Gaiawise

Gaian processes underpin everything we do - Gaia is literally running the show, and as a species we are only just beginning to come to terms with this. All parts of the global system are related, the atmosphere, oceans, surface rocks and soil, and all living organisms, all connected by the same air, the same water, the same energy from the sun, and, vitally, the 'unseen activity' of bacteria and fungi.

This means that, in a profound way, you are in Gaia and Gaia is in you, you are a 'permutation of the wisdom of the biosphere' (Lynn Margulis), your family history goes back 3,600 million years, you are made of the same type of cells (eukaryotic) as everything else which is alive that you can see with the naked eye, and the bacteria which started the whole system going are still the 'most important living things' (James Lovelock) and are vital to your, and the planet's, well-being.

As a species we can see Gaia 'in all her symbiogenetic glory' (Lynn Margulis), and if we are to address the problems we have created for ourselves we need to become Gaiawise, we need to start designing solutions which are inspired by the 'wisdom of the biosphere', solutions that make Earth System sense. 

'...the mighty mitochondria...'

painting on silk by Sue Lansbury www.suelansbury.co.uk