Penguin Energy

Recently it has seemed that every time I turn on the TV, read an article or read an email, there is some mention of penguins... in the last week I have watched three documentaries on Antartica and more specifically the life of penguins and I am fascinated and somewhat inspired by the sheer force of their instincts. More specifically, I am in awe of the Emperor Penguin whose internal compass after the age of five, is set to an incredible life cycle of reproduction. These creatures are driven by an unseen force to journey back to their place of birth to mate and breed in spite of unbelievable hardships and obstacles.

Something about the deeper instincts of these penguins made me think about human instincts..... what instincts drive us to return time and time again to those thoughts/places characterized by the landscape of our own hardships/obstacles? The beauty of the human mind and intelligence is that we have choice, free will and rational thinking. In our emotional evolution we have developed the freedom in our thought process that allows us to choose - we have the choice to keep following a course of action/thinking that no longer serves us or we can create something new and better for ourselves.... yet, often we fight our instincts for the new, in favor of old instincts because it's 'what we know' and there is comfort in the familiar. In essence we are willing to walk across the roughest terrain in search of the familiar until we evolve through choice and free will to create new patterns and pathways.

From these penguins I am learning that the instinct for survival runs deep and after watching the dedication and beauty of these creatures marching across the ice, it made me realize that in some ways, we are not so different after all.