The Election: An Ecosystems Perspective (It’s Going to Be OK)

With the upcoming 2024 Election just days away, tensions are high and the stakes feel even higher. The issues are pressing, many feel very personal, and each side feels democracy may not survive a win by the opposing side.

There is an Alternate Perspective

Instead of looking at this election as a single, winner-take-all event, we can hold it in perspective as part of a larger, living ecosystem. We can view it through the lens of biomimicry and Nature’s regenerative principles, allowing us to shift from a place of fear to one of trust, recognizing that, regardless of the result, things really will be okay.?

This doesn’t mean there won’t be individual suffering and (possibly) mass injustices and losses of freedoms and lives.

This does not mean passivity or indifference are ok.

It does, though, mean allowing ourselves to see the bigger picture and aligning our actions with a deeper understanding of how life sustains itself.

We’re Part of a Much Bigger System

As the greatest ecosystem of all, Nature has been refining and perfecting the art of survival, thriving, balance, adaptation, and resilience for over 3.7 billion years. Ecosystems—from coral reefs to rainforests—thrive on principles such as interconnectedness, diversity, sharing of resources, life-friendly chemistry, and collaboration. These principles create balanced relationships and reciprocity, crucial to the health and survival of systems, like the interconnected web of life in which we live. No single species or being in an ecosystem holds all the power. Rather, each one has a role to play, contributing to the overall wellness of the whole.?

True, but….

It's not all chocolate and roses. Individual death and dying are part of the system, as is competition, but collaboration wins out over time and the system continues to move toward life and vibrancy. This is not to diminish the atrocities committed in the name of fear of the other—racism, sexism, genocides, torture, rape, the Holocaust, terrorism, and the countless micro-aggressions we commit in ignorance every day.

If the results of this election are not what I am hoping for, not working for, I will be very concerned and scared. But I will do my best to breathe in and remember that no single election, party, or leader defines the entire system. Rather, each brings an opportunity for growth, adaptation, and renewal. (And perhaps, a move to another country, which I pray does not become a necessity because my Mom has already been a refugee from one war-torn country, Hungary, in 1956.

In 2008, I was a speaker on a panel with Santee Dakota Indigenous rights activist John Trudell, talking about climate change. "The Earth," he said. "She will be fine. She will create her own antibiotic. It just may be we are the virus she needs to get rid of." So yes, that is possible, but there are solutions at our fingertips if we follow Nature's wisdom principles.

Moving Forward: Embracing a Regenerative Mindset

Regardless of the election’s outcome, it is our collective actions, mindsets, and choices in the days and years that follow that will shape the world. By adopting a mindset inspired by Nature’s genius, intelligence, and designs, we can trust that our collective ecosystem has the ability to adapt, evolve, and thrive. It’s a reminder that, even in times of change and uncertainty, we are equipped with an ancient blueprint for resilience, renewal, and, ultimately, a deeper and richer connection to one another and life itself.

We can move forward following the regenerative power of Nature, as part of Nature, knowing that we can and will find our way through, together. For just as Nature moves toward balance, an election, even in a polarized world, is part of a system striving for equilibrium.

Interested in learning more? Let's talk! (NOTE: Read update after the election in next issue.)