About - Menu
The Chambered Nautilus
"Life is not about finding yourself. It's about creating yourself."
|
The Chambered NautilusThe chambered nautilus is one of the oldest creatures known to survive in the earth's oceans. It is a symbol of nature's grace in growth, expansion, and renewal. It is also a symbol of order amidst chaos as reflected in its spiral precision. As the nautilus grows, it does so in direct proportion to its needs and with geometric precision. Its shell is a perfect representation of its past (each previous chamber) and its potential to grow in perfect balance and harmony into its present and future needs. Just like human beings, the potential for growth and renewal is always naturally present.
Growing Peacefully
The Nature of Sacred Geometry
There are so many things in nature, including our own DNA, that reflect the principles of the Fibonacci Sequence or Sacred Geometry (the building blocks of our world). This pattern emerges everywhere in nature, from the leaf on a fern to the pattern of florets of a a flower. The chambered nautilus is but one example. The way our world organizes itself in patterned growth provides a structure and a meaning for embracing change within ourselves and our relationships.
Change is challenging sometimes. Growth is daunting sometimes. The exciting part about trusting the nature of growth is the safety it provides for the process. If you notice with the nautilus and even the photos below, nature provides a container for growth, a protective shell for growth where vulnerability might be present. Therapy provides the shell for accommodating safety in our personal growth where change might feel daunting or overwhelming. You grow at your own pace, in your own way, and surrounded by a foundation of clinical principles that protect your own natural progression. As chaotic as it may seem, there is a natural order to growth that we can count on. Another thing to consider is our own "natural" safety we create to protect ourselves. Defense mechanisms can be thought of as our "natural" way of protecting ourselves from something. If those defense mechanisms or coping strategies impede our growth, nature has a way of letting us know we just might have created a shell that served a purpose but wasn't necessarily a shell we could continue to grow in. Therefore, it may be time to push forward and create a new space in which to dwell. Take a look at the structures nature provides below. The same precision of growth, self-sustenance, and renewal reflected in the nautilus is also found virtually everywhere. I wanted to share just a few of the reminders of nature's purpose, precision, and role in our lives. We are a part of that purpose and growth cycle. And, as Oliver Wendall Holmes Sr. once wrote, "One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions." |