From ME to WE

Falling in Love Again With the More-Than-Human World

There is an ancient knowing in the human heart: life flourishes only in relationship. Yet, the modern age has woven a dangerous illusion—an individualistic story of separation, of ME - an egocentric-human-centric hybris - apart from the great web of life. This story has fractured the sacred hoop of humanity and left the more-than-human world—our plant, animal, mineral, and elemental kin—wounded by our forgetfulness.

To shift from ME to WE is not merely a social change. It is an ontological remembering. It is a re-rooting into the primordial truth that all beings are relatives, as Indigenous teachings remind: Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ—all are related. This is not metaphor. It is biology, cosmology, and spirit woven into one.

From ME to WE – The Heart as Ecological Compass

Falling in love with the more-than-human world begins in the heart, not in the intellect. Knowledge alone cannot shift the story of destruction into the story of regeneration. Love is what rebinds the torn threads between humans and the living Earth.

Plants teach this every day: through photosynthesis, every leaf gifts oxygen without asking for payment. Forests tend the soil for centuries without a sense of ownership. Whales navigate thousands of miles through ocean corridors, holding memories across generations. These are not resources—they are relatives.

When the heart opens in reverence, the ME dissolves into the WE. The shift becomes embodied: decisions, movements, and even breath align with the care of the whole.

Ancestral Wisdom, Future Care

This journey from ME to WE is not new—it is the oldest way of being human. Ancestral knowledge systems across the world have preserved these teachings: live in right relationship, honor the cycles, give back more than is taken.

In the Indigenous ethics of Respect, Reciprocity, and Responsibility, each action is a prayer for balance. Respect acknowledges the sovereignty of all beings. Reciprocity ensures mutual flourishing. Responsibility recognizes that care must extend to future generations—not just of humans, but of all relations.

This ethic is not nostalgic—it is urgent. Climate disruption, biodiversity collapse, and cultural fragmentation are not only environmental crises; they are relational crises. The antidote is not found in isolation but in kinship.

Falling in Love Again

To fall in love with the more-than-human world is to feel the Earth as beloved and teacher. It is to walk as though every step touches sacred ground. It is to listen to the wind as an elder’s counsel, to greet the morning birdcall as an ancient song.

This love is not sentimental—it is fierce. It protects rivers from toxins, defends forests from clear-cuts, stands against laws that strip Earth of her rights. Love becomes action, and action becomes ceremony.

The journey from ME to WE is not about losing the Self—it is about finding the Self in right relationship of love, gratitude for all, attentiveness, and care. 

It is remembering that humanity’s health and flourishing is bound to the health of oceans, forests, mountains, and skies. It is knowing that the sacred mysteries of life are not hidden; they are speaking through the tide, the roots, the stars—if only the heart listens.

Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ — all are relatives.

May the ME dissolve into the WE of the More-Than-Human Word, 

and may the WE tend the garden of this Earth for generations yet to come.

From heart to heart,

Dr. Regina U. Hess

Birthing an Ancient Future – Multidisciplinary Council of Peace-Builders