Page 128 - ECOlogic Book

we’re related to, of who we truly are.” 148 When we’re embroiled in personal
difficulties, we forget this. John Seed and Ruth Rosenhek remind us that
“alignment with our larger identity clarifies, dignifies and heals our personal
conflicts.” 149

What if this longing for community we all experience is encoded in our
psyche? What if we already have within us everything we need to
experience this larger community? What if, as Jim Swan says, we house an
“inner zoo,” with all species already forming a community within our psyche?
“I look into the mirror and am startled. I see squirrel ears, cat whiskers, a
pig’s snout, one side fur, the other side scales, webbed feet, turtle hands,
and I think to myself, ’Oh my god, I’m changing.’” 150 We share the same
DNA. We are reminded of Biologist E.O. Wilson’s conviction that we have an
“innate emotional affiliation to other species he calls biofilia, meaning that
our association with insects and other species plays a role in our
psychological health.” 151

Certainly what we are learning about ecosystems applies to us as well as
other species. We too, are “tangled and interwoven, dancing together in
rhythms, cadences, and profusion.” 152 We, too, are afforded a niche by the
“artful ways of other organisms; each of us seeking its own living, blindly
creating the modes of living for others.” 153 We use each other to transform
each other and ourselves.

The Cosmos
And now we know we are linked not just with other species, but with
supposedly “inert” matter as well. Following a clay workshop with Paulus
Berensohn, I wrote this in my journal: “I see stones differently now; I know
their sentience, their knowing. They are not cold, hard. They are breathing,

148 Seed, John & R0senhek, Ruth, “Roots, Elders, and Interbeing: Harvesting the Gifts of our Ancestors,” Fall,
1997 Earthlight Magazine.

149 IBID.

150 Op. Cit., Arien

151 Lauck, Joanne Hobs, “Redrawing the Circle: a New Look at the Insect-Human Connection,” Fall, 1997,
Earthlight Magazine.
152 IBID.

153 Kauffman, Stuart, At Home in the Universe: The Search for the laws of Self-organization and Complexity,
(Oxford University Press, New York, NY, 1995, P. 303).

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