This mixed media collage is part of a collection completed in 2023 meant to inspire a recognition of ourselves in the natural world.  So often we visit nature when it is convenient for us and then go back to living as if we are separate from it. As an ecologist, I know we are nature.  It is us.  There is no separation.  What we do to the natural world we do to ourselves. And what holds true for the natural world, holds true for us as well.  This piece depicts people and ants working together to carry things.  By skewing the proportions of things, we can see ourselves as equals with these life forms.  How are we like ants?  We are walking this earth, working and living in community, often carrying heavy loads.  As the Booker T. Washington quote in this piece reminds us, “If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.”