Heroes Not Zombies

I noticed this weeping willow while I was out exploring my new locality. Isn’t it glorious?

Of course I’ve no idea how it came to grow there but you can tell from the size that it’s been around a long time. I suspect that as with most plants in the world, this one wasn’t put there deliberately by a person. Does that mean it’s appeared completely by chance?

Well, chance isn’t always as random as it appears. The way I understand it, this tree will only grow to maturity here when a number of events, factors and circumstances come together.

The seed, no doubt one of many, had to land on this particular area of ground, it had to germinate, put down roots and find the nutrients it needed to grow. The weather would influence it, as would any human interventions or actions of certain animals.

In fact, when it comes to living organisms, there are more connections and factors in play that when it comes to an individual, you can never fully understand all that’s brought them to this point, and you absolutely can’t predict their future course.

That knowledge always influenced my work as a doctor, keeping me both humble and open minded, reinforcing my preference for attentive, non-judgemental listening.

In Medicine, as in the garden, or the in the wild places on Earth, we can care, attend, understand, support and do whatever we can to encourage self healing, growth and flourishing.