Agents of Habitat: Lesson 2

Place Yourself In The Universe

To be an effective agent for your habitat you need to know your place within the flows.

You are a vortex in the flow of air around the planet.

You are a whirlpool in the flow of water from the mountain to the sea.

You are a temporary pattern of organic molecules within the flow of nutrients through the ecosystem and each of those molecules is built with photons of the sunlight flowing through the solar system.

Like every other living thing, it is the cycling of these flows within your skin that gives you life.  Unlike other species we humans can consider how we will place ourselves in the flows.

Your gathering of possessions is a way station for goods as they flow through the economy and if you pay for services you help to create other way stations of possessions.

Your mind is a processor within the flow of information through our culture.  It gives you the power to influence all of these flows.  Becoming an agent of habitat is to learn to use your influence effectively . . . to learn to adjust the flows to benefit you, your groups and the living things around you.
 

See your self in the pattern of flows.

Observe where you are in the flow of air, water, nutrients, material things . . .

Now pull back and observe the whole pattern . . . observe where each flow comes from

. . . where each flow is going . . .

Pick one thing.  Observe how that thing flows to you . . . you take it in . . . you send it out . . .

Choose to change one thing in the flows . . . see how that changes the pattern.

Choose another thing to change . . .

That is how we change the world to be the one we want.

Start with small steps when you are ready:

Get a house plant to clean the air in your room.  Plant a rain garden at the downspouts on your home.  Find a bucket for worms to eat the scraps off your plate.  Be conscious of the goods and services that you need to thrive.  And learn more every day until you find your voice . . .
 

The more you observe the pattern of flows in which you find yourself the more opportunities you will see to use your influence.  The more you practice using your influence the more effective you will become. The greatest influence you can have is to empower others to do the same.