I love this photo. The way the sunlight catches the breaking edge of the waves turning the foam several shades of white, cream and gold delights me. It draws your eye right there – to the leading edge.
I don’t think of the world in terms of separate objects any more. Instead I see flows, intersections, meetings and connections. I see relationships and experiences. I see becoming, not being.
All that exists is impermanent. It’s not just that we humans are mortal, it’s that the whole of Nature is in a constant process of cycles of birth, growth, maturity and death. Transience makes every moment special.
Shifting my gaze from apparently separate objects to change and interaction enables me to see the contexts in which all exists. It focuses me on inter-dependence, on connections and collaborations.
I was thinking of this as I watched David Attenborough’s superb A Life on our Planet on Netflix. Have you seen it? I highly, highly recommend. One of the best things he’s ever done. I found it moving, thought provoking and optimistic. If you don’t have Netflix you can listen to the audiobook version on Audible, or, you can read the book.
Perhaps his key point is the importance of biodiversity which our current societies and economies are in the process of destroying. Because all of Nature is interconnected and interdependent we need biodiversity for the health of the entire planet. In fact we humans won’t survive without it.
It’s that combination of diversity and connections which is, I think, the key, and I reckon he is right when he tells us that the solutions are all there right in front of us. If we want to discover how to thrive, not just survive, then we should learn from Nature, and a great place to start on the path to sustainability is to support and develop both diversity and integration – by which I mean « the creation of mutually beneficial bonds »
When we do that we’ll be living on the golden edge.
Heroes Not Zombies 
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