I recently gave a virtual talk for a wonderful organization called: Creative Mornings-Buffalo Chapter, where I was asked to share some of my story and thoughts about Creativity and Nature.
You know, at first glance, I thought: "How the heck am I going to weave these two seemingly disparate ideas together??" I'd walk my land, work in the gardens, care for the animals all the while thinking about my story, Nature, Creativity, this unusual time that we are in and how it all interconnects.
I was not always a farmer, and in fact, it was never even a dream of mine to be one. I didn't really grow much of anything before coming to Crown Hill. I grew up, literally, with a golf course as my backyard. My family didn't go camping or hiking. And even my summer camp was an experience filled with the creature comforts of home. I spent much of my young adult life with a career in Technical Theatre which put me in cities, indoors, in dark rooms before sunrise until after sunset. So, needless to say, my relationship to nature has really evolved over the years, especially these last few years building a relationship to the farm and this land.
One of the biggest things I've come to understand is that we ARE nature. It is not something outside of us or around us. It IS us. I know, this is a bit of a difficult concept to wrap your head around when we live in a society today that is so radically disconnected from our roots as a part of the natural world. We live in manufactured houses, move around in manufactured cars and eat food very often made in factories. No wonder we've forgotten that we are nature itself!
This is made clear by the increasing studies we see about the microbiomes or ecosystems that live and thrive right within our own bodies. Not only that, but its been shown that the diversity and functionality of those internal ecosystems is a direct reflection of the ecosystems within which we live and from where our food comes. What is without is within and vice versa. Truly, a fine example of how we are of nature rather than outside of it.
As I walked my land and thought about Nature and Creativity what I came to realize is that Nature IS inherently creative! It is a part of the natural order to create and thus each of us, too, is inherently a creative being. Nature's will is to grow and create new life. Each seed contains the blueprint for the life it is about to become. Each seed contains the already created information for that plant's inherent nature. Same with us humans, and all animals. Nature creates our DNA and our DNA carries the information of our true nature and design.
Not only that, but as nature is faced with challenges, she will still find a way to create. For example, think about the single tiny plant pushing through a crack in the cement. As nature is faced with a concrete world, she creates a way to push through and thrive. And, because we are a part of Nature, we have that ability as well. When faced with challenges or obstacles, we each have the ability to create. In fact, we have the natural drive to get creative and find ways to thrive. It is our imperative to create and be creative.
This reminds me of cooking for a potluck. Have you ever had the challenge of making a meal or dish for a potluck and feeling intimidated by the vast array of food allergies or preferences of the guests? You end up bringing some cut up fruit or a salad because that is all you can think of that meets everyone's requirements. I have always found those limitations or challenges to be the key that unlocks my further creativity! When faced with specific criteria, it can actually PUSH your creativity to a whole new level of innovation. This has been the source of my culinary skill: due to dietary limitations I got creative with how to still prepare delicious, beautiful food that nourishes both body and spirit. In what ways do the limitations you are faced with in your work, your life, your passions, push you to innovate and create further?
This is Nature.
Part of Nature's creative nature is that it is an ecosystem-- it is a community. Ecosystems are not about individual beings but about the interconnectedness of all the parts of the whole. This sense of collaboration is actually one of the things I loved most about working in Theatre. Of all the arts, theatre is one of the most collaborative forms. What an audience beholds as the final creation is not just the actors, or the director, or designers' visions. It is a creation where all the contributors are dependant upon one another as well as informed by each other.
In nature, this interconnectedness is seen when something within the ecosystem changes. A tree falls, the water is redirected, a new plant appears. All these things have a HUGE impact on everything else within the environment. One thing changes and the effects ripple all the way down to the microscopic level of bacteria and funghi and microbes whose adjustments often ripple back up the chain again.
When we can foster and grow diverse communities -- be it within our business, our family, our gardens, and friends -- we are creating an ideal environment for innovation. Not only that, it is IN our nature to be a part of a whole, a contributing member to society. Knowing that we ARE nature is a reminder of the interconnectedness within which we live and the impact our actions may have. This invites a new awareness to walk with discernment in the choices we make, knowing the impact that choice has ripples up and down within our own ecosystems and communities.
When I talk about the impact of your choices, this goes through everything from the big decisions to the tiniest: in your business, with your family, the food that you eat, the clothing you wear, your home, vehicle, health, community, etc. This is your gift-- to be aware to your unique role within the ecosystems of your life and then be awake to the impact your choices may make in action you choose.
Permaculture is a philosophy and practice of gardening that is intended to work with and within nature. It applies nature's inherent principles to planned gardening, usually with a deep understanding of the interconnectedness of all life within and between ecosystems. I'm by no means an expert on permaculture, but one principle I've loved since I first learned it is that of the "Edge Effect".
Edge Effect is rooted in the observation that at the joining of two ecosystems, like water to land, there is a new community created with an increase in diversity, energy, and productivity. Essentially, at the edges is where creation thrives. In gardening, this can be fostered by creating edge patterns that emulate the edge patterns found in nature - usually in a squiggly form. These edges happen at the macro level, like where the ocean meets the land and creates swirling, curving tidepools. It's also seen at a smaller level, like in the twists and turns of our intestines which is where food is broken down and the gut ecosystems thrive to help us with that. The edges are also the place of transference -- the passing of information and resources from one ecosystem to another.
We live in a series of edges. For me, I look at the wide array of careers and experiences I've had: television & theatre production, construction, art, dance, judaic leadership, massage therapy, business, spirituality and worldwide travels. To me farming is energizing and creative. It is the place where the edges between parts of myself get to meet and create a new vision.
What wants to grow where the edges of parts of yourself meet within you?
Knowing that you ARE nature. That it is in your DNA to create. Knowing that how you choose grow, build, invent, attract, and move through life is connected to and impacts your communities, both within and around you. I want to point out that we sit at a pivotal moment. The world has "frozen" or paused long enough for us each to look up from what we had been doing to ask ourselves this:
From this moment forward, how do you choose to move through life with a different awareness to your own innate nature and that of all that you impact?