We live seven houses from the Shanahan Ridge trailhead in South Boulder, so seeing the occasional bear wandering through our neighborhood isn’t totally unusual.

But this summer has been VERY different.

It has been incredibly hot and dry, and the bears are struggling to find enough food and water. Instead of seeing one occasionally, we’re now seeing bears multiple times a week. On our after-dinner walks. While I’m outside watering my plants. On our cameras at pretty much any hour of the day. We’ve even seen them walking down the street with their cubs in broad daylight.

Black bears are pretty majestic and seeing one through my window or catching one on camera can be quite spectacular. (Even if it is loudly breaking into our bear-proof trash can at 3 AM!)

But seeing so many of them walking through our neighborhood and on our property feels different. It feels scary and invasive. We don’t live up in the mountains. And if I’m being completely honest, I don’t want the bears so close.

But as I’ve watched them this summer, I also understand why they are here. And it’s gotten me thinking about the ways we respond when the conditions around us change.

When the Environment Changes, We Adapt

It’s actually not surprising that the bears have changed their behavior this summer.

I have too.

Our house has large floor-to-ceiling windows that face southwest. In the 17 years we’ve lived here, I don’t remember ever closing our blinds and curtains during the day to keep the house cool.

But this summer, I’ve had to.

The afternoon sun pouring through those windows is simply more than our air conditioner can keep up with. Even with the blinds closed (and a new AC unit), our upstairs has been close to 80 degrees until the sun finally goes behind the mountains.

I didn’t suddenly start closing the blinds for no reason. I changed my behavior because the conditions changed.

And the bears are doing the same.

There isn’t necessarily anything “wrong” with the bears because they’re wandering farther from their usual habitat, showing up more often, and visiting at unusual times.

When conditions change, we adapt. For better and worse, that’s what we were designed to do for our survival.

And this has gotten me thinking a lot about the way we view symptoms in our own bodies.

What If Your Symptom Makes Sense?

When something uncomfortable starts happening in our body, most of us think exactly what I think when I see a bear on my property:

I don’t like this.

It feels uncomfortable.

I’d like it to go away.

We want the bloating to stop. The pain to disappear. Our bowels to behave normally. Our energy to come back. Our heart to stop racing. Our muscles to relax. Our mind to quiet down.

And when a symptom continues, it’s easy to become frustrated. It can start to feel like our body is working against us. But just like the bears, our bodies don’t exist separately from the conditions in which we live.

• Anxiety can be one way our nervous system responds when it perceives danger.
• Our gut can change its motility in response to stress.
• Inflammation is one of the ways our body attempts to protect and repair.
• Fatigue can force us to slow down and conserve resources.
• Pain is designed to get our attention.

In other words, many of the things our bodies do that feel uncomfortable or challenging aren’t necessarily random. They are responses to something.

A symptom may be one of the ways our body is trying to adapt to the conditions it’s experiencing. And when we begin to see symptoms as responses or expressions rather than simply problems, we can start to listen to what they might be trying to tell us.

Our Environment Has Changed Too

Just as the bears’ changing environment has forced them to wander farther from their natural habitat looking for food and water, our environment has changed too. Think about how different our daily lives are from a generation ago.

We live with emails, text messages, social media, constant news and seemingly endless notifications. We travel more and farther, and we’re exposed in real time to news of natural disasters, wars, mass shootings, political unrest, and other frightening events happening all over the world – sometimes in our own neighborhoods.

And the demands within our own families have changed too. Many parents are working full-time while raising children, managing a household, keeping track of school schedules and activities (of which there are MANY more!), caring for aging parents, and somehow trying to take care of themselves too.

There are very few moments when nothing is asking for our attention.

And perhaps one of the most interesting things about all of this is how normal it feels. We get used to it. We may not experience our lives as particularly stressful because this is simply how everyone lives. We may even believe we aren’t stressed.

But our bodies may be revealing a different story.

Sometimes symptoms may be our body’s way of telling us:

This is a lot.

Something doesn’t feel right.

I need this to change.

I can’t keep going at this pace.

Understanding Changes How We Respond

Understanding why the bears are coming doesn’t mean I want them in my yard or that I’m any less cautious around them. But it does help me see their behavior differently. They’re doing what bears do when resources are scarce.

Maybe we can offer our bodies that same understanding.

When an uncomfortable symptom appears, it’s easy to assume something has gone “wrong.” And of course, we want to feel better. But what if, alongside trying to alleviate the symptom, we also became curious about why it might be there?

Instead of only asking:

How do I get rid of this symptom?

Maybe we can also ask:

What might my body be responding to?

What has changed?

What do I need right now?

We may not always know the answer. But perhaps simply asking the questions helps us see our bodies a little differently – not as something working against us, but as something worth listening to.

Maybe this gives you a different way to think about something your own body has been trying to tell you. Or maybe there is something your body is asking you to pay attention to right now.

If this brings up anything that you’d like to share, please do so in the comments below.