Heroes Not Zombies

In the forest there are many little seedlings like this. They’re spreading their roots out under the forest floor, making new connections through the mycorrhizal network of the wood wide web. Stretching their spindly first stalk up to life their new leaves towards the sun.

We can’t know which of them will grow to make a forest like this…..

…..but we do know that every one of those tall trees started out that way.

What makes the difference between the seedlings which grow to mature trees and those which don’t?

Another question we can’t answer in advance but we do know their chances are dependent upon their exact location, their immediate and close environment, the interactions between the different trees in the forest and the fungi along their root systems, the quality of the soil, the presence or absence of a large number of nutrients and, of course, the climate they grow up in. Not to mention the actions of human beings who might uproot or cut down any particular tree for reasons of their own.

So it’s multifactorial. We often forget that as we try to explain health and illness in all living creatures, including humans. We have a huge tendency to try and reduce this complexity to a simplistic single issue and seek to use a quick techno-fix to “solve the problem”. Trouble is that only works partially and only temporarily.

If we want to be healthy, if we want to live in a healthy world, we have to pay attention to, and care for, the environments in which we live.

If we want these little miracle seedlings to grow into large miracle mature trees, we need to nurture and care for them.

Same thing if we want healthy humans, healthy societies and a healthy world.