“How often we forget that the very task we are doing may have more effect upon us than we have upon it. In our self-centeredness, we see ourselves acting upon our world and we lose the awareness that we are participating in a universe that is acting in partnership with us.What a burden we put on ourselves when we see ourselves as the only or the primary actor.

It is through participation—through acting with—that we learn that the house builds itself. That as we build it, we are built by it in return. When we open ourselves to be taught what the house can teach us, we are open to invaluable learning. When I participate in the fullness around me, I become a greater me.”

– Maori Elder