Cell

Namaste dear readers,

I like the word “Namaste”, you know, it means: “The spirit within me honors the spirit within you”.

So, so, so, my ‘Follow mE writing day’ (Thursday) was disrupted by a cold which knocked me out, threw me in bed and turned me into a ‘ketchup dispenser’ (the ‘dispenser’ being my nose and the ‘ketchup’ being the… the red fluid that circulates around my vascular system). My white blood cells had quite a busy weekend, I had to let them do ‘their thing’; therefore I write today.

(Sorry for the graphical imagery that might have appeared inside your head after reading the ‘ketchup’ sentence above!)

Fortunately, this sickliness along with my self-imposed quarantine are nearly over; which means nothing but good news to all those trees with which paper tissue and toilet paper are manufactured (…sorry for the past days’ over-use tree friends). As a response to this rise in personal carbon footprint I have decided to dedicate this post to our “pulchritudinous” (try pronouncing this word several times in a row!) planet (meaning our “beautiful” planet). Or much better said – to all of “pulchritudinous” ‘life forms’ themselves…

Because of being a ‘not responsible enough’ student when in the Fontys minor abroad in Sevilla the previous semester, I am now bound to take an extra class at Fontys. For this extra class I have had to do some research on the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and its communication campaigns. While looking around yesterday, I ran into an interesting article from one of the organization’s blogs (with a nicely written ending):

 

(I do not think you are too interested in knowing my opinion about the article above… But, I am sure many would agree that by following EXXON’s CEO, Mr. Rex’s, ‘line of thought’ the only thing adapting and evolving in planet Earth would be the size of his (and his friends’) wallet! Increasing in size at an alarming rate. Texas style!)

I also came across a very clever ($0.00 budget)‘campaign’; not from the WWF but from a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of our world’s Rhinos –Forever Wild-:

(Good job)

So, we see EXXON’s CEO mentioned in the WWF article. Very possibly a member of the “intelligent elite” (:D! …previous post), calming down the public (or “disconcerted flock”), manufacturing consensus… The man is doing his job, otherwise by now he would be EXXON’s Ex CEO: “Lets just drill down the Earth and taint our waters black because ‘we’ will still adapt… even if a few little ashes remain, be calm people, ‘we’ will still adapt”.  

The WWF which of course gets steamed up with the man’s statement.  

Big people dancing in front of cameras, thousands of people watching them for hours on their screens; Rhino protecting people getting annoyed because of this and Rhinos (…along with many other species with which we share our world) being left without a home and poached to extinction… 

…the extinction rate in Planet Earth has never been so high since 65 million years ago, namely: The dinosaurs extinction period. And apart from these issues, there are countless of other problems rising every day in society (I do not read, watch or listen to the news, so I have no idea of most of them)…

Problems, problems, problems: Yes, they might confuse a person.   

HOWEVER…

Within us there is a ‘microscopic structure’(…which by the way, has impressively survived and adapt for billions of years in comparison to the 2 million we humans have been around the globe) that does not seem to get so easily altered with many of what we people consider as “problems”. It is wise and smart. The very thing that triggered life in this planet; the very thing that makes us and Rhinos, and every other living thing: The cell/s.
(funny ‘pizza cell’ …in the drawing down here!).   

  You know these microscopic geniuses (who realize approximately 3 billion functions per second) make you wonder sometimes about how maybe, if we were to learn from their ‘attitudes’ towards life, a lot of conflicts and/problems in our lives and society in general would simply… disappear:

‘Higher purpose’- Each cell works for the well-being of all; the individual well-being comes in as secondary. For the cells in our body selfishness is inconceivable.

‘Communion’- All cells stay in contact with the rest. While they carry out their functions, they know what every other cell is doing. For our cells ‘walking away’ or refusing to communicate is simply unthinkable.

‘Awareness’- Our cells are extremely flexible and constantly adapt to each and every situation of the given present moment. For them, maintaining rigid-fixed habits is inconceivable.

‘Acceptance’- The whole of functions in our body are interdependent. Cells recognize this, and therefore admit that each and every one of them is equally important. Performing functions in isolation is unimaginable.

‘Creativity’- Our cells combine their individual functions in many creative ways. Getting attached to ‘single-minded’ behaviors is unthinkable.

‘To be’- Cells in our body embrace and follow the universal cycle of activity and rest. An obsessive activity and/or aggressiveness are simply inconceivable.

‘Efficiency’- Cells store 3 seconds of oxygen and nutriment within their cell wall. They work with the least amount of energy as possible. Over-consumption of oxygen, water and/or food is unthinkable.

‘Connection’- Cells know that, in essence, they are equal due to their collective genetic inheritance. Living in isolation is unimaginable.

‘To give’- Giving is our cells’ main and principal activity. Hoarding is therefore inconceivable.

‘Immortality’- Cells duplicate and/or reproduce; in many ways they constantly pass on their knowledge, information, talents and experiences. In any way, a generation gap is unthinkable.

It is curious to see how if cells were to take attitudes such as: ‘Selfishness’, adopting ‘rigid habits’, ‘consuming more’ than what they really need, etc. (attitudes that are easily identified in today’s society, in our own lives) our bodies would immediately break down… collapse. In fact, cancer, the disease that now a days takes many lives in our planet, is an example of what happens when cells adopt an attitude of living in isolation…

I was firstly introduced to this cells ‘attitudes’ idea around a year ago (you can find it in The Book of Secrets written by Deepak Chopra). And of course, it seems like we have a lot to learn from the invisible-to-the-naked-eye ones that keep us “alive and kicking” every day.

If you stand a bit far away from what seems to be chaos though, to get more of a clear view of the ‘whole picture’, it is not difficult to see how all of what we judge as crises and problems in the external world and in society, are nothing else but a larger scale reflection of the dilemmas, struggles, attitudes present in our ‘insides’.

So, maybe to change the outside we have to just change the inside? I don’t know! That’s for every person to figure it out, if they so desire.

Au revoir for today dear readers! Thank you very much for taking a look at this post, I hope it was a bit entertaining and that you learned something new. I leave you with a nice ad from the WWF:

Try taking care of our beautiful planet and… your genius cells (yourself)!
‘till next time (I will try writing a short post this Thursday if I do not turn into a ketchup dispenser again!)
PEACE
Your writer,
Maria 

P.S. – Indonesia, thanks for the many views (77) for last time’s post! Glad to know Follow mE is ‘travelling’ to far off lands. Greetings!