How Often Do You Listen to Nature’s Flow?

Some food for thought on the role of cultural wisdom to find oneness with nature, along with some photographs that I shot during sunset on an expired Fuji color film with a Leica R4.

Thanks to a project I am working on, I connected with very inspiring personalities that shared their wisdom with me, and taught me so much about the power of storytelling. In particular, I am deeply inspired by the fantastic initiatives they curated to protect cultural wisdom of indigenous communities.

You may wonder, how does it all relate to this photograph though? As I watched this photo of a sky taken last winter from the window of my home, I suddenly asked myself: how often do I actually observe nature and listen to her signs, and in how far does her flow guide my choices?

Our ancestors lived by the flow of nature and were experts in understanding her signs. It taught them when to plant seeds, when to harvest crops, when to navigate the seas, and so much more I am not aware of. They fully aligned with her and lived life by her flow. They read the alignment of stars, the skies, and the ocean as way finders and guides of human existence and survival.

Whereas we, you and I, have lost so much of this connection, or maybe we cannot even call it lost, because it may have never been with us in the first place. We check Buienradar - we might even refer to it as life savior - to find out about the weather. We rely on data driven technologies to understand our environment and to make plans for the future.

But what if we actually put effort in returning to our roots, in better sensing the subtle signs of our universe? What if we went to our grandparents and listened to their vast knowledge, and the knowledge they received from their ancestors? ...wouldn’t this help us better understanding one another and practicing more empathy towards each other?

So maybe, instead of disgracing “the old”, it was worth inviting traditional wisdom onto the grounds of modernity. To learn together. To create together. To find solutions, together.

So, how often do you listen to nature’s flow?

Thanks for being present with me on this Wednesday afternoon ramble. May these words lit a tiny spark of inspiration and appreciation within you, too!