Whether we plunder the Earth or participate in it depends on deep notions of who we are. Jennifer Morgan of the Deep Time Journey Network says in Part Two of our conversation about the Universe Story, "What's going on every single second is so stunning that if we were truly present to it, we would fall down on our knees and kiss the ground."

While she admits most of us aren't able to maintain that presence through our day-to-day lives, learning how our Earth creates and functions can help us live them. That kind of awareness invites us to live "mythical lives." Those quiet invitations are everywhere.

As Jennifer explains, the Universe shows us how to handle crisis, in ways that mirror the lessons mythical heroes learn on their journeys: when you've come undone, cooperate—maybe with someone or something unexpected—and create something new.

It happens on this planet all the time, despite dominant ideas that Nature works only through survival of the fittest, or that "red in tooth and claw" thing. "Life did not take over the globe by combat, but by networking," wrote the late, great biologist Lynn Margulis, who pioneered the concept of endosymbiosis and wrote about it with her son and collaborator, writer Dorion Sagan.

Jennifer and I also talk about how to move past feelings of insignificance when considering a vast Universe, about ritual, the importance of Nature to children (and eating dirt), and about ideas of the divine.

Jennifer's own religious background is fascinating: her anti-Christian grandmother was regularly welcomed into American Indian ceremonies; her Methodist organist mom turned churchgoers on to lava lamps. Her own path included converting to Catholicism (although some nuns tried to talk her out of it), Celtic spiritual ideas, and more…

Music in this episode is "Ritual 13" by Jason Leonard, used via a Creative Commons license.Visit the website at www.meetyourmyth.com, and click on The Big Chew Podcast, to learn about endosymbiosis and why cooperation matters.