NATURE IS SELF-EVIDENTLY EXUBERANT
"At the present time there is a reality in this world of starvation and poverty for many people, but we do not need to keep creating and perpetuating that reality. The fact is that there is more than enough to go around for every being on earth, if we are willing to open our minds to that possibility, and change our ways of using and distributing the world's resources. The universe is a place of great abundance and we are all meant to be naturally prosperous, both in material and spiritual wealth, in a way that is balanced and harmonious with one another and with the earth that nourishes us.
In modern times, humankind has lost touch with its natural state of prosperity. Together, we are creating a world vastly out of balance, in which a relative few have far more than they need and are using up our natural resources at an alarming rate, while the majority suffer from serious lack. We are all responsible for creating this reality, and we can change it by changing both our way of thinking and our way of living. We need to reclaim our ability to appreciate and enjoy the simple pleasures in life. Many of us in the industrialized world need to cultivate a simpler, more natural lifestyle. We need to realize that after our basic needs are met, the experience of abundance has more to do with expressing our creative gifts in satisfying ways, and learning to give and receive in a balanced way, than it does with extravagant consumerism.
The truth about this earth is that it is an infinitely good, beautiful, nourishing place to be."
- Shakti Gawain
"And nature is self-evidently exuberant. One pair of poppies, given seven years and the right conditions, will produce 820 thousand million million million decsendents. A single pair of spiders over the same time period and under ideal circumstances will give rise to 427 thousand million million more spiders. The fertility and diversity of nature are staggering. In a sliver of Brazilian forest only a few kilometers square, scientists have counted more than 1,500 species of butterly."
- Kay Redfield Jamison