Swan Sanctuary

I have not visited a children’s playground in years so I do not know if the merry-go-round is still standard equipment. I rather doubt it, since plastic, in vibrant primary colors, has replaced so much of the sturdier and more durable metal; and the safety issues have grown far out of proportion.

I remember distinctly; however, the playground at my elementary school when I was in the first and second grade. The merry-go-round was one of my favorite things. It was a large metal disc balanced on a ball bearing, which allowed it to move around in a circle. Its metal surface had slightly raised bumps to give you traction when standing or sitting on it. Handlebars of two or three feet high were evenly spaced around the outer edge. You could ride it alone or with several friends; but it required at least one person to begin the movement, by holding onto the bar and running alongside it until it got moving. He or she would then have to jump onto it and sit, or stand, holding on until it naturally slowed to a stop. The faster a person could run to get it going, the faster it would make its orbits around and around. You could sit, thrusting your legs through the handlebars as you hung on, or you could stand in the center, or stand holding onto the bars whenever it was going really fast; otherwise you might be catapulted right off.

The merry-go-round is resemblant of modern life. Those people who play the game in an effort to reach the top of the proverbial corporate ladder, jump onto a kind of merry-go-round. They run faster and faster as they try to keep up with the demands of their job. One day, perhaps the merry-go-round comes to a complete stop. Maybe they are fired, or they suddenly have a terminal illness, or they simply become overwhelmed by the dizzying pace that they have tried to maintain, and they make the conscious decision to step off. Maybe the merry-go-round slows down gradually because the person retires. Most people live their lives going around and around and around on the merry-go-round. They do not realize that they are not actually going anywhere. They have spent their lives running in circles. They never realized that they could slow down the merry-go-round, or if someone else was causing it to spin too fast, they could choose at any point in time to simply get off. Eventually, they learn that riding the merry-go-round alone is often the best way. They can slow it down or speed it up as they please, enjoy the ride, and dismount happily when it slows to a complete stop.

I have had to make a couple of lengthy road trips of late. While I miss my truck immensely, for its ability to carry all of my gardening necessities, I am grateful for the new car that gets much better gas mileage. My truck had grown too old and costly in repairs; and I did not feel safe driving it long distances.

I do not like to drive. I would, if I could, opt for a chauffeur and the comfort of being driven in a Rolls Royce. That is of course, as fantastical as wishing that I had been born into royalty. As I was making my way through the maze of highways yesterday, I was a mere dot in an endless stream of traffic. I was stuck by the thought that human beings are clearly insane. We drive in narrow lanes that are often strewn with potholes and uneven surfaces due to miles and miles of road construction. We drive at ridiculously high speeds. There are speed limit signs posted everywhere, but most drivers ignore them, driving as fast as their vehicle will allow. It is truly a wonder that there are not far more accidents than there are. These narrow lanes are shared by tanker trucks carrying double loads, by extra wide tractor trailers, and by tiny smart cars alike. Driving through Denver yesterday morning, the fumes from all the vehicles that I was forced to breathe, brought on my asthma. How, I wondered, are people able to breathe continually in the toxic environments that we have created?

It has been said that our bodies are vehicles for our souls. Our bodies allow us to maneuver through the physical world and to experience it. Our lives are not unlike the highways that we drive on. We merge onto one highway at birth where we share the road with our biological family. Throughout our lives, people will travel next to us for a while, just like the vehicles on the road; and then they will take an exit. We may, or may not, see them again on another road, at another time. When the time comes, we will take an exit – our final exit.

During the course of our life journey we are provided with one vehicle (our body) to carry us through. We must care for that vehicle because it is the only one we will get. We may have come into the world with an average body type or one that is very thin or very large. Our body may resemble a VW bug, a sleek Mercedes, a Mac truck, or anything in between. We often do not like our body vehicles. We abuse them and curse them; and we often abuse the vehicles that we drive as well. Our body vehicles will grow old, too. We may have to repair them from time to time. Too many people; however, mistakenly think that their body is who they are. They fail to appreciate the body they have been given, often wishing they had a different one. Whatever vehicle we have been given to use, to navigate our life, we must understand its temporal nature. We must value, honor, and respect not only the vehicles that we drive, but also the vehicles that we inhabit.

Predators prey on the weak (the young, the old, and the infirm.) This has been common knowledge since the human race came into existence. But, I am not going to talk about hunters who hunt for trophies. Humans prefer to think of themselves as civilized and domesticated. They do not like to think of themselves as predators. Human predators, at least in our modern world, are rarely driven by hunger. I want to talk instead, about the everyday predator that we encounter through the normal course of our lives. I want to talk about the oligarchs, the hideously wealthy, the greedy, the corporate directors, the bankers, and the landlords in management positions, who revel in executing their assumed power over others.

