BELOW ICE LAKE, North Wallowas & WATERCOURSE WAY

ON THE UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLE OF REPOSE

We shape the world and the world shapes us.

For each action, there is a corresponding moment of repose,
a momentary pause to collect one's thoughts and energies.
See how the river runs fast through its rapids and falls, and
then widens itself in clear pools, and in slow, graceful,
meanders.

ON FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT IN NATURE—
a manifesto

We shape the world and the world shapes us.

Freedom of movement in Nature is essential; it is how
natural intelligence finds expression or manifests. Movement
must be free to find its limit. Show me control not of machines
but of Nature, and I'll show you a man-made mechanical
system imposed on Nature on the brink of collapse. Nature
knows no control, only limit, because of this very need for
freedom of movement in order for intelligence to manifest.

Only with freedom of movement, is natural limit revealed.
Only on a range without fences, does the Pronghorn know
the true power of its legs; Only in the deep silence of a
Grand fir forest does the Hermit thrush know how far his
song will project; Only in a river without dams, does the
Salmon know how far it is to the sea and back.

Machines we control. Nature we can only observe, move
with, and follow, like a raft running the rapids of a wild river.
The more bold our cultural designs, the more skilled
must be our rivercraft.

Control is domination from without; Limit is liberation from
within. Only with freedom of movement, can we discover
for ourselves, the difference.

THE DIS-INTEGRATED MIND SYNDROME

We shape the world and the world shapes us.

Dis-integrated mind syndrome? A low level survival
strategy, when one believes that it is somehow absolutely
necessary to hold onto more than one contradictory life
philosophy, all at the same time. So, for example, with
the left hand, one is, say, a naturalist; while with the right,
one holds onto a Monsanto glyphosate spray bottle.

The dis-integrated mind syndrome naturally defeats itself,
because the contradictory philosophies fight against each
other like the ill-fitting gears in a machine racing on its
way to collapse.

The dis-integrated mind syndrome is first and foremost a
feature not just of individuals in a particular society, but
much more importantly, of the formative and largely tacit
collective worldview of an entire culture.