Everything in nature—from rocks, plants, animals, sounds, emotions, ecosystems, gravity, and solar systems—follows universal organizing principles. The principles of diversity, cycles, interdependence, adaptation, regeneration, geometry, and oneness are some examples (see living systems theory, liology, biomimicry, et al).

In other words, humans are nature, as are our senses, emotions, and psyches. Imagine what a psyche raised by nature knows! However, most people today suffer from severed belonging, cut off from our larger selves, our wholeness, nature. This is not accidental. Over millennia, patriarchy and colonization have systematically severed people and cultures from our nature-based heritage. Healing the intergenerational trauma will take generations more as we co-create a nature-based society that is multicultural, equitable, compassionate, intentional, interconnected, and joyful.

The questions of what consciousness is, what or who possesses it, and when it first arose are as old as, well, perhaps consciousness! We don’t know the answers to these questions, but understand that the ability to self-organize requires a self, which is what we’re talking about when we say, ‘anima’.

The right to be treated humanely and equitably is nature’s birthright. This requires the decolonization of minds and systems in order to shift ‘power over’ hierarchies to ‘power with’ communities. We honor all anima as self-directed, entitled to their own purpose and to unconditional belonging to the larger natural world.

Each aspect of nature has co-evolved in relationship with others around it. This has created an exquisitely tuned system that cannot be altered without cascading consequences to nature as a whole.

Humans, like other animals, create tools to meet various needs. As such, technologies are extensions of nature.

Technologies aren’t truly self-organizing (yet), and are often made for goals or in ways that run contrary to the principles of nature. These are unnatural by definition, and cause great suffering.

Modern technology promises dazzling possibilities for our collective evolution. But its belonging in the world is a privilege, earned by being humane. Humane technology works in harmony with and in service to nature. It refuses extractive practices such as unsustainable mining or labor practices (of humans and animals). Humane technology enables us to connect with, understand, and support the natural world (including ourselves).

To experience reciprocity and the abundance it provides, we must work to understand each other’s languages, so that we may freely give and receive the nourishment each of us needs. By knowing abundance, we can wake up from the myth of scarcity and relinquish the fear that keeps us separate and unwell.

Many people today identify as cultural nomads, feeling empty of place-based practices that create deep connections with nature. Nature connection practices need to be created anew, resurrected from history, or learned from others. Naturally, people will be seeking wisdom and inspiration across time and cultures. However, the wisdom-holders of these practices today have suffered intergenerational trauma from the brutality of colonization, which largely aims to sever people from nature in the first place. Creating a modern nature requires that we only adopt practices that have been gifted to us through kinship or goodwill, that we look to our own ancestors for lost wisdom, and that we develop unique practices in council with the land.

Transformation stirs up feelings of fear, anxiety, and sometimes the strong desire to hold on to what’s considered ‘normal’ or ‘safe’. Some people retreat to old ways, which by default run contrary to a nature-based life. It’s important to resist the urge to regress to unsustainable practices, and instead progress toward life-affirming possibilities by seeking the support of our community—which is as large as the universe itself.