Nature does not hurry yet everything is accomplished. This was said by the Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu. Ever since I came across this quote a few years ago it has become somewhat of a mantra I tell myself. As humans, we believe that through pressure and hurry we achieve the most. I mean, hello Hustle Culture. But what if we paused for a moment and tapped into what we can learn from nature?
The Beauty of Nature
Let’s put the depressing climate crisis to the side and think of it this way. Without any human or technological interference nature, accomplishes what it sets out to like clockwork. Flowers bloom during Spring in the western hemisphere just in time for the bees to start their work. Blackberries begin their parade in August. The leaves turn golden during late summer and early autumn along when pumpkins begin their fruition. And just before the the first frost hits, the trees shake off said leaves bearing witness to a completed cycle. Even the ocean ebbs and flows following the moon.
Nature is intentional, methodical and eloquent in its practice. There is no competition or comparison. All the flora that make up the plant kingdom live according to each of their internal system. Yet, at the end of the day, all co-exist in symbiosis. You don’t see tulips or roses competing for who blooms the quickest. Each march at their own pace.
Human Nature
We humans also have an internal clock, various actually. Speaking for the Western hemisphere, we witness four seasons per calendar year and with each season comes its own pace. And for us menstruating women, we experience four seasons every single month!
Have you ever noticed how during the colder months you have less energy than in the warmer months? Some run to the doctor or other medical professional seeking a diagnosis, when in reality there is none. Because you are perfectly fine. This is simply the intention of Mother Nature to have us slow down in unison with the organic world. The one in which we and every other living organism originated from. There is a reason why bears, for example, hibernate during winter – they are preserving their energy for the warmer months when nature comes back into bloom. At the most fundamental level, this is intuitive living and if each of us tapped more into that lifestyle, it would offer great benefits.
The Natural Order
We can’t expect to have the same energy level in the fall or winter as in the spring or summer. It’s not in our nature to perform and function at one constant level throughout the year. We evolved to live in unison with the seasons and to reap from nature what it provided during a particular time of the year. Like the flowers blooming in time for the bees, each carries out their purpose in a harmonious thought-out plan. If you have ever spent time gardening you will understand how astonishing nature is. And the most brilliant part – nature does not hurry yet everything is accomplished. It has mastered the dance between rest and productivity. Something we humans are still students of.
Unfortunately, through the rise of capitalism, we have gone too far in manipulating the methodical work of Mother Nature. The fact that we can buy strawberries in December is reason enough to become skeptical of humans’ interference with the plant world. By forcing what is not natural to plants, humans included, we risk cutting ourselves off further from a well-balanced life of intuitive living.
I conclude by emphasizing – take note of Nature! Lean into intuitive living by harmonizing the balance in your life between rest and productivity. Listen to your body. Listen to nature. And get excited for the flowers to bloom in Spring!!
P.S. This analogue photo is of my friend Sophie in southern France.
