Even wandering through a botanical garden, I don’t want to get dirty.
There is plenty of dirt there. Especially now, when spring is replacing winter.
Then I remember the anthropologist Mary Douglas:
“Dirt is matter out of place.”
In that sense, what complaint do I have against melting snow, last year’s leaves, twigs, and the mineral mix of soil?
On fifty hectares of garden, all of it is surely in its proper place.
The same cannot be said for my clean boots. Rubber, plastic, Gore-Tex membrane—they are the foreign elements in the waking forest.
Mary explains that the very idea of dirt assumes order. By that logic, nature has order. Man is the one who disturbs it.
For example, by getting irritated when he gets smeared with the forest’s order. As if to say, I came here perfectly clean and beautiful, and now this mess!
Clearly the problem is the wrong clothes for a walk. Or, more precisely, the wrong worldview: “My personal order comes first. Anything that doesn’t fit is dirt.”
The same disappointment happens when we meet novelty. Something unexpected appears—strange, unsettling, even frightening. We want to brush it off, dismiss it, get rid of it at any cost.
In the unknown phenomenon, we see only dirt, threat, and chaos. It takes time to uncover the hidden meaning of what is happening—perhaps even a benefit that is completely invisible to us right now.
How many times has life already shown me this, yet I still cannot get used to it.
Sincerely yours,
-Alexander
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.
Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.