There are many kinds of predators in our human society. They are not always the rich and powerful. Sometimes they lie at the bottom of the “food chain.” They are actually prey who lash out in anger and who seek revenge – the less educated, the bitter, the rejected, the tormented, the victimized, and the mentally incompetent. They may lie, steal, pillage, rape (sexual predators) and commit whatever crime they falsely believe will improve their chance of happiness.

The prey are often plain, hardworking folk who either cannot, or do not want to imagine a better life for themselves. They live uninspired lives and accept their “lot in life.” Others simply give up, become homeless for the remainder of their pathetic lives, beg on the street, or sell drugs in a world where no one can be trusted.

The dominant predators, the one percent who own most of the world’s wealth, and therefore, most of the world, are never satisfied. They are driven by an insatiable hunger to have more, control more. They are intoxicated with their own power and what they do not take for themselves, they destroy. We are living in a time when the predators themselves are fighting each other. They are driven only by their desire to win. The prey are discarded like chafe from the wheat as the predators cull them, taking only the finest. The prey that remain retreat quietly into a world that does not acknowledge them. Some give up altogether; while others barely survive, either accepting their meager lives, or ending them through suicide.

A very small percentage of prey cling to hope. They dare to envision a better world. They surround themselves in protective light and remain centered in a pool of calm knowing, while other prey is picked off one by one. These few wield a power that is unseen. The predators pass them by, either because they do not see them, or because they are repelled by the light they emit. These prey live in a state of grace regardless of the murderous fighting going on around them. These few will never become victims for they carry their protection like a porcupine carries its quills. They carry love in their hearts. They carry peace in their souls. They are poison to the predators who would dare to eat them.

The month of May was designated by an environmentally conscious group of citizen scientists, in the United Kingdom, as No Mow May. This novel idea has spread, slowly, into the United States. There is much resistance to the idea by the uneducated public.

Allowing grass and weeds to grow helps to provide essential food (pollen and nectar) for many bee species and other insects as they emerge from hibernation. The practice of not mowing in May has helped to greatly increase the number of species and the diversity of bees and other insects. This in turn brings more songbirds, both resident and migratory, that rely on insects for raising their hatchlings. The taller grass also provides cover for snakes and rodents that provide food for the larger raptors. Bats, too, rely on insects and many of them help pollinate flowers later in the season.

Grasses are able to grow stronger, deeper root systems when they are allowed to grow. This allows the grass to better withstand drought later in the season when temperatures are soaring. A barrier strip can be mowed around your house if you wish, or you can mow paths where you generally walk; but leaving the grass and weeds unmowed for the month of May will help the entire ecosystem in your yard to get off to a good start for the summer season.

Many people live in subdivisions that have strict rules, which is unfortunate. The board of directors for HOA’s are generally totally ignorant about the harm they cause with regular applications of herbicides, insecticides, and the profuse use of chemically derived fertilizers. Thousands of butterflies and beneficial insects have disappeared from these “sterile” environments.

Most people do not want to hear what they do not want to hear. Their minds cannot be changed until they are ready to change. I have learned to keep quiet about my commitment to 100% organic, sustainable gardening. Saving, maintaining, and creating wildlife habitats is my passion. If I lead by example, perhaps a few will become curious and eventually change their ways. My concern is, will enough people awaken to the damage they have done, before it is too late?

The heart, we have learned, has its own brain. It is equipped with thousands of neurons and neurotransmitters that can feel, learn, and remember, just like the brain in our head. Due to its own electrical system, it can continue to beat after the brain and other organs have stopped. If we say that our heart is broken, we aren’t too far off because heartache and stress from grief can bring on a heart attack. When we are sad or depressed, the pain we feel is centered in our chest, near our heart. The connection between the heart and the brain allows for the negativity in the brain’s thought patterns to feed the pain felt in the heart, thereby increasing it.

A person who is unaware of her thought patterns and the power they wield, is caught in the trap of the thinking mind. Gloomy thoughts feed the emotions, which create still more melancholy, anger, and enmity. Many people spend their lives caught in such webs of negativity. A great philosopher, Ernest Holmes, said, ”Change your thinking and you change your life.” In essence, our lives are an outpicturing of the beliefs that reside within our heart “brains,” which is the center of our emotions.

Changing our thinking should be a relatively easy task. We only need to direct our thought processes from a calm place of love and acceptance. But, we get into trouble because our ego wants to be in control. Our ego is needed because it gives us our personal identity and our self-esteem; but like a toddler, it needs direction and boundaries. There are many ways to slow down our heart beat and to break free from the whirlwind of negativity. Meditation and yoga help to slow down both the heart rate and the incessant thinking mind. The most natural way; however, is to spend time in Nature. Unfortunately, the barrier that we have created between ourselves and the natural world has led to disease in the human psyche. The only way to heal the human spirit is to heal our planet. When we reconnect with Nature, we connect our broken hearts to their source. It is only in this way that our broken hearts can be healed. The pathways to compassion can then be opened and the means to heal our planet can be revealed.