As human beings, we can experience temperature changes in different ways.
It's hot.
"Ah, feels so good, so relaxing."
"Oh blah, it's so sticky and awful."
It's cold.
"Oooo, (squeal) snow is coming."
"Gah! I hate the cold."
More than likely you, like me, have spoken a phrase somewhat matched to any of these. The point? We get to decide how we will respond and the fact that either of these responses is often possible it makes one think a bit. Well, I should say, it makes me think.
The other day my daughter was reading an article about ecosystems, and she was having difficulty with some vocabulary related to hydrothermal vents. My meagerly informed summary of these vent formations goes a little like this. The vents form when cold seawater seeps below the ocean floor through tiny cracks. When the water becomes superheated from magma, it reemerges to create these vents. It turns out that some organisms thrive in these conditions.
We read and reread the section a few times to fully grasp the ideas presented. I realized part of her misunderstandings were related to the fact that the idea of organisms surviving conditions like extreme heat seemed impossible. To imagine vents within the ocean floor providing this heat was outside of her experience.
The ocean provides many spaces we have explored and spaces we have not. It is fascinating to grasp the enormity of its composition.
I don't know how my brain works but we read this article, and in my mind, I began comparing the ocean floor to a school's culture. Cracks occur. Well-meaning drops of water seep and become heated due to exposure, and their only way out is to vent. When these droplets reemerge they transform their surroundings. Organisms thrive on the poisonous metal deposits and can develop rapidly.
Venting is necessary. The ocean makes a place for this, and yet it is so vast that it also makes spaces for beautiful reefs and shorelines. You get to decide. Within the ocean of your daily life, you can choose where to vent. Choose wisely.
I like your concluding line, "Within the ocean of your daily life, you can choose where to vent. Choose wisely. " I've been listening to a book about mindfulness and I am thinking a lot about the present moment. Right here. Right now, the moment is perfect. We mess it up when we worry or project or worst of all, fear. It takes a long time to learn to live in the present moment. I'm working on it.
ReplyDeleteLove your analogy, Betsy! It goes along with a lot of research along the lines of happy people notice the good, like people attract like people (the great law of magnetism,,,)
ReplyDeleteBTW, I NEVER complain when it's hot outside. Just saying.
HA! Okay, so maybe almost everyone but Melanie Meehan complains about the heat occasionally. :)
DeleteThis is so deep, Betsy. I LOVE your analogy.
ReplyDeleteYes, choosing where to vent -- how much or how little -- is key. We have to do it, but we have to be careful when we do.
And Mel is the kind of person who loves the heat. (Not me!)
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