"Biomimicry offers an empathetic, interconnected understanding of how life works and ultimately where we fit in. It is a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies used by species alive today. After billions years of research and development, failures are fossils, and what remains hold the secret to our survival. The goal is to create products, processes, and systems—new ways of living—that solve our greatest design challenges sustainably and in solidarity with all life on earth. We can use biomimicry to not only learn from nature’s wisdom, but also heal ourselves—and this planet—in the process."
"Biomicry is about valuing nature for what we can learn, not what we can extract, harvest, or domesticate. In the process, we learn about ourselves, our purpose, and our connection to each other and our home on earth. |
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One of my favorite sentences in the Rule of St. Benedict is found in the Prologue. Obsculta… et inclina auren cordis tui– “Listen…and incline the ear of your heart.” Benedict wants his followers to listen with the ear of their heart. It is interesting that the most common word for “to listen” in Hebrew comes from the same root as the word for “ear.” The word “heart” is used in Scripture as the core and strength of human life. The biblical heart consists of the spiritual, intellectual, emotional, ethical, and volitional dimensions that characterize humans. “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye” (The Little Prince)...For Benedict, listening with the ear of our heart is the foundational attitude from which our actions should flow.
-- Sister Marie A. Leonard, OSB