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Sabrina Stein

Professor Hoffmann

HONOR 2109-001

9 April 2017

The Ecology of Spirit: A Story

We are story weavers. Each footstep we take determines a whole new chain of events. Our

stream of consciousness fills page after page. The complexity of individual existence is at once

an unending odyssey and a mere microcosm in the grander plot lines of the universe. To be

human means to experience this profound narrative firsthand. Language developed when the

need to express and record narrative first sparked in the human spirit. Since then, words became

basic units to combine and mutate infinitely, forming living and breathing stories. It is the story

of you, the words written by your nimble fingers, the sentences that wiggle around your bone

structure, blood vessels, and brain tissue that create the ecology of spirit. This idea leads to the

question: what exactly is ecology of spirit? And furthermore, why is it important?

Ecology traditionally refers to the interrelationship between organisms and their environment

(Merriam-Webster, 2017). In a broader sense, ecology focuses on the relationships that make up

intricate systems. So not only the way in which the biotic coexists with the abiotic, but also the

way in which words fit together to form stories; the way in which these stories are figments of

humanity at once connecting past to present, brain to brain, and spirit to spirit. So what is this

spirit I keep referring to? Think gossamer, ephemeral bubble-film that can only be seen from the

right angle in the right light. Think angels and holy light streaming through stained glass and

corneas and lotus petals suspended in silent meditation on the surface of a pond. Think glowing
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ember within that has no anatomical purchase, breaking and stretching with the terrible, beautiful

passage of time. Spirit is defined as the immaterial, the vital principle that gives life and

sentience to a person. It is derived from Latin spiritus meaning breath, from spirare, to blow and

to breathe (Merriam-Webster, 2017). It is with this breath that our mouths form words, those

immaterial expressions of spirit. Thus, ecology of spirit is the complex interrelationship of soul,

humanity, thought, belief, morality, culture, personality, consciousness, emotion, and life

encapsulated in the intricate structure that I choose to categorize as the structure of story. The

story is found throughout human history in the form of folklore, myths, and legends.

Certain stories are woven throughout time by multiple authors narrating universal aspects of

humanity. These folktales, myths, and legends are amorphous parcels of spirit passed from

generation to generation through various forms of storytelling. The traditional method of

storytelling, rich ad-lib complete with wild hand gestures and silly voices, is often replaced by

written accounts with entertaining illustrations, and more recently, by movies and other

technological forms of storytelling. However, the ecology of spirit is alive and well in all forms.

Folktales, commonly called fairytales, symbolically present different ways in which humans

cope with the world. They are placeless, timeless tales that have the ability to relate us to humans

across the boundaries of space and time. They focus on the intrinsic good and evil within human

nature and are less concerned with exploring the idea of divinity. Myths are sacred stories that

explain many of lifes great mysteries and thus are considered early forms of not only religion,

but also history, science, and philosophy. They strive to explain origin of life and to express

morality, often concerning a greater power that control the human world. Within a culture, myths

unify humans by giving them a shared past, and meaningful present and a predictable future.

Like folktales, myths are timeless and cannot often be dated. Legends contain more self-centered
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characters that often have historical significance and therefore are not timeless or placeless. The

great legends are heroic humans who demonstrate an ideal set of values within their community,

making them role-models (Rosenberg, 1997). Each type of story is an organism of sorts; it lives

and breathes through each re-telling; it evolves with time and adapts to the morals and nuances

of culture; it survives only through human spirit and has the ability to simply die with a rift in

communal memory. Due to constant translation and adaptation, some stories remain well-known

across cultural boundaries.

Cinderella (Brothers Grimm). Aladdin (Arabian Nights). Aesops Fables. The Snow Queen

(Hans Andersen). Ananse the clever spider. These popular stories and authors illustrate the vast

array of cultural backgrounds from which the human narrative was successfully collected and

shared. Humans from Germany, Denmark, Ancient Greece, the Middle East, and Africa show a

relationship of thought, morals, and experience; they show an ecology of spirit common across

cultural boundaries and time. As a child, I enjoyed immersing myself in the tragically beautiful

illustrations of The Snow Queen or marveling at the clever foxes and spiders in various fables

and storybooks. My pliable imagination opened to those time capsules of wisdom and they

became a part of my own story. The open, unassuming soul of a child is often more receptive to

the wisdom and life found in these stories. But that does not mean stories are merely childish.

The magic of life, often suppressed by the jaded adult, must be encourage to flourish for the

ecology of spirit to survive. Stories must be created, told, written and passed on. By immersing

ourselves in the spirit of words, we once again remember the awe of life and our earlier

reverence for the world of nature (Rosenberg, 1997). The simple tale of a spider trying to feed

his family in a drought touches on hunger, greed, short-sightedness and other human

characteristics that even the oldest of adults can learn from. Of course, these classic folktales,
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myths, and legends are not the only way in which the ecology of spirit manifests itself. There is a

whole world of words to be explored.

I like to write. There is something mathematically fantastic about the finite sounds and shapes

language can take that allow me to express infinity. There is something scientifically marvelous

about the way words and stories mutate, evolve, erode, and grow overtime while still

maintaining a common DNA. There is something sacred about the finality of words; how

permanent a spoken sentiment is, irrevocable. And yet there is something ephemeral about the

way stories come and go just like the people who write them. Fleeting flickers of spirit fire. I am

one human who thirsts to create and share what my broken heart and glowing eyes experience.

One soul out of billions who loves cracked leather hands, who paints snow in the white blossom

petals, and who feels vulnerable in front of beauty. One organism with a tiny heartbeat, slow

metabolism, and brown hair alleles who somehow fits into the greater ecosystem of planet Earth.

One story,

Is a bunch of words,

Are a puddle of letters,

Stars piled like pebbles,

Shimmer invisible,

In physical waves and volumes,

Into ears of every color

Whispering what is,

The ecology of spirit.

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Into the jungle of bookshelves of the J. Willard Marriott library I wander. Past the wild

panthers, across the treacherous stream, weaving through tangled vines I walk. Magnifying glass

in hand, determined adventure in my heart. What is that? A book wiggles out of the branches. I

grab for it and secure its possibility in my hands. This one has strong spirit, I observe. The library

is a wild ecosystem and the stories and words living amongst the shelves define an ecology of

human spirit. The tangle and possibility of words is what drives humanity forward and allows us

to reflect on what has passed. What story is your spirit writing?

Works Cited
(2017). Retrieved from Merriam-Webster: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ecology
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Andersen, H. (1958). Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales. (R. Spink, Trans.) Great Britain: J.M. Dent & Sons
Ltd.
Appiah, P. (1966). Ananse the Spider: Tales from an Ashanti VIllage. New York, U.S.A.: Pantheon Books.
Dixon, E. (Ed.). (1951). Fairy Tales from The Arabian Nights. Great Britain: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd.
Dolch, E. W., Dolch, M. P., & Jackson, B. F. (1951). Aesop's Stories for Pleasure Reading. Champaign,
Illinois, U.S.A.: The Garrard Press.
Grimm, J., & Grimm, W. (1992). The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. (E. Taylor, & M. Edwardes, Trans.)
New York, U.S.A.: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Rosenberg, D. (1997). Folklore, Myths, and Legends A World Perspective. (J. T. Nolan, Ed.)
Lincolnwood, Illinois, U.S.A.: NTC Publishing Group.