It’s easy to think that we, modern humans, invented expansion in all directions, exploiting all available resources and increasing complexity in absurdum. We didn’t. These three forces gave birth to the Universe, drive evolution, and are part of all cultures. And without these forces, no galaxy, no life, no internet. These forces are fundamental. And problematic.
The Same Forces are Moving through Everything
During my years with the Wider Embraces, I realised that the same forces are at work in the physical, biological and cultural spheres. For me, it has been both liberating and scary to explore and sense them everywhere. Scary because they are powerful and have destructive potential. Liberating because when I stop rejecting them or projecting them onto others and instead own them, there is forgiveness and a deep sense of belonging.
We are Danced by these Forces
The force of Expansion: Our Universe started as a tiny dot, and now it’s billions of galaxies with hundreds of millions of stars each. Life on Earth began with a single cell that has been dividing trillions of trillions of times, filling every possible niche on the planet.
The force of exploiting all available resources: Stars burning all their fuel and the black holes sucking in everything around them. Trees spread their branches to collect as much sunshine as possible. Slugs are eating all the salad.
The movement towards increasing complexity: From particle soup to atoms, to molecules. From cosmic dust to galaxies. From single cells to trees and whales and whole interconnected ecosystems.
The same forces dance in our human culture.
We are not cut off
We look to nature and indigenous tribes, and perceive systems that are in harmony. We then blame ourselves for being bad, assuming that something went wrong when we entered modernity, that we invented expansion, exploitation, and complexity. That we are cut off, separated from our roots and the rest of the planet. We are not. We can’t be. It’s impossible. We are an expression of everything we belong to.
The idea that the forces moving through us are separate from Life, Earth, and the Universe is complete hubris.
When we dare to sense into these forces, we can also see the counter-forces more clearly. We see how emergent levels limit expansion and exploitation on the level below.
Forgiveness and Healing instead of Guilt and Shame
We dominate the planet because we care for one another, share our knowledge, and cooperate in large groups. In other words, we excel at exploiting resources, expanding in all directions, and increasing complexity. Instead of crumbling under shame and guilt, we must dare to sense into the underlying forces and realise how deep they go. It’s scary and overwhelming, and it’s liberating and healing. And, instead of letting them steer us straight forward into a collapse, we can feel and acknowledge them. We can dance with them and their counter-forces in service of life on Earth for the next billion years, until the sun gets too hot.