Are You Living Organically?

Living Organically…

Unique Perspectives: Are You Living Organically?

By Kim Stevens

I recently read something that I just LOVE. And something I have been practicing a lot lately… It's the idea of living organically rather than mechanically.

There are many parts of life that benefit from precision, planning, and strategy. The mechanical mind is a wonderful servant.

But I wonder if we've quietly allowed it to become our guide. It seems we've become conditioned to approach almost everything mechanically.

We optimize. We strategize. We analyze. We calculate. We try to predict outcomes before we've even begun.

And while those things certainly have value, I've begun to wonder if they're also causing us to miss something.

Life itself.

Because the most meaningful parts of life don't seem to operate mechanically.

Love doesn't. Healing doesn't. Friendship doesn't. Beauty doesn't. Wisdom doesn't. Nature doesn't.

They're organic. They're alive. Responsive. Adaptive. Always unfolding.

The mechanical mind asks different questions than the organic heart.

The mechanical mind asks:

• What's the plan?

• What's the fastest way?

• How do I optimize this?

• How do I control the outcome?

• What's the strategy?

  
  

The organic way of living asks something entirely different:

• What's happening here?

• What wants to emerge?

• What am I noticing?

• What is life asking of me?

• What would love do next?

  
  

I find myself increasingly drawn to these questions because I've noticed that many (or most) of the best things in my life have never come from a perfectly executed plan.

Some of my most meaningful conversations weren't scheduled. Some of my greatest opportunities weren't part of a five-year strategy. Some of my deepest healing came when I stopped trying to force an answer and simply became present enough to receive one.

Nature reminds us of this every day. Trees don't have strategic plans. Rivers don't calculate their next turn. Flowers don't compete for attention. They simply become what they were created to become.

Perhaps we're not so different. I don’t believe we were meant to control every outcome. We were meant to participate in life rather than manage it.

Maybe that's what living organically really means. Not abandoning strategy or rejecting systems. Any one who knows me knows I love processes, systems and checklists!

But remembering that they exist to serve life, not replace it or be it.  I wonder if we've spent so much time trying to master life… that we've forgotten how to meet it.

I’m finding that wisdom isn't found in having a better strategy. It's found in becoming so present that I can recognize what life is asking of me.

And then having the courage to respond.

Organically.