What is the inspiration behind the
company name, The Bumblebee Circle, and what it encompasses?
It is my
observation that we are “bumbling builders” learning how to “bee” in a time of
ecological (and social) crisis & uncertainty – in need of a means to change
the way we are being, to a more community way of being, for the health &
wellness of all bee-ings.
We can learn
from the bumblebee that is often mistaken as a solitary bee because it works
alone. But alike the honeybee, bumbles are honey producing social bees that
live in colonies. They make wax comb where they congregate, store honey, and raise
their young. They are foragers and ‘storagers’ of nectar and pollen; and are genetically
programmed to gather food sources for colony health and survival. Bumblebees,
however, live shorter life spans and have significantly smaller colonies which die
off annually.
I have often
wondered if how honeybees and bumblebees differ in their ability to survive has
everything to do with the honeybee’s extraordinary communication which has a
direct relationship to the way they work. Unique to the honeybee species is a
means of communication, the waggle dance, that allows them to work in
collaboration in their foraging efforts. The waggle dance even communicates the
distance and direction to the food sources as well as its quality! So we see
thousands (upon thousands) of honeybees on a flower patch versus the one (or
handful) of bumbles.
When
effective communication and collaboration is overlooked in the relationships we
have with each other, we can bumble along in the work we do. I wonder if what
we seek to become (as more sustainable and healthier in the way we are being)
is in fact what honeybees have been doing all along. So then, just as the
honeybee has the waggle dance for collaboration efforts, we have Circle as a way
to become a more collaborative working together for the health & well-being
of all.
We can
continue to learn more from the hard-working bumblebee that will work spring to
fall, the extent of the growing season, even in inhospitable conditions to get
its work done. There is the Artic bumblebee known to work until it dies of
exhaustion! For us bumbling builders (e.g. those working towards environmental
& social well-being), there is always more work to be done and at times the
work seems endless. Some of us respond to this by working harder. Such extremes
can cause exhaustion, burn out and the failings of one’s health.
One does not
need to work overtime to feel the weight of the work. The work itself can be
disheartening. With every mouth we feed, another will go hungry. With every
person who obtains liberty, another will suffer. With every tree we save,
another is cut down. And still, one does not even need be busy with this work
to experience disheartenment. We are bombarded with images and news stories of
ecological degradation and loss, social injustices and horrors, and the like.
One need only to scroll through one’s facebook feed, flip open a newspaper, or
turn on the TV to witness countless insults and injuries against the natural
world and the beings that live in it.
When our
hearts are heavy with the work we do or with what we witness – we can turn to
Circle as a way to restore, recharge and sustain us. Like honey and honeycomb
sustain the bee’s way of being, Circle is an extraordinary tool to nourish us
bumbling builders. It provides a way for us to give voice to the things that
matter most to us about the planet, and space & time to address the
emotionality that can arise from the work and what we witness. In Circle we are
invited to be listened to, seen and witnessed in our wholeness – and this can
have a healing and transformative impact on us. Ultimately it comes down to
this:
We need to
take care of ourselves and each other, and everything that we need to ‘take
care of us’ – ourselves, others and the world around us – already lies within
us. Circle can help us to discover this. When we take good care of ourselves,
we are able to take better care of others and together move to take the upmost
care of the natural world around us and all beings that live within it.
So then, in
summary, The Bumblebee Circle simply encompasses this: A means for bumbling
builders (a.k.a. the human race), to change the way we are being, to a more
community way of being, where we can take better care of all.
