Collective Growth in Nature
Can be used as a visualization/meditative experience if you are into that. Close your eyes, sit comfortably, and enjoy. Can also just be listened to or read.
A forest doesn’t decide collectively to become a forest
Instead it relies on each seed to make the individual choice to grow
To split open and push out against the pressure of all the mud
Reaching for a light it can’t yet see
And as it pushes, it meets rocks and other barriers, making it question if it should stop
Sometimes it feels like it doesn’t have enough water, like maybe it won’t survive
It’s parched and at any moment it could topple over and cease to exist
But in choosing to continue it is met by the roots of those who came before them
Those who succeeded in pushing past the weight, the messy, into the unknown
Those who grow stronger and stronger with time
As the seed continues its journey upward it must rely on trust, that one day it, too, will become something more
Trust that it already is something more
Always has been something more
It is enough, as it is
A recognition that the only journey to focus on is its own
Trust that the journey is worth it and that it is meant to be had
Trust that it is enough, right here, right now
Trust
And just as the seed may lose hope from time to time
Feeling there is no way to continue
It is met with a glimpse of light
Trickling in
Welcoming the seed to the unknown
Light, alluring the seed with its beauty
And as the seed breaks through the crust of the earth, into light
It is beaming, immersed in a new world
In this it is met with an entirely new set of rules
A dimension it could have never imagined
A world with endless possibilities
And yet, it is still faced with challenges
Birds may peck at its roots, people may stomp on it, animals may try to eat it
But it faces these challenges with a new understanding
A knowing
It has seen challenges before
But it knows it is destined to grow
And so it does
It chooses to plunge it’s roots deeper
To extend its arms outward and upward
To absorb light and reflect it right back out into the world
Rather than shying away, it is reaching, grasping
Begging the world to join it in celebration of the light
The light that was always there, but couldn’t always be seen
The light a seed can only see when it’s time, when it’s done some of the journeying
And as each seed, makes this individual choice
Each seed pushing forward, reaching to break through earths barrier
Each seed, choosing to believe and trust despite not knowing
Each seed feeling the interconnectedness
Each seed choosing to love and feel love
…
Well, with that, you might just end up with a forest