. I think we’ve specialized our roles in society and have forgotten that we are entirely connected and dependent on nature for our life.

simonelipscomb (1)Disconnect One: A farm half way across the planet grows food for us. A fisherman catches our dinner. We show up at the grocery store and connect to our food sources by perusing the air conditioned aisles. Most of us have no idea what it takes to grow enough food to sustain our own lives.

shelloil2Disconnect Two: Collectively we have bought into the mindset that more is better. We consume at alarming rates. We feed the corporate mindset that more profit is vital and so resources dwindle at any cost.

Disconnect Three: We are too busy. Our collective pace is out of sync with the timing of the seasons and movement of the Earth. This is strongly connected to the ‘more is better’ mindset. We sacrifice ourselves to feed the ‘profit at any cost’ motto.

This reminds me of The Matrix movies where humans are only used for the energy they produce for machines. They are put into a dream-world of their choosing and exist in their minds in this place while their bodies are used only for what they produce. Sound familiar?

At some point individuals break out of their bondage and begin to see life as it really is in The Matrix. It’s not easy and they struggle but the reward is awareness, consciousness…awakening.

em2Our fate is determined by our choices…every day choices…by what we choose to notice, to give our attention to as that is what will multiply and blossom in our lives.

The birds are singing. My garden is growing…slowly, ever so slowly. The river is flowing. I breathe in slowly…I exhale slowly. My bare feet feel the warm soil. The leaves of the trees softly rustle in the breeze. Nature embraces me as its own. This, to me, is peace. This is a small beginning in learning to see beyond….

simonelipscomb (4)

The Intelligence of Flowers

The Intelligence of Flowers

Color, shape, patterns...part of the attraction dance between flowers and pollinators.
Color, shape, patterns…part of the attraction dance between flowers and pollinators.

Colorful with geometries and patterns that dazzle us humans, imagine what flowers do to their pollinators. I totally understand how butterflies flutter away from flowers in drunken delight. Can you imagine living your life so intimately connected and totally dependent on your relationship with flowers?

Recently results from a study on these blooming wonders gave us even more to admire about them. They use an electrical field to attract bees. Not only do flowers use ultraviolet spectrum colors we cannot see, petal temperature, texture and shape to attract pollinators, they use electricity.

Come on baby....wow! You turn me on!!
Come on baby….wow! You turn me on!!

Daniel Robert and a team of researchers published their study which proved that flowers emit a slight negative charge that attracts bees, which carry a positive charge. Just seconds before a bee visits a flower, there is electrical activity in the plant resulting from the nearby bee. After the bee leaves, the energy field of the flower stays altered for 100 seconds or so and this serves as a warning for the next bee that the flower has recently been visited.

I believe in the intelligence of nature. Not a ‘thinking’ intelligence that results from a logical brain, but a natural, instinctual intelligence that bypasses a need to think about anything….an inner wisdom.

simone (4)The flower isn’t thinking….come on baby….check out this pollen…ooh let me make some more of that nectar and flash a deeper ultraviolet color. Feel my electricity baby!! None of that takes place. It’s just a dance between flowers and their pollinators. A beautiful, magical, mystical dance of attraction.

simone (5)Wouldn’t it be nice to simply be yourself and be accepted for your beauty. To dance your soul’s dance without holding back. To love and accept others as they love and accept you without judgement.

simone (3)
I wish I had the intelligence of flowers.