Anastasis

Photo by Anastasia Thomas

Photo by Anastasia Thomas

creates conditions conducive to life.”

I was recently asked to reflect on this statement from Janine Benyus’ groundbreaking novel Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. In our introspection, we were encouraged to focus on how the phrase makes us feel, rather than think. I knew this would be challenging for me as I’d much rather deeply analyze something than just see how it feels But I was determined to make a concerted effort to see what this phrase made me feel. So, I made a plan. I set aside about an hour for several days to quietly sit and think, so meditate I guess, on this phrase. As predicted, I had many thoughts about the phrase but I also had many feelings, some of which surprised me. Initially, I planned to present pictures that embodied the feelings I came across, but the next instructions said “please create something original rather than just assembling a suite of photographs” This actually made me feel very seen and I had to laugh at myself a little. But my feelings were closely associated with memories that I’d captured in photographs. And although “a picture is worth a thousand words” I wasn’t sure they’d be the right words. I wasn’t sure they’d convey the whole story of my feelings How could I combine pictures and the stories that go with them? Like a short magazine? Or a scrapbook! This digital project is meant to convey my feelings on the phrase through a series of pictures and short stories that go with them

“Life

Beauty

My first feeling was of beauty. I find Nature visually beautiful. I also love some of the ways it makes me feel. Walking in bare feet across a grass knoll with soft shoots and patches of clover underfoot Closing my eyes and raising my face to greet the day and receiving a warm bath of sunlight on my face in return greeting. A cooling wind on a hot humid day spent outside. I also find the complexity of the natural world to be aesthetically beautiful. The striking and structural patterns of an orb weaver spiders web under the back porch light. The array of trees in a forest. The way rivers cut valleys into mountain ranges. The way coral twist and turn and stack to create a foundation for an entire ecosystem. Nature embodies life for me but even looking at my own life beauty is the overwhelming emotion

Photo by Anastasia Thomas

Photos by Anastasia Thomas

Wonder

Next, I feel curiosity about what life really is. We talk about the “spark” of life but bioelectric reactions are not alive They are often part of life processes but not considered living things themselves. What is the line between living and dead? At what level do animate organisms, built completely of inanimate matter, become animate? And if inanimate matter and forces are needed for something to live, should they not also be considered living? And what is the line between one organism and two? These are usually defined by a spatial boundary but if they cannot live without each other are they really separable? How are immune systems different than gut bacteria? All of these thoughts and questions fill me with wonder at the complexity of life. Despite my curiosity, I am very happy to live in the knowledge that these two states, a superposition of living and dead, animate and inanimate, not only are, but must be for life to exist.

Photo by Anastasia Thomas

Photos by Anastasia Thomas

Empathy

This emotion started as sadness, was filtered through anger, then tempered by realization to became empathy. Thinking about the distinctions of living and dead inevitably brings thoughts of death and feelings of sadness. I have experienced sadness that feels bottomless, limitless, and boundless. And I still feel a tiny sliver of this sorrow every time I see a death, no matter how small. A mother bird whose eggs don’t hatch. A chipmunk caught by a neighborhood cat. Towering trees ripped from their roots by straight line winds. And this leads to anger. Why does she feel compelled to lay if they may not hatch? Why does one creature kill another when it does not need food? Why is killing for food necessary? Why are pillars of an ecosystems, hundreds of years old, toppled in just a few minutes? Is there no balance in the natural world to counteract these things? Is there no Creator or Mother Nature who cares for their creations? But, thinking from the perspective of some Maker entity, why would they care if we were dead? Or alive for that matter? Living becomes dead becomes living again. Not to mention our earlier question about the line between animacy and their inanimate constituents. Living and dead are just two different configurations of the same physical matter. With this realization I resolved to feel empathy for my fellow living creatures. I share in their sorrows but also rejoice in their triumphs. I will try to bring joy where I can and try to prevent sadness when this is the most I can do.

Photo by Anastasia Thomas

Photos by Anastasia Thomas

Connected

Finally, the prior feelings made me think about my physical needs and challenges are so similar to other living things. We all needs food and water. Most need sunlight, to some extent. We all want to grow and thrive enough to create success for the next generation. And we are all made of very similar materials. In his iconic song, Moby says “we’re all made of stars”. This is likely true for the carbon our lifeform is based on and may have contributed to water we are mostly comprised. But the fact remains we are made of the same things as the first forms of life on our planet. After they died, the next generation inherited their material. We are likely drinking the same water dinosaurs drank on a hot summer day hundreds of millions of years ago. And in a million years, how ever those lifeforms have evolved, they will be made of the same types of matter Life is made of today. This filled me with awe once again and made me feel intimately linked with the living world around me. Even when living things are trying to eat me, in whole or in part, I feel close to them. And if they succeed in eating me, we’ll be even more connected. This feeling of belonging to and with cascaded into feelings of awe and hope for all life has accomplished and can achieve. And gratitude that I get to be part of it now and will always get to be a part of it in the future, albeit in a differentexpression.

Photos by Anastasia Thomas

Photo by Anastasia Thomas

Everything we are, was once something else.

Everything we are, will be something else.

Everything we are, connects us to everything else. Everything we are, belongs to everything else.

Photo by Anastasia Thomas

Life needs death. And death needs life. From cellular repair to reproduction to regrowing entire ecosystems, life and death fuel each other The physical being of every living organism connects us to our past and our future. Through myriad cycles, interwoven like a Celtic knot, we live, then we die, then we are reborn once more.

Another age cycles and life continues. Anastasis.

Photo by Anastasia Thomas

Acknowledgements

This piece was inspired by the works of Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer and Bill Bryson, OBE HonFRS. The deeply reflective narrative styles of Braiding Sweetgrass and A Walk in the Woods birthed the idea for this style of product. The vulnerability and distinct humor of those works invited me to take a closer look into my own reflections.

I am also deeply grateful to my husband for going on all the adventures photographed here and especially for sharing this journey to create conditions conducive to life with me.