What Microbes May Have to Do With Taking Charge in Your Life
Kefir Grains
I’m puzzled. Over the past 3 months, my kefir has been acting strangely. Kefir is a fermented, milk-based beverage that originated in the Caucasus Mountains of Russia and Georgia. For generations this microbial brew was thought to be the elixir of longevity, a prized secret carefully guarded by the region’s royal families.
I have been lovingly tending my kefir culture for 11 years. Every month or so the culture grows to the point when it needs dividing. Then I share this microbial gold with a friend or some deserving chickens. (Chickens are as wild about kefir as those Caucasian princes were!)
But something has changed. In recent months it has shrunk from a grapefruit sized microbial mass to something the size of a walnut. At the same time, my kefir’s offspring tended by friends around the country have shrunk too. I’ve always had the feeling that kefir not only responds to my moods, but also communicates with other cultures via some vibrational pathways only known to kefir cells. It loves being in the vicinity of other kefir cultures, and at those times grows like topsy . . . despite inhabiting separate glass containers!
Recently, listening to molecular biologist and Princeton professor Bonnie Bassler‘s Ted Talk about how bacteria communicate, I realized that there may be some truth to these observations. She maintains that human beings are around 90 to 99% bacterial and 1-10% human. We couldn’t survive without these one-celled friends facilitating digestion, educating our immune system and much more. Apparently, they communicate via special molecules, and when they reach critical numbers, they can change behaviors en masse.
Clearly my kefir culture and its cousins were not able to talk to each other ‘in person,’ but somehow they have been able to send each other the message, “Now!,” and have all changed. There could be something in the environment that is affecting them at the same time, but I prefer to think that they reached some group consensus about some kefir-y issue in some kefir-y way.
Your Microbial Pal, Lactobacillus
Ms. Bassler doesn’t discuss the mechanism between human cells and their bacterial neighbors, but there must be one that has evolved over millennia of cohabitation in the human vessel. This is entirely conjecture, but maybe, when we tap into our subconscious minds, we are accessing a highly developed co-consciousness between human cells and bacterial wonder-workers. The question is who’s in charge?
I like to think that our human 1 to 10% has the capacity to lead. If we wish to take charge as the leaders in our lives, it behooves us to establish clear lines of bacterial-human communication, cooperation and goodwill. From casual observations, my kefir responds to a positive attitude, harmony and loving attention.
I am guessing that our internal bacterial team responds the same way. Give them what they need, and they are at our service. This may be why there are such life-enhancing benefits from clear intent, meditation, a state of gratitude and deep enduring connections with others.
I like thinking of myself as a team. It’s less lonely. And I’m empowered to step into a leadership role, guiding my team in directions I have always wanted to go. What endeavors in your life could use a little teamwork?
Celebrating the true leader in your life!
Eliza
Creatives’ Coach Eliza Bergeson is the author of The Yes! in Success: How To Be The Star You Are And Live The Life You Love.
She works her magic with creative individuals—entrepreneurs, speakers, writers, visual and performing artists; people who are ready to transform bright vision into gratifying outcomes in their businesses and their lives. If that sounds like you, visit her site, www.elizabergeson.com, for more FREE success-building resources.
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