(W)holistically Wild Words
Many words are being co-opted and used as meaningless buzz words for advertising and corporate life: Simple, free, wild, natural, brave, and holistic are just a few of these words. In fact, several of these words have been listed as the 119 most hated business buzzwords.
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
There are several words I have been forced to embrace in life. “Yeet” being one of them, although I still am not sure of the definition. Somewhere up in the Elkhorn Mountains by Granite, Oregon I envision some miner who is still scratching his head over the “yeet” spelled out in sun bleached animal bones that my children left as a message to me.
There are also words that I wish to never see again, namely “cohort.” Cohort just needs to be stricken from the dictionary. My children do not need cohort groups: they need friends.
There are also words that have almost disappeared. They have been replaced with corporate buzzwords. Compassion is one such word. In a moment of sadness and frustration, I googled the term “the world lacks compassion.” Let’s look at the top three results:
“Why Does the Whole World Lack Empathy?”
“Why the World Needs an Empathy Revolution”
“The US Has an Empathy Deficit”
Do you notice something here? Where is the word compassion? Empathy is corporate buzz word and compassion is not.
Homeschooling, homesteading, simple living…. it’s all an attempt to take our lives back from corporations. We must take our language back too. That brings me back to holistic.
Holistic
Holistic is a buzz word. It is used in front of terms to essentially mean “natural” although natural is another word that has become almost meaningless. Holistic is used to denote something that embraces “mind, body, and spirit.” Common terms are holistic health, holistic wellness, and holistic medicine. The word holistic itself stems from the Greek word holos. The word simply means whole, or a sum greater than all its parts separately.
I like to think of holistic as “whole system.” But what is a system? I like Dr. Art Sussman’s definition in his book “Dr. Art’s Guide to Science: Connecting Atoms, Galaxies, and Everything In Between.” He features a Glindex in his book. That would be a glossary and index combination. His Glindex states “A system exists whenever parts combine or connect with other parts to form a whole. The whole is qualitatively more than the sum of its parts. You, your circulatory system, water, and table salt are all examples of systems.” (p. 246)
Holistic wellness features mind, body, and spirit. But the humans are not separate. We exist in even greater systems which are a part of even greater systems which are part of even greater systems. You exist in the system of your household which is part of the system of your community which is part of the system of the Earth which is part of the system of the Universe. Is your mind blown yet? From a whole systems approach, the organic lettuce you find in major grocery stores may be healthier for your body but unhealthy for the earth system due to the high amount of fish fertilizer applied to the soil year in and year out. When we talk about being holistic, we must talk about all systems.
Wholistic is a respelling that attempts to gain back the real definition of holistic. Whole, from the Old English hal. Other definitions of this root include: entire, unhurt, uninjured, safe, healthy, sound, genuine, and straightforward.
The goal of living holistically wild is to live a nature-connected life both healthy and genuine. A holistic system is a balanced system.
AF
I was perusing Pinterest one day and saw a pin titled “How to Be Holistic AF.” This whole AF movement bothers me and adding holistic to it just adds insult to injury so to speak. What does AF mean? If you have no idea what this acronym is, I congratulate you. If that is the case, you might want to head on over to Urban Dictionary. It essentially means “to the maximum amount.”
We live in a society of extremes and being AF means taking something to the extreme. Somehow, we are celebrating this. Humans have seemingly lost our ability to balance. Living holistically, however, is exactly about balance.
Seasonally speaking, extremes never last. The extreme heat of summer is followed by the extreme cold of winter is followed by the extreme heat of summer in a cycle that balances itself twice a year on the equinoxes. This spring season is reminding me about the importance of balance. The world has been out of balance since 2020. In fact, you may even say life has been crazy AF.
How to Live (W)holistically Wild
Balance yourself. Be yourself. Let go of corporate buzzwords and needing to be anything AF. That’s it. I know it’s easier said than done. Unfortunately, it’s something that no one can tell you how to do it. Only you know what balance is for yourself. Your husband, children, therapist, or random stranger on the internet cannot help you. They can give you hints and tricks, but you must do the work and be the one to find balance.
Gandhi actually didn’t say “Be the change you want to see in the world.” That phrase in itself was shortened, condensed, and the meaning largely removed and taken out of context. What he did say is:
“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.”
Taking time out in the equinox seasons of life, both spring and fall, to find balance is needed in a world that celebrates the concept of corporate buzz words and AF. What are you doing this season to bring balance?