Self Portrait I: Citius, Altius, Fortius

Maturity is the ability to relate to others' realities,and not only to once's own. -J. Donald Walters-

  A teacher in the southwest once asked the children in his class to draw pictures of themselves he recalled, "The American children completely cover the paper with drawings of their bodies, but my Navajo students drew themselves differently. They made their bodies much smaller and included in the picture the nearby mountains, canyon walls, and dry desert washes. To the Navajo, the environment is as much a part of who they are as their own arms or legs".
  The understanding that we are a part of something larger than ourselves is Nature's greatest gift. With this understanding, our sense of identity expands and, by extension, so does our compassion for all living things.