We’re Not Alone

Natural Leadership

You have at least a million relatives as close as tenth cousin, and no one on Earth is any farther removed than your 50th cousin. With each breath, you take into your body 10 sextillion atoms, and–owing to the wind’s ceaseless circulation–over a year’s time you have intimate relations with oxygen molecules exhaled by every person alive, as well as by everyone who ever lived. Right now you may be carrying atoms that were once inside the lungs of Malcolm X, Christopher Columbus, Joan of Arc and Cleopatra.”

We in the western world tend to think of ourselves as independent beings. We feel proud when we can say “I did it myself.” We admire people who accomplish great solo feats.  We look up to the hero who “goes it alone.” But of course none of us does anything by ourselves, we never do anything solo, we never really go it alone.

We’re all interconnected and interdependent. You are connected to everyone else on earth though the DNA that exists in every cell in your body and through the oxygen in every breath you take. Every molecule of your body used to be something else. You’re made of recycled bits of nature and are, right now, recycling materials that have been circulating through the natural world for billions of years.

Feeling alone? Don’t! Take a deep breath and realize that you’re never ever alone. All of us on this brilliant earth are all interconnected and interdependent.

Quote excerpt from the book, PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings by Rob Brezsney. Hands image courtesy of Flickr CC @Cara Photography

Denise DeLuca / Former Director

Denise DeLuca is the Director of MCAD’s Sustainable Design program. She was co-founder of BCI: Biomimicry Creative for Innovation, a network of creative professional change agents driving ecological thinking for radical transformation. Denise is author of the book Re-Aligning with Nature: Ecological Thinking for Radical Transformation, which was illustrated by MASD alum Stephanie Koehler. She also teaches with the Amani Institute.

Denise’s previous roles include Education Director for the International Living Future Institute, Project Manager for Swedish Biomimetics 3000, and Outreach Director for The Biomimicry Institute. Denise is a licensed civil engineer (PE) and holds a master’s degree in civil and environmental engineering with a focus on modeling landscape-scale surface and groundwater interactions.  In addition, Denise is a Biomimicry Fellow and a member of the Advisory Council of The Biomimicry InstituteBoard Member of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP), on the editorial board of the Journal of Bionic Engineering, and an Expert with Katerva. Denise is based in Oregon.

contact:  [email protected]