Amazing Ants

New York City is a wonderful example of how no system works in isolation.

(We'll get to the ants in a minute.)

The city of Manhattan, like all cities, has main systems that keep things running smoothly -- water, garbage, sewer, electricity, import/export and traffic, to name a few.  It may seem that these systems are separate and autonomous. 

But consider this: if any one of those systems gets clogged or shut down, it will affect many if not most of the other systems.

If the electricity goes out, that affects traffic lights, and traffic jams affect the timely and efficient transport of the garbage. If long term, the overflow of garbage might eventually impact the sewage or even water systems.

Or if the water system shuts down, that's going to wreak havoc on pedestrian and auto traffic, as well as the import and export of goods on/off the island -- people trying to get water already on the island, other people trying to get water to the island, still other people trying to get off the island. This would impact the garbage and recycling systems with an increase in plastic bottles. That extra processing could affect the electrical systems with an increase in energy. 

And on and on.

Here's where the ants come in. Did you know that for every human on the planet, there's over a million ants?

And ants make up their own system in New York City -- Waste Removal.

Those ants in New York City eat the equivalent of 60,000 hot dogs a year!

Isn't that amazing!?

Watch this two-minute video from National Geographic on how vital ants are to the ecosystem of Manhattan.

So what?

Well, if you watch the video, you heard that it is conceivable that without the ants, there would be more rats and pigeons in New York, and they can carry disease. So maybe disease goes up. Or maybe the means of controlling the rats and birds causes other toxic issues. Yikes!

What's the larger point?

Our bodies are just like this. No system works in isolation. From digestive to respiratory to endocrine to cognitive to sensory to skeletal to spiritual. All communicate and affect one another. Whole body, whole person, whole health.

This is a friendly reminder that every part of you wants and needs loving attention and conscious care in order to keep running optimally. You can't "make up for" eating poopy food or forgo some amount of healthy movement every day. What you put on your body and in your home counts too.

What you do matters.

So, like the ants, let's keep doing our best!

Michelle Marlahan
Where Self Care becomes Soul Care

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