A Vote For Our Species: an exploration of the evoltion of spines and the current political environment

I am watching my daughter learn to do in 8 months what took 200 million years of evolution to achieve: to move from her belly to crawling, to seated, to pulling her self up. She improves daily in an astonishing way, I can sense the neural pathways growing and pruning, growing and pruning.

Her little spine, gestated and born in a C shape, first experienced extension (what we think of as heart opening) as she moved through the birth canal. Out of the womb she learned in her first few months to lift her head, creating the gentle slope of her neck, and now she learns to crawl, inviting the soft convexity of the lower back. The evolution of her small spine from a C to the gentle, gracious, graceful S. A design perfected over 200 millions years. 200 MILLION YEARS! To protect our organs, to move nerves through the body, to be resilient to shocks to the system. As her spine evolves she learns the moments of protection, of rest, finding the gentle C she held in the womb, and she learns the moments of extension, assertiveness, of embodying the full length of her spine; her eyes light up and her face softens into a smile when she moves to standing, as if delighted at this new perspective and power suddenly available to her.

When I watched the presidential debates, and watched her tiny face take in with wide eyes the chaos and hunched guardedness on screen I was ashamed of us and scared for her. I want her to look up and see people in position of power who stand tall for what they believe in. Who have backbones of core beliefs that they move from. Who stand with integrity. Who stand in resilience, having overcome adversity and learned from it, standing taller because of it. Whose spines know both how to fold around others in protection and compassion, and who know how to provide stability to those who need it. Whose spines know how to find the extension necessary for the birth and creation of new ideas. Whose spines know how to root down and hold fast to what is just and true. Whose spines are flexible, and able to recover when they make mistakes or are injured. People whose spines are not rigid with the fear of losing power. Rigid with the fear of change and new ness. People whose spines also know softness, also know how and when to listen, and to let go, lean back, release. Whose spines honor the evolutionary miracle that produced them, and honor the earth and creatures who evolved in complete harmony with us and without which our own spines, and thus we ourselves, would not be here. These are the people and the spines I want her to see on the screen, in the news, making the laws and structure of the society she is already participating in.

So I am voting and standing for her and for our species and for stronger and healthier spines.