Have you ever witnessed a kerfuffle? How do you handle friction when it comes your way? Are peace and turmoil two sides of the same coin?

I’m sure you’ve been there. You’re standing in line at the supermarket when you realize the person ahead of you has a problem and they are intent on taking it out on the cashier.

Tempers are rising, patience is fraying and you can feel the bad vibes escalating like heat off a parking lot. The poor worker is but a cog in the machine at fault, yet the customer has chosen them to be the sand in their gears.

You’re only human, so there’s no way around it. Sometime somewhere somehow things are not going to go your way. How you approach the inevitable obstacles makes a vast difference in your experience of life here on earth.

Think about the various people you know. You can probably count some who glide through life with ease, then there are others who seem to find friction wherever they go. Why is it that some folks are impervious while others seem to be covered with buttons just waiting to be pushed?

Nature, on the other hand, is governed by instinct. Creatures do what they’re going to do and they don’t take things personally. We’ve been pondering a controversy of sorts among the insects here at Guignier, learning life’s lessons from the bugs.

European hornets are huge, fierce looking, and carnivorous. Apparently they like to eat flies, beetles, and the occasional bee. Butterflies are dainty, delicate, and dine on nectar. A common one here is bright orange when its wings are spread, but black and camouflaged when folded.

Near the table where we have our lunch a cherry tree and an elm grow close together. There’s a small hole in the ground where the hornets come and go, and some sort of substance that attracts hordes of shiny green flies, providing a convenient lunch counter for the hornets.

But for some reason, these black and orange butterflies also like to lounge on the lower part of the tree trunks. Obviously just resting, minding their own business until it’s time to go find more nectar.

This doesn’t sit well with the hornets. Rarely does a butterfly rest more than a moment before an angry hornet zooms in to chase them away. To us, it looks like the same hornet and butterfly replaying their drama, but both are abundant, so we know better.

I think the bugs are teaching us to go about our business and not take it personally when something gets in the way of the flow of our daily dance. It’s part and parcel of the natural world for there to be friction and obstacles to overcome.

While you can’t help but be the main character in your own movie, you do have a degree of agency over the level of drama that surrounds you. We humans have much more than instinct and survival to go on.

Back at the supermarket, when it’s finally your turn at the register, you’ve got the chance to flip the script. A genuine smile, a shrug of empathy, and a kind word or two is all it takes to make someone’s day.

Find your way to flow around friction and nature will grace you with an easy path. Our insect friends have it down pat.

Much love till next week!

Merci et à bientôt!

M+

ML #687

Mark Metz
Monday Love Movement Calendar