A number of times I’ve written that we are only two things
beyond our genetics; the environment we immerse ourselves in, and what we
choose to focus on in that environment.
The caveat is that within the span of a single life time these two
elements (each within your power to alter) will influence which aspects of your
genome are more available than others.
Simply, the choices you make effect the behaviors and preferences of the
next generation.
“Survival” is a perfect subject to bear out how profound and
simple this ‘’power” of yours (choice) actually is. The concept of “living” apart from the concept of “survival”
for our species is a new development.
Homo habalis, our first known toolmakers, were living within the context
of an out door environment. They
relied on hunting, gathering, and traveling in response to what was seasonally
available and they, like all other flora and fauna, had their population kept
in check by the carrying capacity of the landscape. “Life” and “Survival”, it is safe to say, were
synonymous. It is from this
point (around 2.5 million years ago) that our brains began to increase in
size.
With the arrival of Homo erectus (1.8 million years ago) the
cranium size of our lineage had doubled and was on the increase. We reached the apex of strength and
brain size in our evolutionary history in the species before modern man, Homo sapien neanderthalensis. This is a species that is generally
understood to have tool making abilities, as well as indicators of culture and
ceremony, all supported by physical evidence. Neanderthals existed over half a million years ago and had
larger adult sized craniums and greater strength than modern man.
The physiological forerunner of anatomically modern humans, Archaic Homo sapiens, evolved between 400,000 and 250,000
years ago. DNA evidence suggests
that several haplotypes of Neanderthal origin are present among all non-African
populations, and Neanderthals may have contributed up to 6% of their genome to present-day humans. Anatomically modern humans evolved from
archaic Homo sapiens in the Middle Paleolithic, about 200,000 years ago.
The
transition to behavioral modernity, with the development of symbolic culture, language, and
specialized lithic technology happened around 50,000 years ago according to
many anthropologists. Domestication began with agricultural
practices some 15,000 years ago. Interestingly, wherever agriculture
became an alternative to other population controls the species flourished until
the soils and resources were exhausted in that area. The rich flood planes of the Middle East, are now dune and
rock deserts. This can be tracked
in our migrations through the dust bowl of North America in to modern
forestry/cattle dilemmas in the Amazon Basin and de-forestization ramifications
around the world. Haiti, with no
trees, has lost nearly a third of it’s landscape to erosion and is dealing with
malnourishment in 40% of their population. From the perspective of a population that hasn’t fully
depleted their supports (i.e. Most of North America) this would be considered
“Survival”.
Empowering
yourself with these bits of information may take you to uncomfortable places
and ugly conclusions, but it is important to fully appreciate the value of your
choices and actions to the contrary by recognizing the stark and very real
alternatives.
“Survival”
is a temporary and unsustainable state.
It is meant to be a brief period of transition with a definable outcome.
You either recover or you die. The
indicators of being in a state of “Survival” are fear, suffering, the feeling
of hopelessness, frustration, or panic and elevated stress levels. Awareness and compassion diminish and
combativeness and/apathy increase.
Dehydration, malnutrition, injury and most commonly, the artificially
and chronically triggered “flight or fight” response, are all indicators that
one has ceased normal life processes and the body has entered a state of
survival.
Remember,
“Choice” is often the difference between a survival response and wellness. It is important to differentiate what causes
this response from what happens to you when you are “well”. You begin to experience a base
line sense of joy. You become
relaxed yet aware, compassionate and artistic, and a sense of connection to
everything and everyone around you guides you toward actions that cultivate
wellness in others and the landscape.
We can emerge from this recent chronic state of survival simply by
spending more time outside. First, being outside increases our awareness and
slows our respiration and heart rate.
As our pace slows we notice more and disturb less of our
surroundings. This increases the
ease at which we can locate and acquire shelter, water, fire, and food. You sense of connection to the
landscape increases, allowing you to respond proactively to subtle shifts in
the wind, bird behaviors, and cloud patterns to avoid being caught in a storm
or by a predator. At night, you are no
longer afraid of the shadows because they keep you safe, hidden, silent. You are a shadow. It is a peaceful, non-dramatic,
exhilarating sense of belonging and wellness that washes over you when you are
literate enough in the environment that sustains you. You can’t get enough of it. No matter how much you pour yourself in to the landscape you
always feel like there is so much more to know, to learn, to experience. Before long you want to encourage the
landscape to reach its full potential as well. It might start with bird feeders, but quickly evolves to
encouraging plant and animal diversity and health. Edge areas, edible forest gardens, medicinal plant
propagation; these are just a few of the symptoms of a person recovering
ownership of their own overall health.
The
spread of “dis-ease” has become the perceived “baseline” of many a chosen world
view. Wellness is the stuff of
fairy tales and delusional noble savagery in the minds of those ensconced in
the flight or fight paradigm. Both
wellness and survival take a lot of emotional investment and calorie
expenditure. The difference is in
the wake that each leaves. In one
approach “those with the most toys win”, and in the other, we “leave it better
than we found it”. Because
these approaches are expressed in different parts of the brain, one “frame of
mind” does not make sense to the other until it is experienced. Both are innate, naturally occurring
strategies. It is our choice to
empower one over the other. By
creating stronger neural networks toward manifesting bounty (over the
enforcement of fear based reactions in our brains) we improve our life, lessen
the severity and frequency of the survival response, and are more apt to
survive an actual survival scenario.
It is for this reason that survival “instruction” should start from a
foundation of wellness and share skills designed to orient folks back toward
their own platform of well-being.
Too many schools share simple skills
designed to get folks out of a high stress situation only to return to a
chronic baseline of stress. This
is the result of addressing symptoms instead of root causes. This path is easier, simple to
understand, and quick. It also
falls far short of effective skill sharing and is the mark of ignorance,
laziness or worse, neglect. The
good news is that we can make the internal shift from fear-based reactions to
being proactive from a place of joy instantly. We may stutter, stop, fall back to our old patterns when
tired or stressed, but nature rewards healthy behaviors with beneficial
emotions and results. The defaults
to old patterns lessen as one learns to laugh at themselves each time it
happens. Fear and uncertainty is
gradually replaced by gratitude and curiosity. Your physical skills and awareness will also experience
explosive growth. If you chose to
be offended by this article that is lesson enough. If you choose to try out some of these concepts, please
share your results. Learning
through shared experience is the next logical step. Only through the shared experiences of folks reclaiming
their own expression of wellness can we begin to establish resilient and
healthy communities.
