Biomimicry
Click on the image above to play the video (flip your phone to widescreen if you want image to be bigger)
Biomimicry
I hope you all had a good week and that you reflected a bit on zero-sum thinking. Judging from the response to that post, it seems like we all have some work to do. Most of you agree that it's a rather limiting way of looking at what's in front of us. We can do better than that!
As I have indicated before, we live in transitory times. We are shrouded by change. More so than we as humans are capable of digesting. But darkness is always the most intense the second before things turn. This is true for most cycles. But in the midst of transitions, we are unable to see what we can't see and articulate what we don't have words for. Blaming others for our own fears and shortcomings is adding fuel to an already daunting fire and many days feels quite discomforting.
This week, I was reminded to turn to nature as the best place to seek inspiration around evolution. Biomimicry is what we often call the study of natural systems, using nature-inspired strategies to improve solutions for just about anything. There are so many examples that we often don't realize that came from our natural environment. Burrs inspired Velcro, for example. Beavers’ insulation influenced new wetsuits designs. Nature has provided us with endless solutions in pharmaceuticals, art, textiles, design, and architecture. Natural selection and exposure to relentless elements (time, wind, temperature, etc.) help us discover qualities, features, and forms that we can either synthetically replicate or simply mimic.
Chip Conley describes the U-curve of life and how we can think about our low points as chrysalis rather than crises, which is what triggered my biomimicry reflection this week. So, thank you, Chip.
We all go through low points in life. Sometimes several. But we all recognize that we are stronger because of them. Don't we? No pain, no gain, as we say.
It's true. Trees that grow in fierce winds have deeper roots. And muscles under tension also grow stronger. The butterfly is such a vivid and beautiful manifestation of the process of transition. They start as caterpillars—very different creatures. Then, they go through a process of transformation within the chrysalis, (which, from an outside perspective, seems to be the most challenging moment in their lifecycle), only to come out as a beautiful butterfly. Something like that.
Tomorrow is Christopher Columbus Day (or, Indigenous Peoples’ Day) in the United States. For some of you, it is perhaps not your favorite holiday to celebrate. But I find something instructive from that moment in history. He set into action something with his “discovery” that transformed the world and brought us to the moment in time we find ourselves in now. And I always remind people who are confused about innovation or transitions that it is important to recall that Christopher Columbus did not set out to discover America. He set out on a very different journey and he "accidentally" discovered this "New World".
It's an undeniable aspect of our human journey that pain, accidents, and difficulties often create the friction that sparks a new start, a new way of seeing ourselves, and thereby unlocking the possibilities that were there all along. We do often need “wake-up” calls that help us see the world anew.
Nature is majestic and can inspire our deepest humanity. It can also help us find solutions to our most pressing problems. Connecting with nature certainly helps put our own lives in context. It helps make us feel smaller which in a wonderfully paradoxical way makes us feel bigger.
If you want to read Chip's post mentioned above, you can do so here or watch the short video below.
Chip Conley's short video, “Midlife Is A Chrysalis”
So, on this (hopefully) beautiful Sunday, let's walk out and breathe in the wonder of nature. It's free from judgment. It doesn't hold political views. It will be there long after we are gone. There are so many qualities to learn from nature. And it's available to us all.
Have a great week!
