To make sense of the world around us our tendency is to compartmentalize the external stimuli and digest these. What we can do following this is try to connect these compartments and build the awareness that everything is in constant motion and changing, nothing is still.

In 1956, Salvador Dali painted “Still Life – Fast Moving/Nature Morte Vivante”. He was fascinated by the recent scientific discoveries regarding the atom. Meaning, how the atom components are in a constant state of motion. For him, it meant that nothing is ever standing still. Similarly, if we think about human societies, these are also constantly changing because they represent an open system from which elements leave and elements enter. The changes might not be immediately evident. If we accept the idea of constant change, we can also orient the changes towards positive societal and individual outcomes. 

One Health is a philosophy that we can use as the lens to connect the different compartments. This philosophy reminds us how we are all connected and constantly changing together, including the environment in which we live. In consequence, how we affect each other.

In 2018, we, at the One Health Center of Excellence, organized a contest for students to celebrate One Health Day. One Health Day is celebrated on November 3. In 2018 we asked students to submit pieces of art that could transmit the concept of motion and connection between different compartments. The contest was titled “Capture the Movement” and the winning student presented a video of the springs close to Gainesville. One Health helps us to build a holistic gaze of the world and to set ourselves as part of this intricate pattern. 

By Olga Muñoz, Research Assistant

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