I definitely do NOT understand the “why” of things. But I definitely ask that question a LOT. And I compare and worry and think too much and I’ve been called “too sensitive” and an “over thinker” more times than I can count. And all of those things are true. But what I have learned along the way; what those people have taught me, is that I am trying to find balance, equilibrium, or homeostasis. And then I also remind myself that I need to… let it be. Let it float. The shifts in life, the ups and downs, the change… all of it is natural. It is nature. And nature just… is. Nature doesn’t need to understand “why” in order to be. It just is. And its entire existence is based on balance.
When we say, “The universe has spoken,” or when we read horoscopes or meditate, or reach for our crystals, we are reaching for meaning, for grounding. And while I believe in the comfort and symbolism of those rituals, I also believe we forget sometimes that the truest ritual is nature. Nature is the original regulator. The original healer. The original balance. She is the crystal, the energy, the signal.
Look at the sky. It doesn’t stay stormy forever. Even the most imposing clouds—those dark, grief-thick, pressure-heavy clouds—will eventually move. The sun doesn’t force them out. The wind doesn’t rage at them to leave. They just shift. The sky corrects itself. Slowly. Silently. Perfectly.
I see so much of life in that. Especially lately, when everything is too fast and too much. We live in a world of constant stimulation. Everything is available at our fingertips—scroll, buy, react, consume. And inside of us, our body’s reward system, the dopamine mechanism, tries to keep up. That little hit of pleasure, the feeling of yes, of I want more, is what has kept us alive since the beginning of time. It motivates us. Moves us forward. But now, with so much available so fast—that beautiful system is under siege. And like any part of nature, it tries to restore balance. And that correction? It is anxiety, irritability, depression, insomnia, and craving.
And it is all normal. It is all part of the same system. The same ecosystem. We are not broken. We are regulating. With all of that dopamine release, our bodies try and balance… and we then end up in a dopamine deficit— the correction. And so time and patience and grace and understanding and.. nature… is the answer.
It is so easy to think something is wrong with us when we feel low or lost or unsatisfied. But nature doesn’t see that as wrong. It is a necessary part of balance. We are all, every one of us, pleasure-seekers. That is what has allowed us to survive. The pain of walking hundreds of miles and then reaching a reservoir, or a berry bush, and then relishing that hit of dopamine. So we are all addicts. Psychologist Anna Lembke has named dopamine “the architect of motivation.” The pain is the waiting part… the part where we reach homeostasis, but that drive for dopamine is within us all. Just as we NEED dopamine, we also NEED pain. And when pain comes—because it will, because it must—we must hold it. Not run from it. Not cover it up. Hold it, like a cloud that hasn’t emptied yet. Trust it, like the ocean tides.
Because balance will occur. Always. That is nature’s most divine promise.
So look up. That cloud is still moving. The sky is still healing. And so are you.
