Strange as it may sound, your entire body is actually a “superorganism,” made up of mostly of different kinds of bacteria. The number of bacteria living within the body of the average healthy adult are estimated to outnumber human cells 10 to 1. 1
Let’s say that again: you have ten times more bacterial cells in you than human cells!
You are really just a constellation of bacteria – a big walking, talking, bacterial mat. If you were going to really be accurate about it, when you spoke you would say something like, “On behalf of all the bacterial communities represented here, WE would like to say…”
Researchers in this field even describe humans as “hosts” and say that our job is to help maintain natural stability in the gut by acting as “ecosystem engineers.” 2
How does that sound, as a job description…“Hello, I’m an ecosystem engineer.” But that’s what we all are – and we have to get better at it!
It’s a fractal. To clear your skin, you need to learn to be a better steward of your inner ecosystem – just as we all need to learn to take better care of the bigger ecosystems around us.
That’s one lesson that I learned on the farm – not only are we all connected, but what’s right on the smallest level is right on the largest level as well. From the microscopic life inside you to the large life forms that you can see outside – they all need to be properly looked after and cared for.
