Many of us live in urban settings and are seemingly disconnected from our Mother Nature. In fact, the average American spends about 90% of their time indoors!
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But no matter who you are, or what you are doing, you are always connected to the wild and mysterious processes of the natural world.
Like many people, I am deeply concerned about the state of the world. But I believe that the more we all understand our essential interdependence with the Earth and with each other, the more we are inspired to work and search for creative ideas that might give a positive change.
So I wrote and illustrated a 144-page book that explores some of the most profound science that explains our interconnection with the world. These colorful drawings are a joyful yet thought-provoking reminder that we are one human family sharing one common homeland!
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You Are Literally Made From Stardust
Almost all the elements that form the human body were forged in the heart of a star billions of years ago. These elements were expelled across the universe through supernova explosions, and later clumped together to form Earth and all life on Earth. We share an ancient elemental history with all life on Earth (but only some of us wear speedos).
Maybe You Were Once a Diamond
Some elements, like carbon, cycle through the Earth's biosphere over billions of years. This means that one atom of carbon in your body may have once cycled through other natural elements and life forms.
You Exchange Microbes with Everyone Around You
Your unique mix of microbes (which includes bacteria, yeast, and cells) hovers in the air around you in the form of a “Microbial Cloud”. Every time you move and breathe, microbes shoot into the air and are exchanged with the microbes of other people in your vicinity. In this way you are more intimately connected with nearby strangers than you ever imagined!
You Are At One with Water
Earth's water molecules are always in movement around and within us. The water you flush down your toilet has just embarked on an epic journey, where it will most likely be purified and become someone else’s drinking water (Likewise, your drinking water has its own history!).
Humans Share Genetic Material with Plants
We Share Genes With Animals
All of Humanity is Related as One Family
Genetic studies prove that you are related to every single other person on Earth as a distant cousin. Our most recent common ancestor lived about 3000 years ago. And despite a great diversity of physical traits, ethnicity, and culture, humans are 99.9% the same, genetically speaking.
We All Share the Same African Grandmother
Geneticists can trace everyone's family lineage through their mother’s side back to a single common shared female ancestor, known as the “Mitochondrial Eve.” This woman lived about 200,000 years ago, in what is now Angola, Africa. We are all great granddaughters and grandsons of this ancient African ancestor!
You Are at One with the Biosphere
Every atom and molecule in the body is motion and eventually ends up being excreted, exhaled, or shed. These atoms are replaced directly by elements of the biosphere, in the form of the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe.
You Eat the Sun
A plant captures a ray of sunlight and transforms it into energy-carrying chemicals, which the plant then stores in molecular bonds until you eat it (or eat an animal that eats a plant).
You Are the Universe
Because humans are part of a system of perpetual exchange with all of the elements and living beings in the universe, we are not just IN the universe, we actually ARE the universe.
This Phenomenal Life
Find out more incredible ways that you are always at one with an infinite universe in my new book, This Phenomenal Life: The Amazing Ways We Are Connected with Our Universe. Available through bookstores everywhere, and online through Powells or Amazon!
