The rhythms and systems in nature have existed long before my DNA was being engineered by the cogs of the great pull and push of entropy and order. The tides and moon have danced long before my ancestors had physical forms. The crush of tectonics hummed under the toes of creatures that mammals had only just barely evolved from. All of this gives me an overwhelming sense of peace in a world gone bananas.
When I read current events of my time or dwell on the recent traumas in the communities of my loved ones, the recognition of my small footprint in the larger web gives me the same peace that I find from anonymity. This specific moment may be fierce and intense, but the crush of stars in space is incomprehensibly monumental. My troubles are tiny in that scale. They seem less risky or weighted by failure. My boss’ opinions of my punctuation choices, my neighbor’s judgement over my vehicle, the state of global affairs all mean nothing to the stars, volcanos, or the complexity of the food web.
Back in Week 3, I tried to give a basic image of the “how” behind how I imbue my life with seasonal living. Today, I’d like to touch on the “why.”
In order to create a system that works for me, I’ve rooted my spirituality in nature, natural systems, neuroscience, art, expression, and psychology (just to mention a few realms I’ve pulled from). Every person has different spiritual needs and I require a spirituality that is grounded in science-based logic, so I turned to nature and natural systems for inspiration. Not all humans require this connection. That is what makes spirituality so personal and so beautiful.
Human beings have long woven their critical thinking skills and their spirituality together in order to explain their worldview; I am not the first. My spirituality is the result of my very personal assessment of the universe taking the form of a values system and lifepath:
- The tool that I use to assess my universe is rooted in critically assessing the environment around me.
- The sub-tools that I use for that assessment involve an evidence-evaluating process that my fellow human beings call “science” and an sensory-based perception that my fellow human beings call “intuition”.
When humans have a vision of themselves within a larger scope of time and space, they’re empowered to flourish by the awe they feel as a result. They recognize their unique, key place in the connective web of it all. Sometimes that results in us being able to achieve extraordinary results in our personal lives and in our communities. In an acute application, some might even call these results “miracles,” if they’re so inclined. But other terms include manifestations, goals, dreams, wishes, visions, legacies, etc.
My belief system and my logic “system” are not at odds with each other. Instead they compliment one another. My spiritual intuition compliments my sciencey-logic; my logic compliments my intuition. Neither of these things can exist without the other. Not for me.
What this means in practical, daily application is:
… having natural rhythms inspire my own habits and movements helps me maintain and remember the larger scope and where I fall within it.
Remembering seasonal ebbs and flows allows me to feel grounded and I reap the rewards of feeling secure and safe. It lowers my anxiety about the world.
Resources
https://naturalisticpaganism.org
