Some things can’t be proved, nor should they be. A child should never have to prove to anyone that her parents love her. Such an idea is preposterous. Instead of proving her parents love to anyone, she can use the strength that it provides her to move forward in her life, make new relationships, and pursue her unique goals.
Similarly, there is an incredible force of love behind each individual who is based in nature that has no business being proved. It is only meant to be deeply felt so as to secure a strength inside. It is a given; it is an “a priori existent” to put full trust in.
It can’t be proven; it can only be known. But it can be known very deeply and securely so that it can bestow enormous amounts of strength in the individual.
Nature’s love emerges through a recognition of the powers we share with her. These powers could really be called principles, specifically generative principles. As nature, we can produce new nature, just as a flower sends a seed off in the breeze.
The generative principle promotes the growth or expansion of the being. The contractive principle denies expansion, ideally in the being’s best interest, while still promoting growth. An example would be rationality cutting off certain wild and expansive urges (even though you feel you can fly like a bird, don’t jump off this roof).
Expansion and contraction work simultaneously in nature as forces that set the stage for a most important kind of unrest, a delicious disequilibrium.
Expansion is bigger than contraction; it ‘wins out,’ so to speak. If it didn’t, then the miracle of all we see in nature would be shrunken into an obscurity instead of reproducing remarkable works of novelty and vivid color. Expansion wins out over contraction, and they both work together to promote real growth.
It is the same with yes and no. To quote e.e. Cummings, “Yes is a world, and in this world of yes live (skillfully curled) all worlds.” A strong “no” is always in service of a stronger “yes.” There is no world of “no” because it lives within the world of “yes,” in service of “yes.” Yes is the magnitude of expansion. No is the fortitude of contraction that works in service to yes.
F.W.J. Schelling was a German philosopher in the early 19th century who believed that everything springs from nature. While his contemporaries began with the realm of mind and thought, he instead began with nature, viewing it as something that preceded the mind.
He saw that all life grows organically from something simple to something more complex. To embrace the flourishing that comes with creativity and growth is natural. We are at our best when we move with nature and share her powers of growth and flourishing.
One of the easiest ways to embrace nature’s powers, and place mind second to such powers, is in adopting a growth mindset; a perspective that doesn’t waste any setback but instead uses it for learning purposes.
Psychologist Carol Dweck coined the term ‘growth mindset’ in her book Mindset; The New Psychology of Success (2006). Her classroom research showed that those who believe they can develop their talents achieve more than those who see their abilities as fixed or innate.
She concludes that “The hallmark of successful people is that they are always stretching themselves to learn new things.”
Such a stretch is natural, like an ascending grapevine. When we believe we can learn, or improve our abilities, or make something out of a perceived setback, we are producing new nature within nature by means of nature’s generative principle.
That is our Fibonacci signature style, as humans. We are a species who possess a special ability to reflect on and know this kinship we share with nature so that it may infuse us with strength and confidence in our endeavors. There is no need to prove it. Just an invitation to embrace it.
Leave a Reply