Southwest Michigan Wellness Directory Page 5

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S . W . M I C H I G A N W E L L N E S S D I R E C T O R Y

easons, like the moon, wax and wane. In a full circle, plants sprout from the soil, grow, bloom, blossom,
wither, wilt, die, and become compost. In the cycle of life, humans and animals birth, grow, mature,
age, and die--and, some say, rebirth. Seasons. Circles. Cycles. Recycles.

Such is life--whether human, animal, plant, or object. Once we realize that that we live in a system

of seasons, circles, and cycles, it's easier to ask, "Where do we go from here?"

One answer: we go to paying attention to the seasons, circles, and cycles.
We pay attention to how life begins and ends and to age-related changes in our body. We pay

attention to how we can experience the fullest possible life by taking care of our muscles, eyes, teeth, and
appearance. We pay attention to the environmental value of what we purchase and where we discard
unwanted stuff. We pay attention to the flow of money in our community, to the presence of grief within
our selves, and the benefits of forgiveness within our relationships.

We pay attention to alternative healthy choices that will lead us away from vicious circles, pollution

that cycles through the environment and re-enters our bodies, to seasons that age new gizmos and
gadgets into junk.

Yes, we are talking about life of both the animate and inanimate--even in this directory of human

wellness--because both the animate and the inanimate are intertwined with human health. That is
why, when we consider life, we would be wise to look beyond our own life and the lives of our loved
ones; to also pay attention to plants, animals, and material objects with which we live, interact, and die;
to realize that a complete and successful life in cyclical harmony with others necessitates that we honor
the life of others--be they creatures, plants, or objects.

Do you have difficulty seeing the cycles of life beyond the daily rising and setting of the sun, the full

moon that appears every 29.53 days, the changing of seasons every 91.25 days? Or your monthly bank
statement? Then consider these examples.

Blood cycles through your body at a rate of about once per minute. The heart, just to pick a starting

point, receives oxygenated blood from the lungs and distributes it to cells throughout the body. Cells
use the oxygen to perform various functions: digestion, movement, reproduction, waste elimination, to
name a basic few. Depleted of oxygen, blood flows to the lungs where your inhaled breath re-enriches it
with more oxygen. And from there, the blood goes back to the heart where it repeats--guess what!--the
circulatory cycle all over again.

Your breath is part of another cycle, but, unlike the closed loop of your veins, arteries, and capil-

laries, the respiratory system involves an open-air exchange with plants and trees. You inhale oxygen-
ated air; you exhale carbon dioxide into the air. Plants and trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air
and emit oxygen. Inhale, exhale; absorb, emit. You are a part of and a partner with nature in--guess
what!--a cycle that is essential to life of both you and the plants and trees.

Here's another example. Water precipitates, soaks into the ground, and is used by plants or stored in

aquifers, or it runs off into ditches, storm sewers, streams, and rivers that lead to large lakes and oceans.
The moisture evaporates from surface water, transpires from leaves, condenses in the air, and--guess
what!--returns as more precipitation. Another cycle: from above to below and back to above and back to
below.

Look at your house, your school, your workplace. Look at objects within those buildings. Look at

your car, your clothes, your tools, your recreational equipment. Where did all of those things come from?
No, not from the store. Everything we use--from toothpaste to cell phones, from salt to dynamite, from
paint to hair spray--was made from a resource harvested from the sea, dug from the ground, or grown
in soil. Once extracted, those natural resources go to a manufacturing or processing facility, to a store, to
a home or a business, to you. And when you are finished with the objects, when they are depleted, worn
out, or stop working, they are thrown away, demolished, compacted, trashed, and returned to--guess
where!--beneath the soil in a place we call a landfill. Or maybe, if we are wise enough, they are recycled,
reprocessed, and used again.

Seasons, Circles, Cycles

By Robert M. Weir

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