How to Grow a Forest - A Tree's Teaching on Community
A conversation with a tree who teaches us about how to build community.
Nature track
Hit this track on repeat to deepen the immersion as you read…
Growth of Trees Based on Community
The tree whispered, “plants do not always express their full genetic potential when they are part of a rich ecosystem… This is because they are not under pressure to be everything. They do not feel the need to be self-sufficient as a lone entity.”
“However, a tree on its own might express more of its potential, because it has to be well-rounded in order to survive.”
The tree continued teaching me, “people are like this too. It is better to be part of a forest, than to be alone. The lone tree can never be as rich as an entire ecosystem. So, it is better to be lesser and part of a good community than it is to express one’s full potential yet be alone...”
As the tree explained these things to me, images appeared in my mind. I saw a tree growing within the forest canopy, many areas on its trunk were colored, indicating places where branches could form. But branches only grew where there was an opening in the canopy, where the light fell onto it. It grew to fill an area where there was a gap in the ecosystem.
The tree began to convey to me that it could develop many different branches {each branch was a metaphor for a different skill,} but the canopy guides this process. The tree grows according to what is needed in the forest. This allows the tree to be adaptable in order to fit into the community, thus enriching it rather than competing with it. He grows where there is a gap, he does not push into another’s space and crowd them.
~~~
The tree also conveyed a second lesson within this scene as the breeze ruffled through his leaves.
He showed me that a tree has many potentials, not so that he can express them all, but instead so that he is adaptable and can serve the ecosystem in whatever way is best for the community.
The potentials are not there to create pressure to express all of them. Instead, they are there to give the tree options for how best he can fill in the canopy. Those are the places he invests resources. Those are the places where he grows limbs. {Meaning he develops that potential into a skill.}
The tree gently told me that the adaptability of humans should not make feel as though we must be everything to everyone. Such gifts are not meant to bring us stress.
The reason we feel pressure to express ourselves fully is because of a lack of true community.
Instead, we are beautifully adaptable, and able to express differently according to the community setting we find ourselves in. This makes it possible for us to form one cohesive forest with others. “You do not need to be everything,” he reminded me. “In fact, community is meant to guide you and relieve that pressure.”
“Among the various talents you have, you could see which ones would serve your village. That would leave you with a smaller list of options that you would choose from. Then you would not face the overwhelm that many young adults do when they suddenly need to figure out what in the world they want to be. This smaller list is not a restriction, it is actually a relief of expectation and pressure. Many wish for loving guidance in this area. To face the hot sun alone is a burden...”
Dive date: Aug 3 2021
On the Full Moon
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I love this. I will say, for myself, I like to be like a tree on the edge of a forest 🤣 To benefit a little from the presence of the other trees and to help them too, but to also be forced to grow my own strong roots and expand my canopy wide and far.
Love this 💖