immune systems
I’ve been thinking a lot about immune systems lately. My littlest offspring has been sick most of his 2+ years on the planet so far. Nothing awful, just a nasty cough that comes and goes and rounds of snot that makes him sound like a swamp cooler in his sleep. It could be much worse. But being a healer, I want him to be well, and being an herbalist, sometimes I feel like tucking my tail between my legs because I haven’t figured out the formula that gets and keeps him well. Self judgement is always so ready to take over!
So instead of trying to fix him, I’ve been working on a perspective shift: every time he wilts with the onset of illness, I say he is building the most robust immune system possible to weather this world. We all, animals and plants included, have to figure out how to survive this life, and our immune response is what keeps us kicking.
I think of the immune system as a structure that arises from within to keep the body in balance.
A healthy immune response is neither too much (allergies) or too little (auto-immune disorder). These days, immune dysfunction is a growing threat to all of us. Our bodies do all kinds of ridiculous things to try to find balance (anyone else ever been appalled by the amount of snot a body can churn out in response to a cat hair, whiff of invasive grass, or bite of something seemingly benign?).
Which leads me to this question: how does the body of the Earth do this? This year, we’ve likely all been effected one way or another by what media likes to call a natural disaster. In my own little town there’s been extreme flooding, mass evacuations from fire, and wind upwards of 80mph. But underneath our own experience, it seems to me the earth is working to restore balance through water and fire, wind and mud. There is a simple reality that balance is necessary, and our grand earth will have it no matter what. What if we humans actually are part of the Earth’s immune system? What if instead of us acting like a virus, we acted like a healthy immune system…If we took some of the burden off the elements, and made choices on our own to restore balance? If we committed somehow to being an ally, in even our smallest choices. We know how to do this, inherently, we all have immune systems ourselves, and with compassion and a sense of connectedness, that’s all we need to act in harmony with the Earth. After all, we aren’t separate from Earth, we are fully made of the vast elements and energies that we collectively callEarth. I think it’s high time we stepped into our rightful place as protector, not agitator.