Our shelter protects us from the elements and is foundational to our basic needs. However, it is nice to know what we are protected from, in our world of lattes and air conditioning.

Tree, camel, cat, lotus, mountain, half moon and firefly are all yoga poses named after the nature outside the window. These names provide a subtle invitation to experience the reality on the other side of the glass.

Orville and Wilber Wright studied vultures to understand the concepts of lift and drag and changed the way the world travels.

Author, Janine Benyus, formalized the idea of intentionally looking to nature to solve problems in her book, Biomimicry. Now the Biomimicry Institute helps a broad range of organizations discover their needed solutions in the swamps, skies, forests, deserts, and oceans. Michael Pawlyn applied nature's solutions to the Eden Project through improved horticultural architecture, with remarkable results and recounted in his TED Talk.

The design solutions discovered in nature are straightforward and elegant. Albert Einstein stated, "the best design is the simplest one." As humans, we tend to brute force our way into a solution through more power and resources to get the desired result (thanks, Seth Godin, for pointing out the article).

AsSummer ends and the Northern Hemisphere heads into shorter days, awareness of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) start to take effect. The yearly cycle of the sun helps to regulate expectations of what is coming next.

We decorate our walls, clothes, artwork, and furniture with scenes of nature on the other side of the front door. The iceberg screen saver gives mental relief during the heat of Summer, and the pristine beach provides hope of warmer weather during the Winter deep freeze.

If we are not looking, the quiet influence will pass unnoticed and we will return to solving problems with brute force and the protection of bubble wrap. Unfortunate.