Heroes Not Zombies

Burrs a method of seed dispersal. Once these little hooks attach to a passerby the seed head is off on its journey. It might drop nearby, or it might be carried a long distance. There’s no way to know.

It strikes me there’s a life lesson there for us. We connect to others and travel with them, sharing some time and space together, not knowing in advance where that relationship will take us, or how long it will last. In fact we can’t know the answers to either of those questions in advance. How long will we be together and where will this relationship take us? What’s important is that we make a good connection, that we commit.

The little hooks provide another function too, don’t they? They protect. The previous seeds are well protected inside, surrounded by these jaggy spikes.

I’m not suggesting we all need jaggy spikes to protect ourselves but we do all need secure defences which protect us from harm. In any relationship it’s important to connect and to preserve a distance, a difference.

I think there’s this apparent paradox at the core of Life. We all need to connect, to belong, to interact. And we all need to preserve our uniqueness, to know our differences and accept and protect them.

The need to connect, and the need to protect our uniqueness. I see that in this little burr, this little life lesson from Nature.