The Art is Long: Big Health and the New Warrior Activist

Until quite recently, all human cultures have been built on the concept of unity with the natural world. In fact, interdependence is one of our oldest ideas, one that’s common to indigenous people in Australia, Africa, and North and South America. It’s been our default view for the overwhelming majority of human history. It’s only been in the last

We don’t just sculpt tissue with use. We also sculpt our capacity for compassion, empathy, gratitude, and curiosity. The entire organism is constantly remodeling itself according to how it’s used. In a very real sense, all our human capabilites are “muscular.” And of course, the same principle applies even to the process of adaptation itself. Adapt

We say, “This story is flawed at its core.”

love affairs. When people strive together toward a common goal, their senses, bodies, and behaviors tend to synchronize.

“Being normal” is no longer a viable strategy for survival. In a sense, abnormality is our only way forward. We need to go against the grain of several million years of evolution, extending our minds and overcoming our short interests. Attention as usual isn’t going to cut it anymore.

It’s almost unheard of for a physician to ask the patient about the larger relationships that sustain his or her life. We’re quizzed about the nature of our symptoms, but no one ever asks, “How often do you get into the outdoors? How connected are you to your habitat and your community?”

Telling a story of adaptability may be bad for the bottom line, but it sure is great for people.

Many of us are looking for the ideal set of movements that will take our performance to the next level. But for our purposes, specializations are suspect. In moderation, they can advance our skill, but over time, specialized, repetitive movements take their toll on joints and tissues, even the nervous system. And before long, the result is injury.

“We are on our guard against contagious diseases of the body, but we are exasperatingly careless when it comes to the even more dangerous collective diseases of the mind.”