nature's zodiac

Can we begin now?? Asked the boys pointing towards a printout in the local library. It was for a town treasure hunt, with clues posted on store windows that involved math, puzzle-solving and more. Mystery was calling, and two bright-eyed boys were imploring us to allow them to pursue it. My friend glanced at her watch because she had to be somewhere. Okay sure, but we gotta be quick!

That was not a problem for these guys. They burst out of the library as if from a cannon, and both began by running the wrong direction, so excited were they to begin. The pizza place had a puzzle to solve, leading to tricky math at the ice cream store, an even trickier word search at the chocolate store, a beautiful mural and at last to the prize of candy at a local clothing store: two, glorious dumdum lollipops.

It never ceases to amaze me, the energy that arises when kids are permitted to follow a mystery. Where does it really come from? I know it’s because they are kids, and kids are energetic, everyone knows that. But what is the connection between energy, mystery and wild, highly directed energy?

Those boys couldn’t have expressed “onward” any more triumphantly, with arms so straight and fingers so pointed upward to the blue skies of self-belief and optimism. They generated so much energy by moving forward on this quest, we had to jog quickly to keep up.

Curiosity towards a mystery is like Qi. It animates the body with undeniably renewed energy. Have you ever felt yourself a bit drab and drowsy only to be revived instantly with someone emphatically saying “You will never believe this!” or “Guess what??” The spell evaporates and the stage lights of the natural world illuminate not only your surroundings but the dim and sleepy hallways of your inner life! “What?? Tell me!”

The Romantic thinkers and natural philosophers (late 18th century to mid 19th century) saw the mind far from a recording device of incoming data, or a “tabula rasa” blank slate. Instead they saw it as a generative force that completes the work of nature.

Anyone who spends time around children is familiar with the mind as a generative force. Ideas lead to ideas. Games are invented on the spot with sprouting of detailed rules. Laughter invites words which invite more laughter which invites new ideas.

If you ask an adult to name as many farm animals as they can think of they will likely give you a funny look instead of an answer. But a child will give a cascade of answers, picking up momentum as they go.

Nature is animated with this curious Qi that flows in and out of every living thing. And it is not just the ‘prana’ of breath, it is the ‘prana’ of thoughts, ideas and words. Primitive cultures understood that nature speaks. They knew that a rich mystery was concealed within each tree, flower and rock. Stories around a fire at night would serve as nature’s generative force that completes her work.

The movement of a curious mind is renewing, like a mountain stream that draws air into itself and purifies its waters with its movement. We can learn these powers if we can see them clearly enough in nature, and feel these forces alive in our day to day, as children do so naturally.

A fine mad dash in Vergennes led to two contented young detectives, having wrapped a mystery and unwrapped its rewards, strolling efficiently back to our cars.

The glow of adventure becomes a memory to ignite future quests.