Lilting flowers all slumped over and sloshed. Their appendages majorus descending from a once vibrant uprising. These velvety seals of non-violence painted from the deepest hues and shaped beautifully; precisely with the invisible hands of Mother Nature. These gorgeous wonders of life. There’s violets and pinks, bright oranges and blues. There on the vine or in the vast forests amongst the trees you’ll find these tiny metaphors for life. Perfectly tucked away and imperfectly cycling in and out of existence. A myriad of postures on a two-way journey bound only by time. And time can be a flowering trees best friend. Just ask any gardener or enthusiast.
There’s a fusion between flowers and trees. A radiance and beauty in both its build up and breakdown. The dynamics of flux and absorption become one large breathing system. A collective cross-specied gathering of life. Growing, blooming, recoiling, and dying. This sounds a lot like our own life cycle. Our metaphorical flowers blooming from our intentions and creations that we give the world. Like flowers and trees and plants and botanical things we are all connected to the earth (soil or otherwise). But, we, like all different flowers need different things to help us thrive. There are so many different types of flowers and we will never be able to fully understand them all (despite our propensity to figure everything out). There’s the flower that blooms every 7-10 years only to die off weeks after the bloom. (See corpse flower or as it is formally known amorphophallus titanum which translates into huge misshapen penis ). It’s a total mystery, does this flower save up all its juice for a once a decade finale for the books! What does it mean? All this means to me is that every flower is different and every flower is operating on its own time and just because a plant or tree ain’t flowering doesn’t mean it isn’t alive. And it sure doesn’t mean it isn’t growing in one form or another. Trees and flowers they endure. Being left out in the cold, being tested, picked at, shit on, sat on, pushed up against. And they evolve and generate. But they cannot do it alone. They need an environment and they need what is conducive to their ability to thrive. And each one is different from the rest
I always think of orchids and ferns. The delicate duo that thrives best in the bright shade! That’s right the bright shade. These areas exist for instance, tucked under larger trees at the edge of a driveway or garden. Where sunlight is near but not direct. Without the advent of cars and driveways we wouldn’t have ferns or orchids! (No but really they first bloomed tucked in the shade alongside trails that were carved from the migration pathways of animals discovering new pathways when they’re ecosphere met with another). Just like flowers trees and plants and the forest we all require various things for our vitality and for our personal ecosystem to thrive. It’s like your mother knowing you love that blueberry pie at Christmas. Or your best friend knowing the perfect anecdote for a bad day.
Now I started this article as spring was in the air and blooms were happening. I called flowers seals of non-violence. That statement was not entirely accurate. While most flowers are non-violent in nature there are a few predators in the flower world that we again can not understand. Take the Cobra LIly for example. This Hannibal Lector of the plant world lures unsuspecting victims right into its incredible “mouth” equipped with actual “fangs.” Or the Australian Pitcher plant for instance, a relentless murderer, this bad boy devours it’s prey and is composed of transparent skin which further confuses the victim while it is being eaten alive!
Scary stuff is out there in the forests amongst the trees and we all know too well scary shit is among us humans too. Violence is amongst our communities. We have school shootings, church shootings, concert shootings, movie theater shootings, and work place shootings. There has been at least four mass shootings in the 10 days it took me to get around to posting this article. Every single month there’s handfuls of tragic stories of the random acts of violence against groups or individuals. I wish we could say that we are making progress in preventing these catastrophes but that isn’t the reality we are living in. Our roles as concerned members of the public is to be first responders now. To help immediately when it is safe to. Helping primarily by attending to the wounded. Specifically, the wounds that are losing a lot of blood. The primary cause of preventable death in trauma rooms across the country is hemorrhage. When we look at the top mass shootings like columbine where 13 people were killed and 24 people were injured, like the Las Vegas shooting where 58 people were killed and 850 people were injured, and like the sandy hook elementary school shooting where 20 first grade children were killed along with 6 teachers we see that the public safety standard has had to change. School’s regularly have active shooter drills. We have to take a good look at ourselves and figure out what we would do if confronted with this tragedy. It may well be the difference between life and death. The bombing that took place during the Boston Marathon was horrific. There were more than a dozen people who lost limbs to powerful explosive devices that detonated near the finish line. But only 3 people died. Paramedics were astounded with how many civilians sprung into action to help save lives. Using coffee shop napkins and clothing, bystanders became first responders and fought back against loss of life and the evils we will never understand. They were able to stop major bleeding and save lives. Even when it was difficult to look at, let alone touch and apply pressure to, people like you and me did what they could using everything and anything they had and they pulled together to show strength and perseverance.
Thinking about all of this good v evil is deep no doubt. Everyone’s got an opinion and everyone has their take on the state of affairs. We all are here on this earth at this time in 2019. And it’s the differences in backgrounds, beliefs, opinions, emotions, and actions that bring us forward when we bring them together. The good outnumber the evil. That I can tell you is facts. But we only discover that when we step forward despite our differences with our hearts in the right place. There is something in forest vernacular that’s called the ecotone and it is a region of transition between two biological communities. Basically an area where one species of forest meets another species of forest. These areas are of particular interest to scientists and nature lovers because they are rich in species and development of new species. This is referred to as the “edge effect” and in this area there is great biodiversity that helps us transcend and evolve on this green planet. The way forward is together. By retreating and refusing to engage with people that are different in color, shape, political affiliation, or country of origin we will surely make no forward progress like that. It’s taken a long time but we have come a long way. Slowly becoming more inclusive and evolving for the better. It may take time. But time may just have to be humanity’s best friend too.