Be your(cell)f

The conscious community of you.

Seeing God in Nature

When I was in the 7^th grade, I read a book that changed my life.  It was by Lewis Thomas. 

This wonderful book rocked my world.  As an eleven-year-old, it was a bit challenging to share my enthusiasm for the twenty-nine biological essays on cell function and our inherent connection to nature with my peers.  So, instead, I spent hours alone with the book, geeking out at all of the evidence of higher consciousness through biology. I loved that Dr. Thomas seemed to see the world kind of like I did.

I grew up off the grid in Montana.  The land, river, trees, plants, and animals were my community. I recognized and respected that nature was also something much greater than me.  It can kill you pretty easily if you don’t learn that respect. 

From a very young age, I saw “god” in nature too.  I even tried to draw it once—the face of god with a tree for a nose, animals for eyes, clouds for hair, and a river mouth.  My mother liked it, but it didn’t look anything like what I saw in my head, and it wasn’t something to share at a rural Methodist Sunday school. 

Too bad I didn’t have access to the Hubble images then. Other’s might have been able to see things my way too.

Now, thirty-five years later, after working with thousands of bodies and practicing as a doctor, I still see god in nature.  I challenge anyone to look deeply into biology without being amazed at the perfect and intelligent levels of organization. The similarities between human organisms, animal organisms, and plant organisms can blow your mind!

• Did you know a giraffe has the same number of vertebrae in its neck that you do?

• The bones in the wing of a bat look nearly the same as those in the pectoral fin of a whale.

• Research has shown that trees communicate. (Some of us have been talking to them for years.) Trees also feel and even redistribute their nutrients selectively to their own children! 

• Without the algae in the ocean, we would lose 70-80% of the oxygen in our atmosphere. We breathe the air for them, and they breathe for us. 

There is a beautiful, common organizing force on this planet. It is undeniable when you learn how to look.

The Beauty of the Body

I love the human body.  I have such reverence for the complexity and brilliance of its cells, microorganisms, dynamic systems, and levels of regulation. 

I also feel our inherent connection to nature will be what saves us if we make it through this phase of our evolution.

I love to teach folks about their bodies so that they know the brilliance of their own design.  I want to teach them how to understand their body—to stop taking it for granted.  Even better, I want them to learn to listen to their body’s way of communicating. 

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If you learn to listen to your body, you will start hearing it.  When you start hearing it, you will recognize that you are made up of a collective of tiny sentient beings who get their primary directives from you, and who rely on you for their health and their resources.  If you realize that, you might start to take  care of your own little inner world with more love. And if we all start doing that, our external world will reflect the change.

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Journey With Me

Join me for these writings over the next few months if you’d like to learn more about your inner community.

It will involve biology, anatomy, physiology, art, humor, spirituality and a heavy dose of my own weird perspectives and rabbit holes.

Would love to have you along.

Global Illness

Our world is experiencing an abrupt and rapid change: crisis after crisis. In my profession as a doctor, crisis is the most common motivator for inspiring health changes. 

So, what will we do next?