Cradled by Mother nature

Part of this months (march 2024) Lainchan Web Festival on the topic of nature.

This article is inspired and best accompanied by webcage’s no plan:

🤷 No plan

First of all, let’s just admit that we have no idea what we’re all doing. We are like a massive group of children left without supervision with the globe as our playground. No one really knows what direction to travel or the limits (if there are any) to what is possible. Anyone who says otherwise is swindling themselves or trying to swindle you. You are either exploring blindly, striving towards some made up goal, or stuck doing things you don’t even like for whatever reason.

Compared to the vastness of nature we are tiny and insignificant. We are plunged into a strange universe, one whose laws we can’t figure out even over several human generations. Yet, we are a part of our world. The interplay between our minds and reality seem incredibly fine. What happens in one is reflected in the other. Keeping a limited worldview means living in a limited world. But most of us are far far away from ever lifting these restrictive goggles. Our world is enclosed tightly around our beings, almost like a cradle of nature. But it is not it that is limiting us, rather the other way around. How can we relate to living in a world we experience as through thick fog?

🗺️ The plan

Working toward some goals inside of our world seem pretty noble, even rational when examining certain parts of it. Like ending world hunger and wars, stopping global warming or getting everyone above a basic income. (I should really educate myself more on these topics.) For some it might be the most fulfilling path to take, but these goals can also be guilt traps or lead to a never ending struggle against the darkest side of nature. A side we might never be able to eradicate entirely.

Even if we do all the above, then overthrow the governments and mega-corps and form strong supporting grass roots community bonds over the whole world, to live ecologically and use our resources and energy wisely, what would we do (after taking care of the daily maintenance) the next day, week or year?

Personally, I mostly fumble my way through the path of life, in between different hobbies, expectations, interests and a sprinkle of social constellations. Sometimes I have thought about creating a long term plan, because that is what I think smart people do. A while ago I landed in a very vague idea about getting a computer science degree and eventually working some job in the field, all while simultaneously developing my personal projects to a point where they can somewhat support me financially. But it is a very shallow plan about keeping an income while getting time to do what I really want. So what is that then??

🕴️ Pushing the limits of nature

There are clearly not a shortage of great projects to undertake. And the world could really benefit from some great initiatives. Whatever your leaning into, let’s do it! There are so many enticing projects and we probably can’t even nearly conceive of the greatest possibilities out there. The very best projects tend to revolve around some hidden aspect that no one had though of before, to then seemingly spring out of nowhere.

Think about what’s happening at the moment just before a new idea is discovered. Often someone with sufficient expertise is puzzled about something. Which means that originality consists partly of puzzlement — of confusion! You have to be comfortable enough with the world being full of puzzles that you’re willing to see them, but not so comfortable that you don’t want to solve them.

— Paul Graham

Who knows what lies under our noses or how far we can go? It is delightfully thrilling but also overwhelming.

Here and now however, we are products of our time and environment, limited by our preconceptions and perspectives. The hyperreality of the internet certainly does not make coming to terms with our limitations easier, and trying too hard to bring about overly far-out stuff may also be way undesirable in actuality (See the risks of magic, or simply going crazy).

”Careful what you ask for, you just might get it.”

— Billy Woods & Kenny Segal - Houthi (The song I was currently listening to.)

👯 The friends along the way

Some wise old people may argue that walking towards love and forming meaningful bonds with others are the most important things one can do. This is a hard task but the statement is probably true. However, I find it difficult combining this one with my other interests and personal explorations. (This site is likely my attempt to do this.) What’s truly important is not always the most exciting until some real insight is gained. At least for my part, I need to see all the steps to a truth before accepting it, so better keep this one in the back pocket for a little while.

👣 the way along the way

Maybe not what we do but just the way in which we do things that matter, and the rest will just fit into place nicely. When not caught up in a makeshift plan it’s just a matter of sitting tightly and wait to seize the opportunity as it presents itself. “Sitting tightly” not in the sense of doing nothing, but rather being present in your current situation. Do the little deeds and your own thing. Spend time with your close ones. The act of planning can be left to the universe. It only takes courage and commitment:

“Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature will respond to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles. Dream the impossible dream and the world will not grind you under, it will lift you up. This is the trick. This is what all these teachers and philosophers who really counted, who really touched the alchemical gold, this is what they understood. This is the shamanic dance in the waterfall. This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering it’s a feather bed.”

— Terence McKenna

I guess I am still in search of formulating my own impossible dream, and garnering strength for the commitment. I would love to have a clear direction in my life but am a hopeless dreamer. Most of what I would want to strive for is elusive and only a sweeping glimpse even to me.

🌬️ Embracing the spirit

I love the saying ”dig where you stand”. We can dream big and strange but all that happens happens from here. You can’t skip any step of the way. To live in the spirit of the dream, with Terence’s commitment, even if it is unclear, might just reveal all the right steps just as they’re happening.

That might be what it means to live in accordance with nature. To watch it unfold as you do. To never give up but also not try too much haha😉. Sounds like a fine balance, but it’s really only to live truthfully to oneself! Do the dancy dance with nature and see it’s not limiting but doing the moves with you.