Nature Teaches
By Les Mottosky
Integrity is a trait revered, rewarded and necessary in productive human relations. It's who we are when fear isn't interrupting our state. We only step out of integrity when we're scared a potential consequence is greater than the outcome of withholding all of ourself.
To say integrity is abundant in Nature almost understates Her essence.
"A state of being whole and undivided" is one definition of integrity. In that sense this is a synonym for Nature. Nature is the ultimate expression of wholeness. No matter where you find yourself – a desert, mid-ocean, a jungle or a mountain range – nothing is out of place. Every grain of sand, drop of water, budding leaf or rock is part of the whole. Immaculately so.
If this is the way of the natural world, then why do humans so easily and consistently buck the norm? What is this fear that has us choose to not be completely ourselves in certain situations? Fear of what?
It's a fear of exclusion; our lizard brain is terrified of being cast out of the tribe. In other words: the reason we sometimes give only part of our wholeness, is fear of not being part of the whole.
This is why integrity is 'the everything of everything'.
That's not some poetic, philosophical trope designed to sound deep. It's a simplified explanation of integrity that attempts to describe a connection between the total alignment in Nature and the optimal human state of when what we say, think and do, all line-up.
And why both of those feel so healthy...so wholesome.
Integrity is 'the everything of everything’ not as totality, but as total alignment. Integrity is what the universe demands from – and for – us. It requires stability between what's before our eyes and what's behind them. When those don't strike a balance, we feel it.
That's why we're so at ease when our thoughts, words and actions flow. And why we feel turmoil when they don't. It's also why we feel relaxed when we're in Nature and endure the low-hum of dis-regulation when we aren't.
A recent Jay Alto idea that's taking the digital zeitgeist by storm summarizes the above connection with a modern elegance this writer can't:
“You pity the moth confusing a lamp for the moon, yet here you are confusing a screen for the world.”
The moth is in integrity; aligned with it's – albeit flawed – instinct. While us sweet, innocent (and also flawed) humans know better, and we still drift into dis-integration.
Our human ways may be flawed, but when we step outside, we step onto a billion year old compass that can point us back to our own true north – and the benefits of doing so. In fact, Nature will point us there.
If we notice...everything.
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Les Mottosky
Adaptation Strategist // I help organizations turn creativity into their competitive advantage by aligning leadership, culture and strategy to unlock adaptive innovations.
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