A slow and quiet war has been waging between the trees and vines in the woods near my house.
In a section of woods, there’s a group of trees I’m often surrounded by that have spent their lives struggling against the vines fighting for the life-giving sustenance of the sun. Or perhaps I’m looking at it a different way. Maybe it’s the vines that are struggling against the trees. That’s their whole life…their nature.
I wanted to honor the years-long struggle between these two forces of nature and find the lesson they were teaching me.
From the vine’s point of view, the lesson might be to maintain a tenacious grip on the direction of my life’s goals and dreams that it’ll take hard and consistent work with mindful determination. I’ll have to start deeply rooted in a strong foundation and that the struggle to get to my destination is part of my purpose.
From the tree’s point of view, perhaps the lesson may be to keep true to my nature and to keep growing in the direction I was born to grow in that I’ll get there despite what tries to strangle or change my path. My center, inner-self, is what is essential. This outer meatsuit that the rest of the world (and the mirror) seems so critical about, isn’t as crucial as my truth and the strength inside. Our outer appearance isn’t important.
I’m primarily a “glass half full” kind of guy (which gets on my family’s nerves, I think), but I do try to be mindful of the lessons that Nature tries to teach me.
But what’s your metaphor? What do YOU see?
What do you think?