Riparian Zones

Today's post is about Riparian Zones. I like them.

In a strict sense, a riparian zone is that natural space where stream meets land; the area where these ecosystems overlap is the riparian zone (from the Latin riparius, "of the riverbank"). What is observed in the natural riparian zone is an increase in biodiversity, as all the plants and animals of the land ecosystem (say, a forest, grassland, or wetland) combine and interact with all the species of the stream or river; and from this overlap, other specialized species of the riparian zone itself arise, like specialized plant communities, "riparian vegetation". Thus the meeting place of two disparate ecosystems is the support, or basis, which engenders or nurtures a new, diverse, complex, full, and rich ecosystem, one that is more than the sum of its parts. (Riparian zones also play an important roil in soil preservation and water filtration).

The concept or idea I wish to borrow from this schematic and elaborate on is that two disparate, separate entities, when overlapping, often function as zones of innovation and creativity. These zones, where separate identities fuse at their boundaries, are important zones in nearly every field of human endeavor. The fusion of folk music and electricity produced rock music; the unification of space and time, of matter and energy, are cornerstones of Einstein's theories. Things that occur at boundaries are interesting and energetic, not stagnant. From the perspective of either entity interacting, the fusion is one of self and other, and the co-experience itself is one of intimacy.

At the boundary of the human body, foundational experiences with food, nature, and sex are all examples of this riparian process. And at the human level, it is specifically these three that form the basis of integration, psychologically, of self and other. (Think of how much of our lives revolve, in some way or another, around these three). If we allow ourselves to be open to seeking this unity, the flow between self and other becomes effortless, and thus a religious experience. These experiences, generally, engender the dissolving of the everyday constricted sense of self in favor of some greater unity.

The rites and rituals used in many systems are a reflection of this riparian religiosity found in the merging process, or unification, of self and other; in communion, for example, bread and wine (other) symbolizes the divine, which merges with the worshiper (self). And the esoteric and non-traditional religious experiences also follow this pattern, with heterodox interpretations of the divine "other" (Emerson and Thoreau on nature, for example, or Tantric practices with food and sex). The ritualization only adds a symbolic context to a natural process of the separate seeking unity via a process.

Returning from the religion tangent, what I meant to say is that, to take advantage of the creativity and innovation riparian interactions provide, we need to foster diversity, dissolve boundaries, and maintain flexibility; we should be open to new experiences and new ways of thinking about old experiences. We should be willing, in this process, to re-assess not only our methods, but also our goals. (Bhutan, for example, uses Gross National Happiness to inform its public policy, instead of GNP; redefining "profit" in our society [the US] that is feeling the symptoms of economic woes, but one where people's material wealth and energy consumption still far outstrip the rest of the world, is possibly a healthy step?).

Another way to think about the riparian zone is to note that, in a healthy ecosystem, a stream or river tends to meander - if the river rushed straight from the mountain to the ocean, no water would be absorbed in the landscape; no pollution would be filtered before it reached the ocean; plants would die; soil would rapidly erode; the river would be absolutely entrenched, and no growth, creativity, change, or innovation could take place. A part of the goal is the process itself, which is an art-form, or game, one of finesse (think Barry Sanders, not the "Bus"). The river will reach the ocean, gravity will take care of that, that's its nature. To get there skillfully, while correspondingly benefiting others, takes time, and the riparian zone fosters those processes.