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I’ve learned to look to Nature for answers much of the time. That doesn’t mean I don’t read (books are my addiction), don’t seek others opinions, etc. It simply means that I’ve found Nature to provide the perspective for what I’ve read and often the practical application. The best way to explain this is to include a journal entry I wrote a long time ago, called Paths…

I’ve observed that living things in nature don’t often follow a straight path.

I notice how butterflies and moths flit about from flower to flower, trying one and then another, and often back to the first one, lighting then flighting then lighting again? I watch an ant, he seems almost confused, running several tiny steps in one direction than in another, back and forth, back and forth.

The grasshopper at my feet takes a long leap, sits awhile, then takes a couple more hops – two forward, one back, now one to the side and then on again – with measured time in between. And I notice a bird, floating from branch to branch, branch to feeder, feeder to feeder, now on the ground, back to the feeder, then back to the branch.

No, living things in nature don’t seem to follow a straight path. They don’t seem to be worried about finding the shortest and quickest way to their destination as I so often do. It causes me to wonder why I expect my life to follow a straight path, why I spend so much time trying to devise a plan that will get me to the end in the shortest, quickest way possible with the least disruptions.

Why is it we expect our lives to follow a straight line, a direct path? Or as in nature, are we possibly designed to experience more by going in one direction, then another, enjoying the trip even more than reaching the destination?

I observe again…

The butterfly, enjoying the sweetness in many different flowers, not limiting herself to just one. Delighting in her ability to flutter in the sun and masking in the full glory of her own beauty taking in the mounds of glorious colors and aromas and textures.

And that ant…he may be searching for food and have work to do. But he may also have found that the best nourishment, the most fulfilling work is under the fallen leaf, or around the next corner, or at the top of the next mound all which he may never experience if he limits himself to staying on the path.

And the grasshopper… as I observe more closely I see that she carefully selects the next spot to light. A spot where she can safely observe the scene, where for a moment or two she blends into the grass to check things out, ponder the next best leap, just breathe in calmly, and then joyfully springs forward enjoying the flight and the landing, not limiting herself to just one or the other.

The bird? Well, that bird is having more fun checking out the insects in the bark, experiencing both flight and foundation, making noises with and at his friends and foes, floating among the trees and the leaves, snacking in between his joyrides.

Ahh, not surprisingly, the straight path no longer appeals to me…

www.earthwonders.net