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“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the Universe, to match your nature with Nature.” ~ Joseph Campbell

There’s no denying it. One of the best qualities about Nature is its ability to inspire. Think about it. Things don’t inspire Nature. People don’t inspire Nature. We can affect and impact Nature, but all inspiration comes from the Design and the Designer. Not the other way around. It is the Original.

Why is this? Why are we so moved and potentially transformed by the natural world? What is it about Nature that is so stirring and uplifting…?

When you find yourself in a wild and beautiful, natural place like the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Rocky Mountain National Park, the Napali coast of Kauai, or maybe even a wildlife preserve or national forest closest to your neck of the woods, you cannot help but find your mind and spirit elevated several notches higher than usual. It’s like the lid has been taken off of your old self, and you are able to see the world and the entire Universe for what it truly is – a place that has been designed for us in which to enjoy and grow in, and reach our full potential - an endless incubator of creativity and expansion, advancement and personal improvement.

If you find yourself drawn towards the healthy, inspiring, restorative benefits of God’s great creation, you’re not alone.

Here’s a reminder of a few well-known people down through the ages who were inspired by Nature – Aristotle, Isaac Newton, Thomas Jefferson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Teddy Roosevelt, Einstein, Darwin, Monet, Ansel Adams, Jacque Cousteau, John Denver, and even more recently writers and celebrities like Cheryl Strayed, Mariel Hemmingway and Oprah Winfrey.

Not only does Nature inspire people, but it has inspired inventions and architecture.

Some inventions inspired by Nature include –

• Velcro from burdock burrs with their hooks and catches
• Natural water filters through biological membranes
• Adhesives from gecko feet
• Highly efficient wind turbines simulating wake vortices produced by schools of swimming fish
• Bacteria-repelling surfaces for hospitals, bathrooms and restaurants from shark skin
• LED’s (light emitting diodes) from fireflies, and
• The Japanese high-speed bullet train gets it’s design inspiration from the highly aerodynamic kingfisher, just to name a few.

Architectural wonders that have been inspired by Nature include –

• The Beijing National Stadium – Nicknamed the “Bird’s Nest”, this inspiring structure will once again host the 2022 Winter Olympics.
• New Delhi’s dreamlike Lotus Temple with it’s 27 marble petals arranged in groups of three to form nine sides opening to heaven.
• The spiraling Helix Bridge in Singapore, inspired by the double-helix structure of a DNA molecule.
• The Tapei 101 – Modeled after a bamboo stalk, this 101 story Chinese structure with tinted green glass was the tallest building in the world when it first opened in 2004.
• The Sagrada Familia, an incredibly intricate Roman Catholic Church in Barcelona, which depicts the relationship between humanity, nature and religion.

If in your journey of personal development you find yourself in need of creative inspiration, rejuvenation and renewal, step outside. Get into the real world and find your center and inspiration once again.

Author, Catholic priest, cultural historian and ecotheologian Thomas Berry reminds us, “Our species once had two sources of inspiration and meaning - religion and the Universe, the natural world. But we have turned away from nature. The great work of the 21^st century will be to reconnect to the natural world as a source of meaning.”

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