“What you resist persists” Carl Jung
This morning I was thinking about this quote. The trail led to man versus nature and nature versus nurture and then back to the creative process.
Stay with me, this will be a circuitous journey…
I just moved to North Carolina from Reno.
Brilliant start.
North Carolina has introduced me to many a creature I would have rather died before meeting.
Resistance is Futile: Ignorance Can Be Fatal die within hours, leaving a trail of shriveled dead carcasses strewn across your basement.
And so let the battle begin… man versus nature.
Through the history of humankind we have sucked at abating nature.
My favorite story is Hawaii. Explorers introduced rats to the previously pristine environment then snakes to take care of the rats, then mongoose to take care of the snakes, and so on… you get the picture… How did THAT turn out?
There are scientists who contend that biological control is a very precise field of study and a great approach to controlling nature.
Perhaps when done by scientists in a very regulated studied fashion it has a CHANCE of working but given the disasters of history I am not so sure.
Regardless man versus nature has always leaned toward abatement as opposed to conservation or nurture. And so we are left with millions (if not BILLIONS) of non-human lifeforms which we deem as pests and disappearing numbers of species that help not only humans but the planet as a whole. Can you say “where have all of the honey bees gone?”
We continue to attack what we don’t like and assume that if we leave what we love alone it will take care of itself.
Bullshit!
Whenever we try to destroy something (abate it as it were) we fuck it up and end up with either more of the problem we are trying to solve or worse yet less of something beneficial to us all.
The Nature versus Nurture debate ALWAYS bugged me (no pun intended, well maybe it was) because to me it has always been a balance of the two. Sometimes 50/50 often more nurture to help nature… If you are a fan of horror movies especially the man vs nature variety you will see a fun representation (to horror fans anyway of which I am one) of what can go wrong. The trouble is that we see horror movies playing out on earth everyday. We just fail to see it and even if we do we fail to act (nurture). Elephants, polar bears, tigers, leopards, sea turtles, rhinos, whales, and on and on goes the endangered species list.
We, as humans, are irresponsible consumers and horrible creators in general. We take far more than we give, kill far more than we create or breed, and are generally horrible caretakers of earth.
But I digress…
Back to the carpenter bees and centipedes that started this entire diatribe. What we resist persists. It is through accepting nature and its citizens (of which we are one) that we can learn to live with understanding and nurture our “friends” and manage our “enemies”.
And so my battle with the “bees” and the “worms” as I call them in shorthand has deepened my understanding of how to live as a responsible citizen as one with their nature and mine without hurting the parts of nature which create beauty, oxygen, food, pollenation, etc.
Some of my favorite viewing and reading material are Fatal Attractions, The Darwin Awards, When Animals Attack, World’s Dumbest Humans, and so on. Every single one of these series, websites, podcasts, etc. have one common theme. A single or group of human(s) moving blindly forward with limited understanding or respect for the laws of nature or the universe (from chimpanzees to gravity).
If we take the time to understand the sensitivities of say the honey bee we can work in partnership to help them flourish over more invasive and destructive species. If we understand that no matter how cute and smart a chimpanzee is, it is a wild animal and can at any time throw feces at you, bite your face off, OR pull off your groin.
Just because you don’t believe or understand gravity does not mean if you step off the roof of a 20 story building you are probably going to splat on the pavement below.
Understanding, acceptance, and applied knowledge are three ingredients to success in any activity. Creative expression is simply one of many.
If we understand how our brain works (limbic system, reticular activating system, frontal cortex, amygdala, etc.) we can work through our actions with less stress and anxiety.
We are part of nature. In understanding nature (ourselves) we can manage our lives without fatalities (physically, emotionally, mentally). Granted we all have limited time on earth but if we manage it through understanding we can make it an instance of thriving over just surviving.
I don’t want my life to go the path of the honey bee. I still hold out hope that we can remedy that situation as they are among my favorite species (along with the whales, elephants, penguins, turtles, and pandas).
And so: What is the point of this article?
Left turn on the rabbit trail.
I believe that we often unintentionally resist the natural flow of things through lack of understanding and/or acceptance and the worst aspects of nature with respect to ourselves persists.
This can lead from a mundane to oppressive experience.
In the creative process, you start with an idea (natural result of using your brain). If we are successful we develop that idea, set a plan in place, and act to create the reality founded on the idea (nurture).
Part of bringing an idea and transforming it into reality is the goal of the reality. Depending on how long it takes you to get to this reality your neural network will peak and then need “time off” to reset. It is both the nature of both hemispheres of the brain working together and just like physical exercise, quite often the rest between the activity is as important as the activity itself.
So, have your ideas, work to bring them to reality, celebrate your successes (accept your failures), reflect on the experience (to instatiate your learning), and rest.
And just like the shampoo bottle says lather, rinse, and repeat.
Don’t resist the nature of the your brain or the creative process. Understand it, accept it, and MANAGE it!
Resistance is futile.
Acceptance is facile.
Creation is wortwhile.
